Workspace size guide
Choosing a desk is mostly a maths problem dressed up as a design problem. Here's the maths.
The first measurement: surface depth
A 60 cm deep desk is the bare minimum for a laptop and a coffee. It works in a corner, in a hallway, in a guest room. It does not work for a 27-inch monitor and a wireless keyboard — by the time you've added an arm's-length viewing distance, your elbows have left the surface.
For monitor work, aim for at least 70 cm of depth. For dual monitors, 80 cm. For a draughting setup with a desk lamp, paper and a screen, you want the full 90 cm.
The second measurement: usable width
120 cm is the common "compact" desk width. It fits a laptop, a notebook and a cup of tea, and not much else. Most MOLNAR motorised desks start at 140 cm and run to 180 cm.
If you write longhand alongside typing, 160 cm is the sweet spot — laptop centre, notebook to the right, calendar pinned to the left. Below 140 cm, every accessory becomes a trade-off.
The third measurement: clearance around the desk
This is the one people forget. A standing desk needs:
- 110 cm of front clearance for your chair to roll back and for you to stand comfortably.
- 30 cm behind the desk for cable routing and the back of the controller.
- 20 cm either side, so the desk isn't pinned against a wall and you can reach a side drawer or wastebasket.
Add these to the desk's footprint: a 160 × 70 cm desk wants a clear floor area of roughly 200 × 210 cm.
How to lay out a small home office (under 8 m²)
Push the desk perpendicular to the window, not facing it (glare) and not backing onto it (shadows on the keyboard). Keep the chair on castors, not legs, so it tucks fully under when standing. If space is genuinely tight, a 140 × 60 cm desk with a wall-mounted shelf above for the monitor frees an extra 25 cm of depth.
How to lay out a shared workspace (over 12 m²)
Two facing desks share cable management neatly but conflict on standing posture — one person's standing screen is the other's distraction. Two L-shaped desks against opposite walls cost more but solve this. If desks must face each other, a 30 cm acoustic divider on the back edge buys 2–3 dB of quiet for video calls.
If you're choosing a workshop bench
The maths is different: depth wins over width. A 60 cm bench is fine for assembly; 80 cm is needed if you weld or solder with a fume extractor; 90 cm if you mount a vice and need elbow room either side. Height-adjustable benches let you weld seated (45 minutes is the limit before back pain in most people) and assemble standing.
If you're choosing a convertible coffee table
Aim for at least 110 cm long so it can host plates for two adults at dining height. Anything shorter becomes a single-serve setup. Lift-tops also need 70 cm of clearance in front of the sofa — the table swings out as it rises.
The cheap shortcut: tape it out first
Before ordering, mask out the desk footprint on the floor with painter's tape, then live with it for two evenings. You will discover, every time, at least one thing the catalogue specification did not warn you about. It costs ten minutes and saves a return.