The Most Inspiring and Practical IKEA Desks for Kids at Every Age

There’s something so special and bond-forming about helping kids with their homework and art projects at the kitchen table. But giving a child their own desk has other advantages too: It promotes independence, gives them pride in doing their own work, offers a place for better concentration, and keeps their work (mess) in a place just for them. For a desk that’s just the right size for your kid and their bedroom — and that looks like furniture for kids instead of a boring office hand-me-down — IKEA’s kids’ desks are a great place to start.

To write this latest installation of Personal Shopper, I made my way to IKEA’s Brooklyn showroom and spent several hours looking at the kids’ desks from every angle, determining their strengths and weaknesses. There’s a lot to serve various families’ needs, so I did my best to gather plenty of data to help you make this decision.

Sure, your kid would probably survive just fine if you got them any old desk from an office supply company. But I love the way IKEA has made desks that fit small children, with designs that match their rooms and inspire them to create and study. IKEA also makes desks that grow with kids, whether with an adjusting height or a simple, clean look that a kid will like as much when they’re 17 as when they were 7. Even if the desks don’t last until college, they’re priced low enough that you won’t mind replacing them.

Kids can be hard on their furniture. They’re either using it as indoor playground equipment, inadvertently incorporating it into their art installations, losing it under a mess of papers and supplies, or if you’re my kid, doing all three. I took that kind of hard use into account, evaluating desks based on these factors:

• Design: Will the desk provide a clear work space with everything they need in reach? Will its look match their bedroom and inspire them to use it? Will they outgrow this style when they’re picky tweens or teens?
• Size: I looked at whether a child could sit comfortably at the desk and whether it would fit in smaller bedrooms. 
• Organization and storage: Kids need a lot of different supplies to make art and do their homework, and they benefit from having easy ways to clean up after themselves.
• Durability and stability: I leaned on these desks pretty hard, wiggled them if I could, examined their hardware, and noted the places where the showroom models were damaged. (Keep in mind that IKEA floor models get heavier use than anything would in a real home.)
• Adjustability: Some of these desks can be adjusted to different heights as a kid grows, making them even better investments. 

In addition to owning quite a bit of IKEA kids’ furniture, I’ve spent more than five years testing and writing about products for kids and babies. I use my own experience as a mother, conversations with other parents, and research into child development and safety to inform any advice I share with others. I’m also lucky enough to have a handy husband who recently built my son’s desk from scratch, so we’ve had many conversations about what a growing kid needs in his very own work space. 

What impressed us:  This is the most eye-catching of IKEA’s kids’ desks, with its warm pine frame, white top, and playful-looking green keys — there to adjust the desk’s height without extra tools. At its shortest level, it’s just the right height for a preschooler. Attach a MÅLA paper roll to the included dowel at the top of the desk for nonstop drawing and coloring.

You can also fix the desktop at an angle, to encourage better posture. I love that you don’t have to disassemble the whole thing when your child grows, and instead can just turn those keys, take out the screws on the legs, and lift it all up to the next of three possible heights. Though it has no built-in storage options, IKEA suggests setting a couple of TROFAST bins into the rack at the bottom.

• Materials: Solid pine, tinted clear acrylic lacquer, fiberboard, acrylic paint
• Dimensions: 38 1/4″ (W) x 25 5/8″ (D) x 23 1/4″-30 3/8″ (H); desktop height: 20 1/2″, 24”, 28”
• Storage: Can place TROFAST bins by feet
• Adjustable? Yes, to three heights
• Styles: Just one

What impressed us:  This is another adjustable desk with an optional accent color that takes it from simple to playful. The green steel legs (which do also come in white) aren’t just decorative; they form a small, low shelf to hold a power strip or a handful of pens, pencils and markers. That’s also where you can adjust the height of this desk to three different heights, using knobs to undo the screws without the use of extra tools. You can buy a version bundled with an attachable small bookcase, but the general lack of drawers and shelves make this better suited to younger children than older ones. This desk has one of the easiest assembly processes I saw in this category.

• Materials: Particleboard, fiberboard, honeycomb paper filling, plastic edging, acrylic paint, clear acrylic lacquer, steel, epoxy/polyester powder coating
• Dimensions: 37 3/4″ (W) x 22 7/8″ (D); desktop height: 23 1/4″, 26”, 28 3/8″; bookcase: 25 1/4″ (W) x 6 3/4″ (D) x 23 5/6″ (H)
• Storage: Optional bookcase
• Adjustable? Yes
• Styles: Green legs, white legs, green with bookcase, white with bookcase

What impressed us:  By making great use of lightweight IKEA TROFAST bins (metal mesh or colorful plastic) that slide in and out of the frames, this desk helps teach small kids independence. They can reach for their own supplies and clean them up all on their own. This desk is a good height for toddlers through kindergarten-age kids (as you can see in the picture below), but when they’ve outgrown it as a desk, you can detach the tabletop and keep using the TROFAST frames for storage. The solid pine gives this desk a warm look, too.

• Materials: Solid pine, tinted clear acrylic lacquer; storage bins: polypropylene (min. 50% recycled) or steel with epoxy/polyester powder coating
• Dimensions: 48 7/8″ (W) x 17 3/8″ (D) x 20 1/2″ (H)
• Storage: TROFAST bins
• Adjustable? No
• Styles: TROFAST storage bins in various sizes and various colors in plastic or metal

What impressed us:  With a reasonable price, several small storage options, and a more mature office-like look, this is the desk to get for your big kid to keep from now until they leave for college (or even after that). It’s a basic cantilever style (similar to a vintage drafting table, though this doesn’t tilt like one) that takes up a small footprint, so it could fit in a tucked-away corner of your child’s room or be paired with bookcases or rolling storage racks. I appreciate the small hook on one side for a backpack or headphones, as well as the shelf under the desk that can help organize cords and cables.

The most attractive parts of this desk are the gray-green steel extras that attach to pre-drilled holes: a two-shelf unit, bookends, a phone/tablet stand, and a magnetic whiteboard. You can buy this desk with or without a small under-desk drawer. The desk also comes in both a static and an adjustable sit/stand version, and either 35 3/8 inches or 46 1/8 inches wide. (Only the narrower static version was on display in the showroom when I visited.)

• Materials: Particleboard, melamine foil, plastic edging, steel, epoxy powder coating; drawer: fiberboard, particleboard, plastic foil, paper foil, acrylic paint; accessories: steel
• Dimensions: narrow version: 35 3/8″ (W) x 23 5/8″ (D) x 29 1/2″ (H); wider version: 46 1/2″ (W) x 23 5/8″ (D) x 29 1/2″ (H); sit/stand version heights: 25 5/8″-42 1/2″ (hook adds 1/4″ width; sit/stand crank adds 4 1/8″ width)
• Storage: Hook, cord shelf, optional drawers, optional desktop shelf
• Adjustable? Two versions
• Styles: Narrow, wide, sit/stand narrow, sit/stand wide (with variations of included drawers and desktop accessories)

What impressed us:  This solid wood Shaker-style desk provides a wide working space for your kid, with extra room for you to sit next to them and help with homework — or for their computer. There’s holes for cables in either corner (with included caps for when they’re not in use), as well as a built-in drawer under the desk, and three knobs on the side to serve as hooks for bags or other accessories. Raised edges on the side and back will prevent things from rolling off or slipping behind the desk, too.

• Materials: Solid pine, stain, clear acrylic lacquer
• Dimensions: 48″ (W) x 23 5/8″ (D); side height: 32 5/8″, desktop height: 29 1/8″; drawer width (inside): 24 3/8″; drawer depth (inside): 14 1/8″; height under furniture: 25 1/4″ 
• Storage: Underdesk drawer
• Adjustable? No
• Styles: Just one

What impressed us:  This is a no-frills desk that will fit into any decor style and just about any narrow space. The height of the desktop is just under 24 inches, making it more appropriate for elementary-school age kids than growing teens — and at this price, you probably won’t mind having to upgrade in a few years.

The curvy back and side panels prevent writing utensils from rolling off; while a hole in the center back of the desktop lets you connect a lamp and computer without making a mess of cords. Kids can hook their backpacks onto the knob on the side, but to store anything else, you’ll have to buy more furniture. Again, at this price, you won’t mind.

• Materials: Particleboard, fiberboard, honeycomb paper filling, acrylic paint, plastic edging, melamine foil
• Dimensions: 36 5/8″ (W) x 20 1/8″ (D); back panel height: 34 5/8″; desktop height: 23 5/8″
• Storage: None
• Adjustable? No

What impressed us:  I found the mix of particleboard and steel, with rounded corners and clean lines, very pleasing in this desk. Though IKEA markets this desk for kids, it is tall enough for an adult — you’ll just have to use a taller chair to seat a child here. Having one single tall drawer front maintains that clean look when it’s closed. Inside, the storage unit is more like a three-shelf cabinet with wheels, and you can choose to assemble it on either side of the desk. If that’s not enough storage, this desk would match with just about any other IKEA storage accessory, too.

In the showroom, this was one of my favorite desks. Then I read many reviews complaining that the drawer was difficult to assemble, didn’t close properly, or broke. This very well could be user error, since those comments are far outnumbered by five-star reviews.

• Materials: Particleboard, fiberboard with honeycomb paper filling, acrylic paint, plastic edging, melamine foil, paper foil, steel, epoxy/polyester powder coating 
• Dimensions: 47 1/4″ (W) x 22 7/8″ (D) x 29 1/8″ (H); free height under desk: 28 3/8″; drawer inside size: 12 5/8″ (W) x 15 3/4″ (D)
• Storage: Drawer unit with three shelves
• Adjustable? No