Description
Sleek and contemporary, this dark taupe reclaimed look desk is the perfect combination of function, durability and design in a modern form. With clean lines, a floating top work station and sleek track metal legs, this desk will add pizzaz to any home office. Featuring two storage drawers and a file drawer to help keep you organized with a large desktop surface to provide plenty of room for all your hardware and working needs.
From the manufacturer
Monarch Specialties Dark Taupe Reclaimed-Look/Silver Metal Office Desk
When your workstation needs to be both compact and functional, this taupe office desk serves that purpose with ease and its driftwood look finish is easy on the eyes! This computer desk is there for you with all you need to get the job done no matter the task at hand. A sturdy silver metal frame, 3 convenient storage drawers (1 for standard/legal documents) on easy metal glides – A recipe for success! The 60-inch length fits perfectly in small homes, apartments or condo but provides ample surface space for a computer, lamp, notebooks and more supplies.
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
- This small desk is a simple and functional option; offering you ample surface space for a laptop, lamp, books and supplies, yet it is perfect in small homes, apartments or condos
- Thick panel construction in a taupe wood look finish on all sides for a rich, full looking office desk
- Supported by a sturdy silver metal frame, you have lots of leg room to make the most of your writing table or computer desk
- Organize all your school supplies or business essentials with 1 spacious filing drawer and two storage drawers for other items, all on easy metal glides
Deep Thought –
Perfect? No. But Far Better Than I Expected…I stared at this desk for a few months, trying to gauge how disappointed I would be with it. For the money it seemed like a great deal, but some of the reviews were scaring me off. Finally I ordered it., put it together, and am sitting at it right now. So let me tell you… it’s a VERY nice desk for the money. That’s not to say it’s perfect, but for the price point it’s a steal. Let me walk you through it.Amazon quoted me over a week for delivery, but it came much sooner than expected. The delayed shipping is likely due to it coming from the manufacturer, and because it’s a big and heavy box. The box was probably a bit larger than the top piece (5 ft x 2 ft) and… I don’t know… 6 inches thick. Don’t under-estimate the size and weight of this. The box had thick bubble-wrap all around the outside of it. Unfortunately, it rained before I got to the box and the water penetrated some holes in the bubble wrap. The entire box was soaked and I was certain I was going to have to deal with potentially getting a new one shipped. I opened up the box, and not a drop of water was on any of the pieces! The desk pieces were surrounded by so much Styrofoam that no rain touched it. I carried the desk inside my house in pieces which was much easier to navigate than that box.For such a straightforward desk, there are a lot of pieces. I think there were something like 27 pieces of wood, and then a smaller box containing the legs and a ton of screws and nuts.The directions were… okay. There are no written directions, just diagrams. To be honest, some of the pictures were too small, or the diagrams were poorly designed. It took a lot of time to figure out and feel confident that I was about to assemble it correctly. The rails especially are hard (the longer rails are for the really big drawer, and the shorter ones for the two small drawers). You should be able to figure it out… they just didn’t make it easy. Assembly probably took me 2-3 hours. DEFINITELY have a power screwdriver ready to help you with this… you don’t want to hand screw this whole thing.The desk itself is excellent. It’s large and it looks REALLY nice. The color is fantastic, and from a short distance it almost looks like a real solid wood desk.Unfortunately, this illusion ends quickly when you touch it. It doesn’t “feel” like a solid wood desk… it feels like laminate. It’s not so much the texture, which is fine… it’s the solidness of the top piece. As other reviewers have noted, the top piece is not solid. I’m not even talking about a solid piece of hardwood… it’s not even a solid piece of MDF. It feels like they took some thin sheets of MDF, put separators in between, and glued it all together. Again… it LOOKS really nice. And it’s solid enough to put normal things on that you would on a desk… but as soon as you touch it you can feel and hear that it’s hollow. It gives a bit of a hollow sound when you run your hand across it (or knock on it), and you can just feel the weight isn’t there. I don’t really know how to describe it, but despite the looks and high quality of the veneer, it doesn’t feel high-end. All the other pieces (the drawer components and such) are solid. I am guessing they were able to drive the price down by not using or paying shipping on a solid piece on top, but it definitely effects your feelings on the desk.Now, does it feel like I am going to go right through it when working on it? No. Not at all. It feels solid enough. I’ve already pounded on it with my fist pretty hard and it didn’t feel like I was going to go through it. Maybe if I really smashed something on it it might penetrate, but it would have to be some huge accident… normal use isn’t going to break this thing. Regardless, I’ve been thinking about adding a piece of clear glass or acrylic to the top to add some weight and heft and protect it.I have a heavy 32″ curved monitor mounted on a hydraulic arm, and I was wondering how that was going to hold on this desk top. Happily there was no issue at all and the desk is holding the arm really well. Note though that I was careful not to over-tighten when I clamped the arm down for obvious reasons. Again, I think a piece of glass or acrylic could help with this.— PROS —- Looks beautiful, and exactly like the picture. There is no denying how nice this desk looks and the quality of the veneer.- Nice large 5’x2′ size is perfect- Top piece “appears” to be really thick, which is a nice touch- Drawers work great. Lots of space in them (especially the big one) to store stuff- Spacing is great. I and my chairs’ arms fit under it well. Drawers are just the right distance on each side.- Veneer covers every side of everything. No rough edges that I can see.- The price was right!— CONS —- Something about the top being hollow reduces the niceness of this desk. It’s not like you can see it, but somehow you kind of feel it with your hands as you work on the desk.- There is no cord hole, USB or power ports, or under-desk cord holders. Given that the desk is hollow I’m a bit worried about drilling one in.- One of the three drawers is slightly, slightly, askew. It still fits fine and doesn’t rub anything, but when you look at it the alignment is just off a hair.- While the legs are really nice, something about the matching drawer handles I don’t love. I think I’ll likely replace them if possible.
Jennifer –
Huge desk!Make sure to check the dimensions and measure your space. The desk is huge and didn’t fit where my old work table was that I replaced. Takes forever to put together. Half the pieces aren’t labeled and you only have pictures as directions. It wasn’t hard to assemble, just took a long time and I needed a second person from time to time.
Brianne kenyon –
Great desk for the priceGreat desk – sturdy, easy to assemble and looks great. I’ve been using this desk daily and have encountered no issues. This is a great desk for the price. I would purchase it again.
C. Okamuro –
Nice desk for the price (or even a bit more)I’ve read the reviews here (and did so prior to my purchase), but was not really worried when I placed my order. I purchased this desk, as well as the Monarch Specialties White/Grey Hollow-Core Bookcase, and a small ottoman. I liked the look of the white furniture, and thought that it would work well in my home office.Packaging – The desk arrived in typical flat-pack fashion, with a light cardboard box, Styrofoam sheets lining the interior of the box on all sides, and the occasional piece of foam sheeting on the inside to protect individual panels. There is a plastic and cardboard tray of hardware. The Styrofoam takes a decent amount of abuse in shipping (from Quebec, I think), and so it’s a little bit of a mess as you unbox the pieces. Everything was intact, but there was a tiny bit of surface finish damage to a corner of the desktop (only noticeable if you are looking for it).Assembly – Quick assembly is easy to achieve if you lay out the parts in advance (which is easy to do when inspecting the pieces for damage), and have sufficient space to both stage and assemble everything. Due to the lack of strength of most flat-pack furniture, I think it’s always best to assemble the item wherever it’s going to be long-term. The process of assembly went pretty quickly. All holes were indexed properly, and all of the hardware was sufficient to the task. It took me about 45 minutes to put together… while you may be able to save some time by using a power screwdriver, I really don’t think it’s worth the risk (regardless of the clutch options on the device). Do not skip (or skimp) on the glue… I coworker got the same desk, and the assembly results were not as favorable without the use of the glue. I assembled the desk per the instructions, and I have absolutely no racking from side to side or front-to-back.Appearance/Quality – It’s good to keep your expectations realistic here, as this is not a $2000 piece of Steelcase or Herman Miller furniture. That said, I find the desk to be of a level of quality that I would expect from a desk costing twice as much. Judging from pictures, it’s hard to tell what materials are used where, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect with the leg assemblies and the riser pieces (between the drawer boxes and desktop). I was happy to find that they were painted metal, rather than some lesser material. The color is somewhere between bright aluminum and gunmetal. The drawer pulls are painted plastic, and are substantially brighter than the metal pieces. The drawer assemblies aren’t as bad as others have noted, but the action of the slides isn’t very refined. It can be rectified with some lubricating grease if it really matters to you (it’s smoothes the motion and dampens some of the plasticky noises). The depth of the slide on the hanging file drawer is not ideal if you use legal-size file folders (I’m using it on letter, so it’s not an issue for me).Value – I wanted a simple desk with some mod-type style, and this fit the bill at a modest price. For the quality, I would have been willing to spend more.
Debbie S. –
Cute deskCute desk. The only reason I rated it a 4 was the top is textured. Wish it was a smooth surface for writing.The company never returned my calls when we had a damaged piece. Just wanted a replacement part. Had to order a whole new desk to get that part, and had At have Amazon help us get this resolved through the company. Only then did we get immediate results.
Scott –
April 9, 2022 – whiteThe box was opened when we received it and both ends were in bad shape. The desk surprisingly was not harmed. The instructions were not in the box, but they might have come out in shipping. I was able to get the instructions online. You get what you pay for, its a nice desk but if your looking for something solid this might not be enough for you.
RB –
Good looking desk with ample storage!Overall, the desk looks nice, is quite sturdy and has amble storage. Just wish assembly instructions were easier to follow. Looking forward to getting the matching file cabinet. Hopefully those instructions are a bit easier to follow.
Ricky M. –
Great product. Easy to assembleLove the way it looks and was easy to assemble
Liz Margin –
BEAUTIFUL – LOOKS JUST LIKE THE PHOTOS. DID NOT DISAPPOINT.Well lucky for me, I did not have to assemble this desk myself! It’s a lot of pieces!!! My husband took his time and it took a few hours. I am thrilled with the quality. My only wish is that it would have some time of bar of footrest. Other than that, it’s perfect. Great size, love the darker black color way and has just enough storage.
Greg Nicholson –
Dont’t Believe The HypeOK, so I’ve been going through all of the reviews on this one. I received mine yesterday and it was built and in use within 2 hours (admittedly, I took a few “breaks” during assembly). There is no chemical smell causing pains in my chest and the desktop is actually quite sturdy so no fear of your coffee cup crashing through the desktop (the reviews are, however, quite entertaining). The directions are not designed for a child so you have to read through them before diving into the assembly. For example, Step 1, Page 13 shows the drawer rails clearly identified – G(CR), G(CL), F(CL), etc. beside the pannels. They are shown there to illustrate the orientation by which they are to be mounted to the drawer sides. Look it over carefully and you will get it.All in all, I am quite pleased with the purchase and this exact desk was $80-$100 more on Overstock (which cancelled my order after the fact for backorder… So THANK YOU, Overstock!) as well as Wayfair which was sold out. So if you like the look of this desk – AND you are patient enough to review the assembly instructions – you will not be disappointed.