Jill's of Carmel fashion

They’re dashing, even daring, decorative, sometimes spare. They may double as dining tables, consoles or even vanities.</p><p>Desks have become quite the fashion statement.</p><p>You still may find them in the home-office category on retailers’ websites, but it’s clear there have been some big changes. “Work” isn’t part of their overall look, though they are up to task, and many take up a smaller footprint in keeping with today’s downsizing of homes and interiors.</p><p>The most fetching designs are clean-lined or simple in proportion, along with an eye to style, boasting architectural details, interesting finishes, textures, colors and hardware.</p><p>These decidedly less bulky desks are designed to work anywhere in the house to complement existing furnishings. </p><p>“When we design desks,” says designer Erin Davis, of the Dallas-based manufacturer Global Views, “we make them look like nice pieces of furniture, not something obviously utilitarian, so they fit seamlessly into (a range of) decor.</p><p>“You might look at our zebrawood desk and think it’s a side table,” Davis says. “It’s streamlined, and the beveled drawers are kind of hidden.”</p><p>Working from home or bringing work home has made some sort of office space a necessity in recent years. Between 2011 and 2015, there will be nearly 2 million home-based businesses and more than 3 million corporate home office households, according to the International Data Corp.</p><p>Converting a spare room into a dedicated home office inspired a new genre of furnishings as manufacturers considered features such as pullout trays or shelves for keyboards, space for printers and computer towers, cord management and charging stations. </p><p>But an escalating shift from PCs to laptops, notebooks, iPads and smartphones equipped with Wi-Fi has altered the paradigm to an amazing portability that allows working remotely.</p><p>According to a recent study by the American Home Furnishings Alliance, nearly 73 percent of Americans report that they consider their office “at home” to be wherever they can use a computer.</p><p>So desks that better integrate into our living spaces are becoming more of a standard. </p><p>“Today’s home-office category can be defined in one word: mobile,” says Jackie Hirschhaut, AHFA vice president of public relations. </p><p>There has always been a market for writing desks, which traditionally have covered styles including English Chippendale, French provincial, Biedermeier, chinoiserie and Art Deco. But the trend to personal computers in the home necessitated larger surfaces and more storage — desks with matching credenzas, bookcases and file drawers. Now you can even find such groupings in Belgian Modern at Restoration Hardware. </p><p>Some who didn’t have a spare room chose the camouflage tactic: Hide the home office in a closet, armoire or cabinet. </p><p>But, as TVs morphed into sexier, ultrathin flat screens, there was no longer a desire to hide them. Showing off thin, compact laptops or iPads is analogous. </p><p>Perhaps not coincidentally, there has been a proliferation of smaller-scale and leaner writing desks, which may also be tapped for household paperwork, financial management and homework. They range from less than 4 feet long up to 6 feet. </p><p>Several styles appear to lead the pack. The classic Parsons style, which never really was out of vogue, has shown up in a range of materials. Often attributed to French designer Jean Michel Frank out of a course he taught at the Paris Atelier in the 1930s, he earlier used it in his interiors, and it popped up in Bauhausian homes in the 1920s. </p><p>Frank often played against the ultra-simple form, in which the legs and top have equal value, by cladding it in luxe materials such as parchment, leather, gold leaf and shagreen (sharkskin). At West Elm, there are two Parsons options, one with a hint of Hollywood glamor in mirror cladding, and the other in an antiqued silver metal. </p><p>Mirrored, all metal, glass (including a dramatic black) and Lucite are perhaps surprising models.</p><p>Architecturally inspired designs also are quite popular, especially those with the X factor, which feature X’s at the sides — either as supports or as part of the framework. Variations include Z’s and V’s. </p><p>Wood choices are expansive, with a good representation of the familiar oak and cherry, plus figured exotics and painted pieces. Sligh Furniture Co. launched a color options program in 2010 to break out of the brown furniture shell with lively hues such as fresh olive, morning yellow and blue bliss.</p><p>Then there’s bolder color for those who crave it. Home Decorators sells a wood desk that’s finished in high-gloss lacquer in orange, soft blue and pale green. At CB2, there’s a powder-coated steel desk in chartreuse. </p><p>Stylish desks are being shown with comfy wing chairs or upholstered chairs, some slipcovered, which make them more compatible with living room furnishings. Lily Pulitzer Home even shows a sassy hot pink chair in a delightful Chippendale style (available at Neiman Marcus), smashing with a white desk.</p><p>And there is no shortage of stylish file cabinets, some of which sit smartly on casters.</p><p>As technology continues to propel, today’s modern consumer wants to soften his surroundings, according to Judy George, chief executive officer of Judy George International (<a href ="judygeorgeinternational.com/" target="_blank">judygeorgeinternational.com</a>). The High Tech/High Tough concept actually was espoused in 1982 by John Naisbitt in “Megatrends”; he since devoted a book to the subject.</p><p>With one of the JGI brands, Hotel Maison, George adds to that formula a bit of luxury and a marriage of tradition with an edge.</p><p>“An adaptive mix of styles is arcing a luxury theme, coordinating elements of classic furniture with a modern twist that never goes out of style,” George says. “Designers are fearlessly grouping unique, even eccentric, elements. And consumers like the eclectic mix. With furniture — like a wonderful desk — personality is key.”</p><p><hr></p><p><h3>File style</h3></p><p>For those who thought file cabinets came only in industrial-strength drab gray metal, there are amazing alternatives.</p><p>With style and features more like fine furniture, a place to hang files seems a bonus. A choice of woods, figured veneers, painted finishes, even decorative painting — chinoiserie, mirroring or silver leafing — and woven dimensional looks allow a more seamless blending in a range of decor.</p><p>No matter the space limitations there’s an answer, from classic double-lateral file drawers to consoles with legs or stretchers, cabinets on stands or slender legs. </p><p>Some of the more office-y models take a turn with unexpected color and versatility. One single file has a couple of drawers and casters for mobility. A staple at CB2 for years, look for the season’s bold color — currently chartreuse and bold, almost Aegean, blue — as well as white and carbon (charcoal). It sells for $159. </p><p>At Home Decorators Collection there’s an even more compact version: a low-slung (23-inch) single drawer plus file on casters. High-gloss colors painted on wood include orange, soft green and pale blue. It sells for $129.