What Size Desk Do I Need? A Room-by-Room Guide

Buy a desk that's too small and you'll feel cramped within a week. Too big, and it swallows the room. The tricky part? "Standard" desk sizes are built around what's cheap to flat-pack and ship, not around your room, your kit, or the way you actually work.

This guide walks you through the three measurements that matter, how much desk each type of setup really needs, and how to work out the right size for your space, all in plain centimetres.

The three measurements that matter

Every desk comes down to three numbers:

• Width: how far it stretches left to right. This is the one people underestimate most.
• Depth: how far it comes towards you (front to back). This decides how comfortably your screen sits.
• Height: how far off the floor the top is. This is about your posture.

Get these three right for your space and your setup, and everything else follows.

How wide should your desk be?

Width depends almost entirely on what sits on top:

• Laptop only: 100-120cm is plenty, with room for the laptop, a notebook and a coffee.
• Single monitor + laptop: 120-140cm. Enough to have both open without stacking.
• Dual monitors: 150-180cm. Two screens eat width fast, and you still want space in front of the keyboard.
• Ultrawide or triple-monitor: 180-200cm+. Give the screens room to breathe and keep the edges clear.
• Shared / partner desk (two people side by side): 220-300cm, depending on how much elbow room each person needs.

A good rule: whatever you think you need, add 20cm. Almost nobody wishes their desk were smaller.

How deep should a desk be?

Depth is about the distance between your eyes and your screen, and it's where cheap desks cut corners.

• 60cm: the compact standard. Fine for a laptop or a single small monitor in a tight space.
• 72.5cm: the comfortable middle. Enough room to push a monitor back to a healthy viewing distance and still have desk in front of your keyboard.
• 80cm: the generous option most makers don't offer. Ideal for larger monitors, dual screens, or anyone who likes to spread out and work by hand.

If you use a monitor, you'll almost always be happier at 72.5cm or 80cm than at 60cm, because your eyes want that extra distance.

How tall should a desk be?

Standard desk height sits around 73-75cm, which suits most people between roughly 5'8" and 6'0". If you're taller or shorter, the ideal is where your forearms rest level (parallel to the floor) when your elbows are at 90°, feet flat. Sit in your chair and measure from the floor to the underside of your relaxed elbow. That's your target desk height.

For reference, a Grove desk sits at 74cm to the top, with 71cm of clearance underneath, right in that comfortable standard range and with plenty of legroom.

Room by room

Small bedroom or alcove. Measure the alcove width and subtract 2-4cm so it slides in without scraping. A 100-130cm width at 60cm depth tucks in neatly. The mistake here is buying a "standard" 120cm desk for a 116cm alcove: it doesn't fit, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Dedicated home office. You've got room, so use it. 140-160cm wide at 72.5-80cm deep gives you a proper working surface for a monitor, laptop and paperwork without feeling boxed in.

Two-monitor / power setup. Go 160-180cm wide and 80cm deep. The depth matters as much as the width: you need the screens far enough back to be comfortable.

Shared or partner desk. Two people working side by side need 220-300cm. Think about whether you each need a monitor, and measure the wall before you fall in love with a size.

Living room or multipurpose corner. Here the desk is furniture as much as a workstation, so it needs to look right in the room. Measure the wall run, leave clearance for a chair to pull out (about 60-75cm behind), and choose a width that sits in proportion with the space.

How to measure your space (before you buy)

1. Measure the wall run where the desk will go, corner to corner or obstacle to obstacle.
2. Subtract 2-4cm so it fits comfortably rather than wedging in.
3. Check the chair clearance: you want around 60-75cm behind the desk edge for the chair to pull out.
4. Look up: if it's going under a sloped ceiling or a shelf, check the height too.
5. Tape it out. Put masking tape on the floor at your chosen width and depth and live with it for a day. It's the single best way to know if a size is right.

Why "standard" sizes so rarely fit

Here's the honest truth: mass-produced desks come in a handful of fixed sizes because it's cheaper to make and ship them that way. Your alcove is 137cm. The desk is 120cm or 150cm. Neither fits. So you compromise, and live with it for years.

It doesn't have to be that way. A Grove desk is made to your exact size: any width from 100cm to 300cm, to the centimetre, in three depths including that generous 80cm. Real solid wood, built to order by hand in our Margate workshop, finished in durable hardwax oil, and backed by a 25-year guarantee. You give us the measurements; we build the desk around your room, not the other way round.

Quick reference

Setup	Width	Depth
Laptop only	100-120cm	60cm
Monitor + laptop	120-140cm	72.5cm
Dual monitors	150-180cm	80cm
Ultrawide / triple	180-200cm+	80cm
Shared / partner	220-300cm	72.5-80cm

Measure your space, add a little breathing room, and choose the depth that suits your screens. Get those right and you'll have a desk that fits your room perfectly, because it was made to.

Next: once you've nailed your size, see what your desk is made of, and how easy it is to look after.