Best desks for small home offices 2025

My top 5 small desks for compact workspaces

Let’s face it, the home office is usually the runt of the litter when it comes to room size. That being said, space is of the essence. Below is my Top 5 small space saving desks for your home office. 

I’ll make judgement on Aesthetics, Practicality, User feedback and Price. 

Without further ado…

Riley Desk – Mango Wood – Dusk

This beautiful little desk offers the following great features:

• A snug width of 80cm.
• Double stacked to allow for fair open stowage.
• 90cm Height it gives your display screen a bit of height to help with your posture.
• Aesthetically pleasing yet not solid wood which does help with the price tag.
• Customer reviews are good.
• Base is bridged by a shelf helping with stability alongside the metal frame it’s pretty solid.

Recently priced at £91, but I have seen it priced at £119 when not on sale.

Things to be conscious of would be:

• The bottom shelf, a blessing and curse, if like me you’re long of leg this could get in the way a little.
• The desks are flat, no angle adjust incase you prefer tilt.
• Also, not specific to this desk alone but being aware if your office chair has arm rests whether they will adjust to go below the height of the desk.

My scores:

Scoring 3.9 this is a visually appealing table with good build quality and a fair price tag. See it here: Riley Desk, Mango Wood

Dripex – Adjustable standing desk – Amazon

For my standing desk lovers. This compact desk certainly offers some great value:

• Able to adjust to either standing (max height 115cm) or seated (min height 68cm).
• It also allows for desk tilt and a split desk which you can set at differing heights.
• The desk itself is only 54cm which is great for the space conscious
• Optional small tower stand on the bottom extends a further 22cm giving a total width required of around 76cm (if you wish to use it).
• A range of colours (black and rustic wood being my fave) it can fit many interiors.
• At a current price of around £38 it’s quite a bit for your money.

The main downside from my perspective being:

• The manual adjustment for height. This I could imagine becoming tedious if you like to mix up your working day between sitting and standing.
• Whilst some may like the wheels for moving, it’s not my personal favourite but you can always leave them off. I find it’s usually adds to instability.
• From customer feedback it’s mostly positive, but some remarks around the lightweight nature of it meaning it doesn’t feel so solid.

My scores:

Scoring 3.7 overall this desk is a budget friendly, small standing/seated desk. See it here: Duplex Adjustable Desk

John Lewis – Cantera storage desk – John Lewis

If you shop John Lewis you generally know it’s quality. Here’s a quick run through of why I love this option.

• John Lewis build quality, it speaks for itself along with customer service.
• 3 storage sections for those who need things close by but stowed.
• A width of around 96cm keeping things snug and under 1m.
• Cable tidy at the rear helps minimise cable clutter!

Naturally there are some compromises to be had

• Zero adjustability, it’s height is the height and no tilt (but you can always buy things to help with this).
• No other colour options (though beautiful as it is).
• It’s moderately pricey (latest price I saw was £349) with less frills than you would find on other desk. But you do pay for quality! 

My scores:

Price

★★★★★

Aesthetics

★★★★★

Practicality

★★★★★

User Feedback

★★★★★

Overall

★★★★★

Scoring 3.6 It’s a beautiful, non-generic desk. It scores less than others simply due to lack of adaptability, but that certainly doesn’t knock it’s quality in my opinion. See it here: John Lewis Cantera Desk

Mack & Milo – Dinges Ladder desk – Wayfair

This one is my curve ball but true to it’s nature of space saving! RRP at £129.99 but I have seen it on sale for £91.99!

• Able to fold the desk away when not in use.
• Maximised storage with the entire side being shelving.
• Whilst maybe aimed at children, the blackboard can actually be really useful.
• 2 colours available, White and Grey (subject to availability of course).
• Desk is 78.5cm wide so good space, and a height of 75cm.
• Wayfair offer generally good customer service.

Now with this being a bit more experimental it does have it’s drawbacks but this is all down to perspective. If you need space, you don’t require a desk out all the time but you’d benefit from storage then why not! But to keep you informed here’s what I found:

• Zero adjustment, the desk is almost secondary in the items purpose.
• The hinge doesn’t look heavy duty and the ply looks quite thin so I’d imagine this isn’t a hardy desk.
• The shelves are around 19.5cm in depth so larger items may not be suitable to fit inside or may overhang. 

My scores:

Price

★★★★★

Aesthetics

★★★★★

Practicality

★★★★★

User Feedback

★★★★★

Overall

★★★★★

Scoring 3.6 I wanted to feature this as a true space saver. Though as a desk it may not be dreamy, it certainly delivers on space saving. See it here: Mack & Milo, Dinges Ladder Desk

Dripex – Adjustable standing desk – Amazon

For my standing desk lovers. This compact desk certainly offers some great value.

• Able to adjust to either standing (max height 115cm) or seated (min height 68cm).
• It also allows for desk tilt and a split desk which you can set at differing heights.
• The desk itself is only 54cm which is great for the space conscious
• Optional small tower stand on the bottom extends a further 22cm giving a total width required of around 76cm (if you wish to use it).
• A range of colours (black and rustic wood being my fave) it can fit many interiors.
• At a current price of around £38 it’s quite a bit for your money.

The main downside from my perspective being

• The manual adjustment for height. This I could imagine becoming tedious if you like to mix up your working day between sitting and standing.
• Whilst some may like the wheels for moving, it’s not my personal favourite but you can always leave them off. I find it’s usually adds to instability.
• From customer feedback it’s mostly positive, but some remarks around the lightweight nature of it meaning it doesn’t feel so solid.

My scores:

Price

★★★★★

Aesthetics

★★★★★

Practicality

★★★★★

User Feedback

★★★★★

Overall

★★★★★

Scoring 3.9 this is a visually appealing table with good build quality and a fair price tag. See it here: Riley Desk, Mango Wood