An armoire desk is a writing-table built within a large cabinet, usually {{convert, 1.5, -, 2.0, m, ft, sigfig=1, abbr=off high. The cabinet is closed by two to four full-height doors, to keep out

dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...

or to give a tidy appearance to a room by hiding the cluttered working surface of the desk. This form of

desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table (furniture), table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading (activity), reading, writing, or using ...

is usually placed against a wall, like its antique uncle, the

secretary desk A secretary desk or escritoire is made of a base of wide drawers topped by a desk with a hinged desktop surface, which is in turn topped by a bookcase usually closed with a pair of doors, often made of glass. The whole is usually a single, tall ...

Computer armoire desk with shield back chair

Small or home offices are the usual habitat of the modern armoire desk. Corporations and government bureaucracies typically shun the armoire desk, preferring

pedestal desk A pedestal desk or a ''tanker desk'' is usually a large, flat, free-standing desk made of a simple rectangular working surface resting on two pedestals or small cabinets of stacked drawers of one or two sizes, with plinths around the bases. Of ...

s and

cubicle A cubicle is a partially enclosed office workspace that is separated from neighboring workspaces by partitions that are usually tall. Its purpose is to isolate office workers and managers from the sights and noises of an open workspace so that ...

s in most instances. The closest ancestor, in form, of the armoire desk, is the

Moore desk A Moore desk is not one but two large antique desk forms. The "Moore Office Queen" is a massive desk, made for a sitting user. From the outside it looks, when closed, much like its competitor, the Wooton desk but it differs from it in several way ...

. The armoire desk is often called a "computer armoire desk", or a computer desk, since it is used in present times to house a

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

and its peripherals. Holes are provided to connect the peripherals located in several nooks above or below the main work surface. Often, the work surface or surfaces, such as a writing area or a

computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches. Replacing early punched cards and paper tape technology ...

tray are adjustable to provide an ergonomically sound working environment. Some armoire desks have a fixed work surface, which stays in place when the doors are closed, and moves only for ergonomic adjustments. This kind of armoire desk is a direct descendant of the antique

rolltop desk A rolltop desk is a 19th-century reworking of the pedestal desk with, in addition, a series of stacked compartments, shelves, drawers and nooks in front of the user, much like the bureau à gradin or the Carlton House desk. In contrast to these, t ...

which was common in corporate or government offices three or four generations ago, since it provides a fast and efficient way to store or hide current work. Other armoire desks have an easily movable, often hinged, work surface which must be cleared of documents and other items in order to close the doors. This kind of armoire desk is a morphological descendant of the famous

Wooton desk The Wooton desk is a variation of the fall front desk. History Indianapolis, Indiana entrepreneur, William S. Wooton, obtained patents for his desk design in 1874. The desk was introduced at a time when the small business owner was seeing an incr ...

by its size and by the necessity to constantly store papers to shut it. There is also the alternative of always leaving it open, given the trouble involved. The

fall front desk The fall-front desk can be considered the cousin of the secretary desk. Both have a main working surface or desktop that does double duty as a cover to seal up papers and other items located in small shelves or small drawers placed one on top of t ...

or "secrétaire à abattant", and the

slant top desk The slant-top desk, also called secretary desk, or more properly, a bureau, is a piece of writing furniture with a lid that closes at an angle and opens up as a writing surface. It can be considered related, in form, to the desk on a frame, wh ...

are also related. Unlike all of these earlier relations, however, the modern armoire desk usually does not have a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. Armoire desks are normally very practical pieces of furniture, despite the use of rich veneers and very complex exterior styling in some of the costlier models. The sketch of an armoire desk which comes with this article shows a fairly large version with four folding doors, a writing surface which slides out, and a keyboard and mouse pad tray which, in turn, slides out from under the sliding writing surface. In the version shown here it is possible to leave a few thin piles of paper on the writing surface before sliding it back in. In other versions this is not possible. Since most armoire desk are modern forms, the writing surface here is placed at 30 inches (76 cm) from the floor. In antique desk forms it would have been 29 inches (73.5 cm) from the floor.

References

* Staples catalog (online and on paper) Office Furniture section, ''Armoire'' sub-sectio

* IKEA catalog (online and on paper) Workstation section, ''Alve'' sub-sectio

Desks Mechanical furniture

See also

References