If you work from home or spend a lot of time on the computer catching up on work, or doing all that other stuff that we seemed to do a lot of online: searching for holidays, houses, hats, hobby horses and honey, it's very easy for your lap to become your study. Very bad for your back and all the bits of you linked to it though.

You need to get your kitchen or dining table multi-tasking as a desk, or you need to squeeze a little bureau in somewhere. And with some of the latest models on the market, this isn't as hard as it sounds. I rather like this Calligaris Spacebar wall mounted folding table with useful pigeon holes. It could double up as a kitchen table or it could hang out on a landing, bedroom wall or even under the stairs.   

Or this slightly more formal Morph White Bookcase Workstation could be backed up against a wall somewhere. Filled with books and knick knacks it will look like a stylish display shelf unit when not in use. And when you do need to sit at it just pull down the hinged desktop to find your laptop and paperwork hidden within. It also includes a cut out for cable management, a useful add on to look out for.

Here's another functional option. Console tables tend to be beautiful, but pointless, pieces of furniture for dumping handbags and post on. So, if you're going to get one, make it work a bit harder. This one doubles up as a desk. With a pull-out work surface it has plenty of room inside for a laptop and paperwork. 

Alternatively, hunt out a piece of history from ebay, charity shops, car boot sales or auction houses. Check out my piece on how to find a second-hand treasure here. One of my favourite craft companies right now is Out of the Dark, they take up-cycling to a new level, check out the little bureau they transformed here. This has been sold, but there is always another one-off gem where that came from.

Whilst this Tessera desk shelving unit is perfect for a child's room, but would work well in a hallway too. 

If you found this piece useful , you might also like the feature on extending tables, here