Custom plywood L-shape desk — Kristine's Ferndale home office
A made-to-measure corner desk built for an oddly shaped room.
Client: Kristine, Ferndale, Michigan (USA)
Product: Custom L-shape desk (based on our mid-century L-shape desk)
Finish: Transparent (natural birch)
Function: Home office workstation
Delivery: Flat-packed, shipped via FedEx
The Challenge
Kristine came to us with a problem a lot of home offices share: a room that doesn't match the furniture made for it. She needed a corner desk shaped to an awkward space — one full side long enough for her monitor, and a shorter, narrower return for the other wall — with a little storage worked in. In her own words:
"I love the aesthetics of your furniture line. I've been looking for an L-shaped desk for an oddly sized room… The desk listed would be the perfect length and height for one side. I'm also thinking it would be nice to include a small drawer and a bookshelf if possible. I'm flexible with sizes and configurations… For the other side, it would need to be slightly shorter and skinnier."
— Kristine, Ferndale
So the brief was clear: keep the look of the range she loved, but build it to her room rather than the other way round.
The Solution
We took our L-shape desk and rebuilt it to her measurements — a full-length top for the monitor side and a shorter, shallower return for the adjoining wall, all carried on our signature open "ladder" leg frame. In natural birch, the layered plywood edge and pale grain keep the piece light in a small room, so it reads as a clean horizontal line rather than a bulky workstation.
Kristine had also wondered about adding a small drawer and a bookshelf. Talking it through, we agreed that in an already tight, oddly shaped room a clean, pared-back desk would do more for the space than built-in storage — so the final piece stays open and uncluttered, with the wall's gallery frames and a mesh board handling display instead. It's the quiet advantage of made-to-order: deciding together not just what to add, but what to leave out.
Kristine's made-to-measure L-shape desk in natural birch — a monitor side and a shorter return, built to fit an oddly shaped room.
Everyday use
The desk now anchors Kristine's home office: the iMac sits on one side, the return gives her room to spread out, and the clean top keeps the workspace calm. Lifted on slim legs with the floor showing beneath, it leaves the small room feeling open — a workspace that fits the space instead of fighting it.
Logistics
Shipped flat-packed to Michigan via FedEx.
Made to order — every dimension built to Kristine's room.
Collaboration in Practice
Kristine's desk is a good example of how a made-to-order approach solves the rooms standard furniture can't: start from a design you love, then change the lengths, the depths and the storage until it fits the wall you actually have.
Planning your own home office?
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Photo by Kristine, Ferndale (USA)
Read more: our mid-century L-shape & corner desk guide and mid-century home office ideas.
