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For our latest lookbook, we’ve rounded up eight bedrooms with desks that provide much-needed workspace while maintaining a peaceful environment.

Not every house has the space for a designated office room, so adding a desk to the bedroom is a popular choice for those requiring a place to work or study at home.

The examples in this lookbook show how a workspace for productivity can be added to a bedroom without detracting from the calm and serenity needed for sleep.

It includes understated fold-out desks, desks built into wall storage, a cosy reading nook and a study area that can be closed off with sliding screens.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring interiors informed by Mediterranean living, interiors that adopt wabi-sabi principles and interiors covered in Barbiecore pink.

Dark wood desk next to built-in wardrobes in Fisherman's Cottage — Photo by Gavin Green

Fisherman’s Cottage, Australia, by Studio Prineas

Architecture studio Studio Prineas designed a concrete tower extension containing four bedrooms for a fisherman’s cottage in Sydney, separating the private rooms from the rest of the house.

The studio added dark timber built-in wardrobes, shelving and a small desk along a wall in one of the bedrooms, adjacent to a large window that overlooks the nearby bay and lets natural light onto the study space.

Find out more about Fisherman’s Cottage ›

Bedroom with a desk in the red concrete house by Sanden+Hodnekvam — Photo by Sanden+Hodnekvam Arkitekter

House in Red Concrete, Norway, by Sanden+Hodnekvam Arkitekter

The pine-panelled interior of this bedroom contrasts with the home’s red-pigmented concrete exterior, designed by Oslo architecture studio Sanden+Hodnekvam Arkitekter.

Pine plywood furniture that decorates the space was built on site, including the wall-mounted desk at the end of the bed.

Find out more about House in Red Concrete ›

Office nook with a custom-built wood desk and colourful chair — Photo by Ballman Khapalova

Pine Lane House, USA, by Ballman Khapalova

Two bedrooms were combined into one main bedroom suite with a study space, as part of the renovation of this 1980s ranch house in Saugerties, New York, by architecture studio Ballman Khapalova.

The studio designed custom wood furniture for the home, including a minimalist fold-out desk that stretches the length of the bedroom’s designated office nook.

Find out more about Pine Lane House ›

Interior of Laxus by Apollo Architects & Associates — Photo by Masao Nishikawa

Laxus, Japan, by Apollo Architects & Associates

A desk space sits in line with glossy wall storage in the bedroom of this Tokyo home, which is lit by strip lighting recessed in the overhead cupboards.

Designed by Japanese studio Apollo Architects & Associates, the bedroom overlooks a courtyard with trees and shrubs, adding a serene and calming quality to the space.

Find out more about Laxus ›

Wooden desk behind sliding doors in a bedroom at Apartment Block by Coffey Architects — Photo by Timothy Soar

Apartment Block, UK, by Coffey Architects

Local studio Coffey Architects overhauled the interior of this two-storey London flat and decorated it with surfaces made from wooden blocks, including a mezzanine study area with a long desk and storage.

Behind the study area is a main bedroom. Here, Coffey Architects separated the two zones by changing the flooring from wooden blocks to a grey carpet and adding Japanese-style timber screens inlaid with translucent panels.

Find out more about Apartment Block ›

Reading nook with white walls and black shelving — Photo by Rafael Soldi

Whidbey Dogtrot, USA, by SHED

American firm SHED added a reading nook with views of the surrounding landscape to the bedroom suite in Whidbey Dogtrot, a cedar-clad home in the Pacific Northwest.

Slim black shelving covers the three walls in the nook and provides a worktop space for reading and studying.

Find out more about Whidbey Dogtrot ›

Wooden desk by a timber-framed window in MA House by Timothee Mercier from Studio XM — Photo by Simone Bossi

MA House, France, by Timothee Mercier

An oak desk paired with an aubergine-coloured Cassina chair sits behind a large picture window in the bedroom of this farm building in southeast France.

Architect Timothee Mercier converted the rural building into a home for his parents, creating a purposefully pared-back interior “clear of fuss and clutter” and adding splashes of colour in the choices of furniture.

Find out more about MA House ›

Wooden desk below a mezzanine bed — Image by Kevin Kunstadt

Financial District apartment, USA, by Light and Air

Brooklyn studio Light and Air removed partition walls in this 1,200-square-foot New York City apartment to create an open space with increased storage.

Custom-built furniture creates separation between the rooms, including an L-shaped desk with open shelves that helps divide the bedroom area from the living room.

Find out more about the Financial District apartment ›

Reference

A refined palette of oak, plaster and steel defines the interior of the Liewood headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, designed by local practice Norm Architects.

The pared-back 2,200-square-metre office was conceived to give prominence to Liewood‘s colourful, Scandi-style children’s clothes, toys and homeware.

Norm Architects has completed Liewood’s Copenhagen headquarters

“With the ambition to create a comfortable space with a somewhat understated character, we worked to let the space obtain its significance through the thoughtful use of tactile elements such as textured plaster walls and contrasting elements like oakwood and steel,” explained Sofie Bak, an architect at the practice.

Staff enter the five-floor office via an airy light-filled lobby that is anchored by a rounded counter, roughly washed with sandy-beige plaster.

Plaster podiums provide display space on the first floor

Cone-shaped pendant lights are strung along the ceiling while oversized stone tiles are laid across the floor, helping to “emphasise the grandeur” of the space.

A pre-existing staircase curves up to the first floor, which accommodates a showroom. This part of the building formerly served as a production hall, with a vast scale that could easily feel empty and unwelcoming, according to Norm Architects.

At mealtimes, staff can gather in The Parlour

To counter this, the practice constructed what it describes as a “warm wooden core” – a house-shaped oakwood volume with built-in shelves for showcasing Liewood’s products.

Large, plaster-coated display plinths are dotted across the rest of the room. At the back is a short flight of wide, wooden stairs where staff can sit and chat throughout the day.

More products can also be presented here on bespoke podiums that, thanks to cut-outs at their base, are able to slot onto the steps.

The building’s first floor also contains The Parlour – a kitchen and dining area where Liewood employees can enjoy meals together. It features a large travertine table, a series of plump grey sofas and graphic art pieces by the Danish designer Sara Martinsen.

Traditional work areas can be found across the rest of the HQ

Work areas throughout the rest of the HQ are furnished with practical desks and storage units that match the off-white walls, while meeting rooms are fronted with panes of glass to foster a sense of openness.

As the building’s original staircase didn’t extend all the way to the fifth floor, Norm Architects installed a spiralling set of white-steel steps.

These grant access to a space the practice refers to as The Apartment: a secondary showroom designed to have a more intimate, homely feel.

The top floor accommodates The Apartment, a more intimate showroom

Elsewhere, Norm Architects recently took its minimalist aesthetic off-shore when designing the interiors of the Y9 sailing yacht, decked out with supple suede furnishings and wood-panelled surfaces.

The photography is by Jonas Bjerre Poulsen of Norm Architects.

Reference

understated

Eight bedrooms with understated yet productive desk spaces

Norm Architects devises understated HQ for kids’ lifestyle brand Liewood

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