An L-shaped desk takes up on average 30% more footprint when compared with a straight desk. However, this ultimately consumes less space as the L-shaped desk provides more storage area and work space for the user. This may negate the requirement for using extra storage cabinets which take up more space.
Furthermore, L-shaped or corner desks can be more cost-efficient as they can eliminate the requirement to invest in storage units. Since the L-shaped desk offers more work space, the user has increased freedom to multi-task.
This can lead to increased comfort and productivity as the worker avoids the need to move equipment or materials every time that they need to perform multiple actions simultaneously.
10 benefits of using an L-shaped desk include:
1. Consumes less office space
2. Optimizes room space
3. Increases desk space
4. Increased storage
5. Tidier due to adequate storage area
6. Cost-efficient
7. More freedom for multi-tasking
8. Increases productivity
9. Increases comfort
10. Accommodates more people
Did you know? When organizing items on your desk, equipment and materials should be stored based on the neutral, maximum and outer reach zones.
Consumes less office space
It may sound contradictory, but despite L-shaped desks being approximately 30% larger than a standard straight desk, this can lead to consumption of less space. Some of this extra desk surface area is in the maximum reach zones anyway, which makes it perfect for storage of infrequently used materials.
With this additional surface area, you have extra space for storing items that would otherwise warrant a set of drawers or cabinets to store them in. If you don’t need a set of drawers, you ultimately could save yourself at least 1 – 2 square meters of space.
With all the additional space available, if a number of people can fit to the L-shaped desk, it may eliminate the need for a second desk.
To put how much space this could save into perspective, I searched for the length and width of various sized desks and put them into a neat table:
|
Desk type |
Size (L x W) |
|
Small straight desk |
38.59 x 22.44 inches |
|
Standard office desk |
50 x 20 inches |
|
Standard L-shaped desk |
60 x 60 inches |
Optimizes room space
The L-shaped desk offers more work space, leg room and space underneath the desk for storing objects, such as CPUs and drawers.
If you think about it, an L-shaped desk is more capable of utilizing corner space that would normally be made redundant by a straight desk.
Furthermore, if there’s less cabinets and storage units required, you also save more footprint which can be dedicated to other items or simply to help minimize space consumed in a small work area.
Increases desk space
30% more surface area when compared with a straight desk. With increased desk surface area, you can have ample space and greater freedom to position your equipment where you prefer. Most importantly, you can locate it in a more ergonomic position.
With straight desks, space can be at a premium. This sometimes means that the user has less space for their keyboard and mouse and consequently, they have inadequate space for their wrists to rest while they type.
However, this shouldn’t pose an issue with L-shaped desks as your laptop and other items can be moved towards the back of the desk or even to the side to make more space for your routine work.
Increases storage
The extra surface area that a corner desk offers can be invaluable for storing frequently used items. This could include storing a printer or laminator on the side of the desk for easy reach.
You could even allocate an area to document storage, e.g., a section on the left for incoming paperwork and a section on the right for completed or outgoing paperwork.
Furthermore, L-shaped desks can come fitted with an integrated storage unit. This can be in the form of an integrated cabinet, drawers or bookshelf that are attached to the side of the desk.
Tidier due to adequate storage area
It’s difficult working and navigating through chaotic clutter and so a tidier desk helps promote a calmer mind. Good housekeeping pose as much of an issue if you have extra space to store items.
The benefit of having adequate storage area is that your desk (in theory) should look neater and more organized (or at least tidier on the desk surface, we won’t dare look in the drawers).
Tip: Adopting a 6S approach to your desk ensures that there’s a place for everything and everything in its place.
More cost-efficient
An L-shaped desk can sometimes accommodate multiple people. If this is the case, you could save a significant amount of money (at a minimum, $100 for a small, cheap desk) by not having to purchase an additional desk.
The increased storage area provided by an L-shaped desk can negate that added expense of investing in a drawer unit or storage system.
Corner desks can come with a fitted cabinet or storage system. This often works out more cost-effective in the long run when compared with purchasing a separate desk, cabinet and/or storage drawers.
However, in some scenarios, this doesn’t prove true. Below, I compared the cost of buying a desk with a hutch along with a separate mobile cabinet to buying all of these in a bundle.
|
Item description |
Cost of item | |
|
Separate item |
L Shaped Desk with Hutch |
$1163 |
|
Separate item |
Mobile cabinet |
$344 |
|
Total cost of L Shaped Desk with Hutch + mobile cabinet | $1507 |
|
Item description |
Cost of item | |
|
Bundle |
L Shaped Desk with Hutch and Mobile File Cabinet |
$1638 |
|
Total cost of L Shaped Desk with Hutch and Mobile File Cabinet |
$1638 |
Surprisingly, it works out $131 cheaper to purchase the items separately. Note that shipping of the mobile cabinet is free.
In another example I reviewed, the price worked out equal when I compared the price of buying an L-shaped desk and cabinet bundle to an L-shaped desk and a separate cabinet.
Tip: If buying a bundle set of furniture, compare the price of individually buying all the components separately to buying them in bundle (including shipping costs). It sometimes works out cheaper to buy them separately.
More freedom for multi-tasking
In many roles, whether you’re a student, worker or even someone performing regular household paperwork, there’s almost always an element of computer work and paperwork.
When using a straight desk, this often means that you have to shuffle equipment, such as a keyboard and mouse, out of your way to make room for working with documents or books.
The ergonomic gods are judging you…
Alternatively, you’re hunched over in a corner of the desk trying to awkwardly scribble your signature or review the material. This might be tolerable occasionally and for a short period of time. However, if you perform this activity frequently, it’s not only uncomfortable and poor ergonomics, but it could also result in injury or back pain.
With an L-shaped desk, you have the freedom to dedicate one section of the desk to your computer equipment and another side of the desk can be devoted to paperwork or other routine activities, e.g., IT repairs, using your tablet or gadgets, filing documents etc.
Increases productivity
With the added luxury of being able to multi-task, you in turn reduce the amount of time spent switching between tasks and having to move reams of equipment and materials around the desk only to spend time positioning them back in their precise location.
That’s not all, a structured and organized desk with dedicated storage means that you know where everything is located. There shouldn’t be a pile of miscellaneous documents forming a mountain on the side of your straight desk. This will save you time searching for documents in the future.
L-shaped desks offer a more aesthetically appealing and more professional look about them compared to straight desks. This alone can foster a more productive mindset.
Tip: By identify your workflow direction, you can learn how you manage incoming and outgoing paperwork throughout the day and organize your desk based on this to work more efficiently.
Accommodates more people
There are pros and cons to L-shaped v straight desks. This point doesn’t apply in all cases; in fact, where numerous people are sharing a room, such as an open-plan, straight desks are likely to accommodate a greater number of workers. However, there are some L-shaped desks which are so large that they can facilitate 2 people.
You could even be innovative with how you use the corner desk. For instance, if multiple people intend to use it for different purposes and/or at different times, a portion of the desk could be dedicated to each person, e.g., 2 part-time workers. Here, the extra storage space would be invaluable as the more people, the more materials that are generated.
I have heard of a father and son who used to do this. The father worked from home a couple of days a week, mostly from a computer; the son needed a desk for studying books during the evening. Since they both needed the desk at different times and for different purposes, they halved the desk between them and organized it according to their needs.
Tip: This also works well for people on day and night shifts that share desks.
Conclusion
It’s evident that L-shaped desks offer many benefits and will suit some people more than others. Of course, your environment and work ethic will dictate how suitable a corner desk would be for you.
If you’re looking to truly optimize how you arrange your L-shaped desk, increase your productivity and comfort while you work or study. Or if you are looking for inspiration on how your desk could be laid out, then go check out this article and discover plenty of tips and tricks on how to make your desk work for you: How to organize an L-shaped desk – 9 easy steps!
Sources
L-Shaped Desk vs. Straight Desk
https://www.officefurniture2go.com/
