Beverly Hills Contemporary & Modern
Furniture & Design

“But when you put something in your home you want it to reflect your lifestyle.”

Today’s desk is more than a piece of furniture passed from generation to generation.

“It’s functional art,” says Parnian, whose family has been in the furniture business since 1977. “If it’s in the den, you want to show off that desk. You want it to be the focal point and show off the work you’re doing and the level of your success.”

Clean lines, high gloss and exotic, dark woods such as ebony and Carpathian elm are the trend right now, says Parnian. It’s in complete contrast to the light maples used five years ago. Most of his customers are spending upwards of $20,000 on a desk that’s made to order.

“We couldn’t find anything to fit in this room because of the radius,” says Isabel Castro, who purchased a desk and credenza for the office in her Mesa home. “A square desk is not going to work in a round room.”

Parnian’s design team created a circular desk with walnut and mapa burl wood and two workstations (another popular trend right now). While Castro is paying her bills, her daughter can surf the Internet or check her e-mail.

“It goes so nicely with the room,” says Castro. “I love the statement it makes.”

People who don’t have a home office to showcase their desk are opting for the opposite approach — hiding it. A functional desk is put away in a corner, camouflaged to look as it it were just another cabinet.

“People are looking at desks in their kitchen,” says Tim Allison, showroom sales manager at IKEA in Tempe. “They want to download Emeril’s latest recipe while trying to make it.”

A clean work surface is another must for homeowners.

“We have a lot of desks that don’t have any drawers because you’re saving it (your work) to the server or e-mailing it,” says Allison. “We thought by now there wouldn’t be any paper, but there still is. You just don’t need as much of it.”