Best Strategies to Stage that Awkward Kitchen Desk Space
Hi! If you haven’t read my last article on how I refinished a painted kitchen desk top, please follow the link. The project kept me occupied during Hurricane Ian and I love, love, love the end product!
In this article, I show some strategies to utilize and stage a kitchen desk space. If you have one of these kitchen desk areas, you may find the space to be impractical. I tend to agree; our kitchen desk serves as the place where junk piles accumulate. However, I plan to change that trajectory now that the desk looks so good!
Is the kitchen desk an outdated feature?
I notice that newer homes in my area do not feature a kitchen desk in the cooking spaces. My instinct tells me that most people underutilize kitchen desks and do not find them to be practical. We considered converting ours into a wine storage feature, but for the moment that idea is on hold.
A while back, I concluded that the location of our desk facilitates its use as a coffee bar with a writing space. I actually use the writing space during the day, when I brainstorm meals or plan routine shopping trips. The constant accumulation of clutter frustrates me, though.
In order to encourage everyone to keep the space tidy, I neatly staged our newly refinished desk top with a piece of artwork, an aloe plant, a vase and candle, and a coffee prep station on a bamboo cutting board. The result? A minimalist desk space that discourages clutter and facilitates productivity.
Other ways to stage a kitchen desk
I gathered staging items and developed a few vignettes for home stagers and home sellers who feel stumped about how to showcase a kitchen desk.
Quaint coffee bar kitchen desk
I found the Scrabble COFFEE model on the clearance rack and couldn’t resist! A small, kitschy item like this can make for a memorable vignette
Simple wine vignette
This setting uses a wine bottle, a display pedestal, and a wine flip book in front of a piece of canvas art. I like to use canvas art and a natural item, like the aloe plant, in vignettes.
Coffee bar with glass vase
I aimed for simplicity in this vignette, opting for a green-tinted heavy glass vase to hide one of the many visible outlets. There are six outlets and switches visible above the desk top, and camouflaging some of these elevated the space significantly!
Staged laptop computer station
Since some people do actually utilize kitchen desk spaces as…well, desk spaces, use a fake laptop! Pictured is an actual laptop, but I found a retailer online, Propsamerica.com that produces realistic fakes for professional stagers and theatrical performances!
Simplicity
Around the artwork, I placed two shiny metallic vases and added a few sprigs of dried lavender to soften the look. It creates a beautiful space without a specified purpose, still better than an empty desk top.
More wine vignettes…
This is why it is good to know your target audience if you are staging for rent or sale! If a lifestyle involving wine is standard in your location, then vignettes featuring wine can seem appealing to those wanting that lifestyle. I used a “wine” sign, a wine bucket, bottle of wine, wine glasses and a candle to set the tone and give the desk top purpose. The second vignette used a wine bottle rack, wine glasses, and a candle for the same effect.
Finally, something for the foodies
Well, it is a kitchen, so it works! I used cook books, a ceramic artichoke, a marble display pedestal, and a decorative candle holder to inspire those who might actually cook. I love the bright green of the artichoke to give a vibrant dash of color!
This exercise was an example of how you can take an outdated or awkward home feature and stage it to distract or camouflage (the outlets) and give purpose to a space. I hope that these ideas provided you with inspiration as you take your space to the next level of fabulous!
Hillary McAlhany is the owner of Gate City Design. She is a certified professional home stager/redesigner, E-designer & color expert. Although she is based in North Carolina, she offers remote design services outside of the central North Carolina region.
