Use desks for more than study and bill paying

Since I was old enough to crack open a book, I've had a love-hate relationship with desks. In high school, you'd have to superglue me to a chair if you wanted me to sit at a desk and study. As soon as the last bell rang, all I wanted to do was work at my parents' clothing store and learn the tricks of the retail trade, not sit and study. I wasn't much better in college.

Today, as a small-business owner, I still won't sit at a desk. In fact, I don't even have an office because I'd wither and die if I didn't spend my days on the showroom floor working with customers.

Now here's the kooky part: Even though I'm adverse to working at a desk, I absolutely love desks themselves. A knockout desk is just as important a piece in your home's interior as a fabulous sofa or dining set.

I'm hot on desks because they are as beautiful as they are functional, and they look smashing almost anywhere you put them. Here are a few of my pet places and favorite uses for the dear, dependable desk.

BEDROOM NIGHTSTAND

When customers ask me for advice on how to furnish their bedrooms, I tell them to run away from tiny, traditional nightstands. Not only are these 24-inch mini tables too small in scale to balance today's monster-sized beds, they don't provide the surface area necessary to hold all our nighttime paraphernalia, like a stack of books, a clock and a lamp.

A darling ladies' writing desk used instead of a traditional nightstand not only holds all the essentials, but has plenty of room to spare for a phone, family photos and your favorite mementos. Pull up a super cute chair that matches the motif of your boudoir, and you also have an ideal spot to take phone messages, write in your journal or do some late-night work.

The other day, I worked with a customer who wanted a writing desk for the foot of her bed. I'd never thought of using a desk that way and was drawn in by the idea. You could use the vast open space on top to display special accents, fill the drawers with clothing and tuck a basket underneath to hold out-of-season bedding.

OCCASIONAL TABLE

My friend Amy has a gorgeous distressed sage green desk she uses as an occasional table in her living room, and I am crazy about the look she has pulled off. The long and leggy desk is simple but sophisticated, and even though it's at the far end of the room, it's one of the first things you notice when you walk in.

Amy's desk fits perfectly in her bay window and looks smashing accessorized with an alabaster lamp, a container holding her collection of writing pens and an orchid or fern cradled in a compote.

But when she entertains, Amy uses the desk as a serving bar, filling it with trays of drinks and plates of hors d'oeuvres.

If you don't have a bay window, try butting a desk up against the back of a sofa in a floating seating arrangement. Use a desk as a side table next to your sofa. Or position one between two matching club chairs.

DINING TABLE

If you have a cottage, loft or other small space where furniture may be called upon to do double duty, find a midsized desk that doesn't have side drawers, and use it as both a workspace and a dining table.

People have been working at their kitchen tables for centuries, so it's high time they flipped things a bit and ate at their desks. When it's mealtime, just clear off the piles of papers, cover the desk with a tablecloth or placemats, and you have the ideal setting for an intimate dinner gathering.

Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three successful home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and the author of several best-selling books on home decorating. She can be e-mailed at nellhills@mail.lvnworth.com.