A non-trivial look at the desk

Today the home desk plays any role other than its own. It is difficult for him to take root in our everyday life. They buy it mainly “for a set”, “for furniture”, just as a beautiful thing, and they have long forgotten how to use it. Some look through the press behind him and solve crosswords, others fill him up with paper trash and dusty folders, and still others are pricked up to drink beer with him. But practically no one uses it for its intended purpose, inherent in the name of this thing..

At work, as it should be, the table serves as a tool. I remember that a book for business people, one of those that is written with a truly pastoral fervor, described how a resourceful boss one day found a common language with partners. They went to him with complaints, argued, slammed the door … And then it dawned on the boss. On their next visit, he took and left the table, just something! He left his “fortress” and democratically sat down with his partners next to him, on the next chair. It turned out that his desk radiated a threat. And having come out to the people “unarmed”, the owner of the cabinet immediately stopped the “war”.

In general, a desk is not only (and not so much) a place for papers or a computer. A table, especially for a man, is the same indicator of status as, say, a suit, car, apartment or office where it is installed. I assure you, with the help of the table, you can win or fail a case, come across a bright thought – or, on the contrary, lose the thread of reasoning, tormented by why “your knees are cramped under this damned table top.” So this thing is not as simple as it might seem at first glance..

Home idyll

The pleasant word “written” as applied to the table is starting to become outdated. Millions of adults nowadays “write” on the computer or simply dictate to the secretary. Only children, old women, and some stubborn native writers are still engaged in pure writing. Today we are not going to talk about tables especially for them. Let’s better talk about the cornerstone properties of this item..

It is very important to feel comfortable at any table. It is clear that the convenience of the home and the convenience of the office are completely different things. “Home office”, who does not know, is not a table buried under papers. Home office is, in terms of furniture, a rather ridiculous-looking cart filled with computers and printers. In civilized countries it is pulled out from behind the closet, used for its intended purpose, and then hidden back so as not to spoil the nobility of the interior. Those young men who consider the monitor a beautiful object are forced to acquire a table with metallized legs or a streamlined table top in the style of the unforgettable design of the monitor itself.

Ideally, a home office table is not a thing for work, but for comfort and warmth. And therefore, it should be made of the most natural materials. Wood (walnut, beech, cherry, oak), pleasant to the touch and to the eye. The leather, which is sometimes tightened by the blotter (the front of the table top), is delicate but strong. Drawers, obvious and secret, where it is pleasant to look in, put something in or take out … The cabinet table and the cabinet itself are good to show to friends, while emphasizing how much money you spent on arranging this place for mental exercises. A good table, like a purebred dog or a stallion, has character, posture and, of course, an appropriate price, because, as you know, the mediocrity of an object is inversely proportional to its value. It is at home that tables similar to their ancestors with a difference of a century or two find their place. Tables from novels, historical chronicles, tables, as if descended from paintings. These are the precious Cecotti and Theo 130 tables worth about ten thousand cu. e. Tables for great writers with the capabilities of average oil owners…

Sinking to the ground, it is worth saying that it is better for a child to go home to buy a table with legs that change their height, so as not to change the furniture or the child from time to time. To help the little ones, a chair with adjustable seat and armrest height is very suitable. We’ll tell you in confidence that it is the chair that turns the process of sitting at the table into pleasure or torture. However, most serious people work all day long in the service. This is where the fun begins..

“Wouldn’t you, priest, be chasing cheapness …”

As a rule, a new office is filled with tables with the blessing of just two people – the owner and his caretaker. Most often, their choice is determined by the price. There is nothing cheaper than a rectangular table, which is why our offices are furnished with such furniture. This is what happens in Russia. In more bourgeois countries, doctors and designers are also invited to the advice of the owner with the caretaker. The former look after the ergonomics of the interior, the latter – for its possible beauty. Hence – a completely different choice. The specialists of the large furniture company “Kraft” confirm that for the most part tables in Russia and in the rest of the world are bought different, comfortable – “from them” and uncomfortable – from us. Therefore, the fashion for tables in Russia, they lament in Kraft, is more like the fashion for cheap tables. Alas, saving on the table is just a continuation of saving on a living person.

Domestic factories will gladly offer you the cheapest and rectangular products. Alas, fashionable curved lines are not yet within their power. The Russians are also weak in terms of wear resistance. For some reason, many believe that a good TV can only be made from good parts, but a good table is from what is at hand. I declare with full responsibility: this is not true!

Russia follows the ascending (in terms of prices) the Baltic states, and right behind it begins Italy, which has announced not only here – to the whole world – a large part of the “canteen” market. Germany is proudly behind Italy. Semi-antique furniture, with plagiarism carvings and the price of antiques.

Today it is considered good form to furnish an office with tables from one factory, therefore, the largest manufacturers include tables for thick and thin (not by weight, but according to Gogol) in the model range. The more expensive the factory is, the more colorful its palette and the better the materials.

The boss has the thickest

The power of the desk as a pressure tool is fully realized in the office. From a means of personal use, the desk here turns into a public instrument, acquiring a completely different become than its aristocratic and cozy home brother. The thickness of the table top is the international standard by which the owner’s position is determined. And furniture firms will never put a thin countertop in a tough boss cabinet kit..

By a single edge of the table, without looking into the office itself, you can immediately determine who is sitting at this table. Fifty millimeters thick is a big boss, 35 is a top manager, and 16 is like a small fry…

A heavy, massive giant table convinces partners in the reliability of the owner, and subordinates – in his heavy hand. Even if the owner is not obsessed with power, a large table “helps” him to keep order. Really large tables, as a rule, are covered with natural veneer, varnished, their color is predominantly dark, and ease of use is relegated to the background. This is not just a table, but a captain’s bridge, from which it is convenient to look into the bright distance and give abrupt commands. The steering wheel turns a younger rank. The cost of “captain’s” tables can be up to $ 5 thousand. e.

For LEGO lovers

Rounded, ergonomic shapes are the main fashion trend in all new furniture. Before our eyes, from a solid rectangular bar, the table turns into an amorphous body that flows around the inmate as it is convenient for him. It is immediately clear that in the process of creating such tables, doctors took part, examining their configuration with the meticulousness of tailors (“… But here it doesn’t press, but if you turn around, it doesn’t press? ..”). This is how perfection is born, which, I want to believe, will be appreciated by the bosses of the new century..

Comfortable tables are almost the only office privilege of subordinates (of course, if the boss spent money on them). Movable cabinets, hanging and table shelves for all business gadgets, plus a thinner tabletop – that’s the image of an easy-going, helpful, fast and mobile person. It can be difficult to choose a direction of business, to decide on financial expenses, but the accepted task should be performed at cruising speed – so that your ears whistle!..

The consultants of the Felix trade and production company, which specializes in office furniture, noticed that the lower the rank of an employee, the more cabinets, telephones and printers around him. The tables slide together, separated by a light divider that hides the monitor, but not the watchful back of the fellow’s head. The material of such tables is the famous chipboard covered with laminated plastic, and the legs in the newest models are made of metal. The supports are unscrewed at will, the table “grows” or, conversely, “squats”. Moreover, it is bought as a designer: to the legs – countertops, to the countertops – bells and whistles. Such an “advanced” table costs one and a half times more than the usual one, about $ 700. e.

Watch your shoes!

A cold stream of glass things moves towards ergonomic curves in the “dining room” fashion, since the glass is now different – thick, durable, tempered. There is even a glass on which fingerprints are not visible. This is the fashion for the coming years. I hope it does not leave the borders of countries with warm climates, otherwise we will shiver, resting our elbows on the ice of the glass tabletop. Cold, uncomfortable, but very aesthetically pleasing.

The transparent glass home office is almost invisible against the background of the rest of the interior. An executive table with glass supports imparts to the office that lightness and elegance, which could hardly be expected from gloomy oak “monuments”. They say that in more bourgeois countries, designers recommend placing glass tables next to huge windows in business buildings. They offer people to sit at these tables, no more, no less. And those poor will now have to more carefully monitor the cleanliness of their shoes and the condition of their socks..

Andrey Masaltsev