15 Fold Down Desks You Must Know About

Large furniture can crowd a room, especially if it is already a small room. So, thank you to the creators who invented fold-down desks. They work seamlessly in small rooms and anywhere we want more open space.

These desks are offered in various styles. Your choices are between the secretary, armoire, bookcase, cabinet, portable, storage, corner leaf, drop leaf, or floating desk.

You may be wondering what some of these desks look like and which ones work best for your situation. Look no further because we are about to give you several remarkable space-saving desk ideas.

Chrono Finished Secretary Desk

Chrono Finished Secretary Desk

This wooden secretary desk is both chic and functional. The grey and white color scheme are great to pair with cool-toned furniture and rooms.

Scratch, stain, and water-resistant surfaces are great for people who move a lot of paperwork and other items frequently. The adjustable shelves and hide-away cabinets make this desk helpful.

Secretary desks are best placed flat against a wall. You can also take secretary desks "literally" and place them with your back facing a wall and face an entrance or open space.

Cage-designed Wall-mounted Drop-down

Cage designed Wall mounted Drop down

This wall mount drop-down desk has a lot less surface area and no storage compared to the secretary desk. Sometimes minimal is all you need!

You can find these types of desks in tan, brown, black, or white. The materials they are made with vary from wood to metal.

Cage-designed wall-mounted desks are durable with their warp-resistant medium-density Fiberboard (MDF) and powder-coated steel mesh frame. They are great for small offices, children's bedrooms, and a college student's room.

Corner Folding Leaf Desk

Corner Folding Leaf Desk

When all you have is the corner of a room to work with, a folding corner desk works magically. The extra curve around the corner lets you hold more paperwork, your favorite photo, or a beautifully smelling flowerpot.

Your choice of desk pigments is black, red-brown, creamy-white, white, and tan. These corner folding leaf desks save a ton of floor space.

For even more surface area, install another smaller folding shelf above your drop-down desk. As a corner desk, it is pressure-resistant, allowing you to place more items on it compared to a simple folding leaf table.

Murphy-style Cabinet Desk With Chalk Board

Murphy style Cabinet Desk With Chalk Board

The murphy style cabinet desk is both useful and entertaining with its smartly designed chalkboard. When this desk is closed, the chalkboard faces outwards.

You can easily do any activity at this desk because of the number of shelves it possesses. Some of the activities you can do are play computer games, scrapbooking, crafting, sowing, bills, and homework.

They are normally made of wood, but you can find all sorts of color options like brown, black, white, and bright-colored. The cabinet desk is great in the living room, office, and bedroom.

Wall Fold Down Table With Legs

Wall Fold Down Table With Legs

The wall fold-down table with legs is commonly used in the dining room. You can also make a two-person collapsible table work as a two-seater desk.

Table legs help carry heavier weighted objects. Some drop-down tables have built-in picture frames on the underside so, when the desk is stored away you see a gorgeous photo.

These desks are great for couples that work from home and need the desk at the same time. They also make a wonderful homework desk or board game table for the kiddos.

Extra Large Fold-down Desk for Four

Extra Large Fold down Desk for Four

Extra-large fold-down desks are used as a dining room table and a desk. The wooden paneling and black outline create a tone of elegance.

For a rich, elegant appeal, choose a dark or red furnished desk. If you prefer a more natural clean appearance, pick a beige, white, or tan desk.

The desk size is customizable to suit your needs. Four-person desks are efficient for larger family households and shared apartment living. They also work well in studio-sized businesses with few employees.

Floating Desk With Shelves and a Drawer

Floating Desk With Shelves and a Drawer

If you are considering something simple but need a little more storage, then purchasing a floating desk with shelves and drawers is a fantastic match for you. These desks feature a locking storage drawer for safer storage of valuables.

They are usually constructed with wood and painted black or white. Back paneling prevents smaller objects from falling from the desk.

They hang less than 10 inches from the wall. Floating desks with drawers and extra shelving are great for any room that you are trying to save floor space.

Fold-down Office Armoire With Drawers

Fold down Office Armoire With Drawers

For a fancier and luxurious flair, add an armoire desk to your office, bedroom, or anywhere else it fits. Fold the desk down when it is needed and then hide your messy office supplies when you are finished.

Armoire fold-down desks can weigh over 100 pounds easily. They are not easily moved around. Bring a second person to help you move this armoire to a new location.

Shelves slide smoothly along the ball-bearing glides. Place this attractive desk in your living room or kitchen to impress your weekend cocktail guests.

Tall Elongated Secretary Desk With Shelves

Tall Elongated Secretary Desk With Shelves

The elongated secretary desk is streamlined and gives an office a mid-century allure. The shine from the black bronze thin steel legs draws attention to both modern and contemporary designers.

These drop-down desks are sold in various colors and wood grains. You can also find many of them that come with geometric-patterned cabinet doors and other patterns.  

It is a terrific option for homes with tall ceilings. The height of an elongated secretary desk is dramatic and makes a fashion statement.

Curvy Drop-down Desk With Open Back

Curvy Drop down Desk With Open Back

The smooth edge on this curvy drop-down desk brings your focus towards it. It is a fancier-styled floating desk when compared to other simpler floating desks.

Open back desks make it simpler for you to hang picture frames, corkboard, whiteboard, calendar, or any other item you wish. With the wires and cables hidden from view, your desk will look fresher and flawless.

You can purchase these desks with straight edges and your color options are between black or white. Feel free to hang this desk wherever you so choose.

Portable and Foldable Stow-away Desk

Portable and Foldable Stow away Desk

Foldable stow-away desks are a similar but different breed of fold-down desks. Stow-away desks can hold up to 75 pounds because of their metal frames.

These tables can be easily moved from place to place, and there is no need to mount them to a wall. It weighs less than 16 pounds and is considered the simplest desk in this group.

They are built of mostly metal with a wood surface area and your color options are limitless. Stow-away desks are ideal for tight spaces and benefit people with limited mobility and strength.

Floating Desk Without Shelves or Drawers

Floating Desk Without Shelves or Drawers

Modern and contemporary décor styles flaunt over this type of desk. The clean white laminated particleboard surface and oak finish backing look marvelous alongside the paneled neutral-painted wall.

Create more space safely with this desk's bracket system. The German pin locking system allows you to secure the table when in use. The desk frame sits four inches off the wall. Place your office supplies and plant décor on top of the ledge.

Add a navy-blue circular rug just beneath your desk to add more shapes to your room. A white ceramic pot blends with your white surfaced desk gracefully.

Classical Fold-down Desk With Mini Drawers

Classical Fold down Desk With Mini Drawers

Chipped paint on aged desks welcomes the classic antique look to your office space. These black classical antiques are brilliant in entryways too.

The small drawers can store smaller objects like keys, erasers, sharpeners, paperclips, and so much more. The distressed black paint gives the illusion of a smaller desk.

Since these desks are previously made from roll-out desks, they are rare to find. Their peculiarity makes them excellent for vintage and antique-themed homes.

Transformative Bookcase Fold-down Desk

Transformative Bookcase Fold down Desk

Like cabinet fold-down desks, transformative bookcase desks operate similarly. Cabinets possess smaller shelves, while bookcases have taller and wider shelves.

When your table is folded, you create a hidden storage compartment to hold all your books from view. Being able to hide your books and desk items is a major plus when designing an exquisitely tidy home.

If you prefer showing off your books, you can also choose bookcase folding desks with shelving that sits outside. Placing a warm brown object on a cool white bookcase desk will bring attention to the object.

Portable Folding Desk With Pockets

Portable Folding Desk With Pockets

Portable folding desks are fun for kids and handy for on-the-go workers. You can practically place this desk anywhere!

Mount these portable desks higher for a standing desk or lower for a seated desk. You can hang them within seconds and the 48-inch width surface is ideal to lay out all your planning paperwork.

They are made from a strong nylon material and two half-inch pieces of sturdy plywood. Use them on job sites, garages, offices, and shops.

Buyer's Guide For Fold-down Desks

A good depth for a working desk is between 20 and 30 inches. The width of your desk should be at least 24 inches. If you own a smaller-sized laptop, less than 24 inches wide is fine.

For floating desks, leave at least 30 inches between the desk and the wall. Having an organized space around you will make you more productive when working at your desk.

Use a beam finder tool if you plan to hang any of these desks. Beams in your walls can support a lot more weight than drywall can.

Some questions you should ask yourself before purchasing fold-down desks are:

  • What is the main purpose of this desk?
  • Where will I place it?
  • How much space do I have to work with (measurements)?
  • What features am I looking for?
  • Will it fit my current home décor and style?

When placing a tall free-standing drop-down desk, make sure you don't cover up the natural light from your windows. Elongated secretary desks can be very tall, so make sure to leave space between your ceiling fan or light.

Give your knees some space beneath your desk. Leave 23 inches of height, 22 inches of width, and 14 inches of depth for a comfortable seating arrangement.

Traditional folding desks are attention grabbers with their polished surfaces and elegant carved accents. Your transitional desk style is traditional only with less ornamentation.

Full Circle

No matter what collapsible desk you select, you will be conserving space in your house. We hope you have a better idea of which type of foldaway desk is the most suitable for you.

With 15 new fold-down desks to choose from, you are ready to bring home a dazzling and space-saving piece of furniture. Good luck with your next desk project!

Jessica started out as an interior photographer, but her love of pretty settings took her to the field of interior design, where she can combine two of her greatest passions, creating and then capturing the beauty of homes.