The typical desk design has remained the same for centuries, but we need these surfaces to do more – like incorporate our gadgets, offer privacy in loud offices, fit into our homes, fold up to take on the go or offer proper space for our cat overlords. Maybe even all of these things at once.  These designs are more than just a flat slab on legs, adapting to 21st century standards in all sorts of different ways.

Turia Table by Maxime Mellot Incorporates Nature

“Can we admire nature and put it in a cage?” says Maxime Mellot of his own design, this curious desk inspired by a park in the city of Valencia, Spain. “Turia participates in the debate, and forces the user to divert his attention, from his own person to live animals, requiring care and benevolence. In a society focused on performance and permanent connection to the internet, pure moments of privacy become rare and precious. But how can furniture invite us to take a break, drink a tea or have a snack and help us to enjoy this specific disconnected moment? My project tends to merge the universe of nature and relaxation, by combining iconic items such as bird cage and fish tank in an interactive way.”

Koloro-Desk by Torafu Architects

The interior of the Koloro-desk by Torafu Architects is like a cheerful miniature house with its very own operable windows, so you can lean inside to read, work, sketch or nap and feel a sense of disconnection from the world just outside its little walls. The two flip-out windows on either side offer shelves for drinks and other objects, and there’s even a skylight.

Oxymoron Desk by Anna Lotova

Shove stationery, pens and other item between the two little cushions under the surface of Anna Lotova’s Oxymoron Desk. The name comes from the unlikely pairing of materials. The cushion sandwich even lets you slide a piece of plywood inside to create a side table.

“We have to change our behavior, plan and think of work with a different mindset: no matter where an office is situated, it has to have a space it can call its own, identifiable, alterable, on a human scale, with its own history and objects, an enjoyable environment,” says Lotova.

CATable by Hao Ruan

Do you have a persistent feline companion who gets a little jealous of your computer or books when you’re working? This clever table by Hao Ruan of LYCS Architecture doubles as cat furniture, with the underside full of comfy curving hollows and tunnels for your cat friend to hide in.

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Work Smarter 12 Modern Desks Reinvent The Standard Surface

Trees seem to temporarily allow humans to form them into a new shape and give them a different purpose before reclaiming their wild nature and going on with their tree-business in these wild wood designs. Taking a modern approach to branch-based furniture, decor and sculpture, they celebrate the natural qualities of the materials, allowing them to shine in a way that makes them feel truly alive.

Spaghetti Benches by Pablo Reinoso

The slats of a wooden bench just keep growing as if they’re still alive, tangling together and climbing up walls, in Pablo Reinoso’s ‘Spaghetti Bench’ series. It’s almost like the tree the wood came from allowed itself to serve a purpose as seating only temporarily, and then decided to go about its life. The artist extends the same technique to other objects, like picture frames.

Fusion Frames by Darryl Cox

These hybrid frames by Oregon-based artist Darryl Cox start out as two separate objects – the reclaimed roots of manzanita, aspen and juniper trees, and a carefully matched picture frame. The artist carefully matches the tone and texture of the two objects and painstakingly blends them together with carving tools and paint. Look closely and you’ll find that the seams are virtually undetectable.

Sprouting Furniture by Pontus Willfors

The temporarily tamed wood that’s been crafted into chairs and other functional items starts to rebel before you can even sit down in this series by artist Pontus Willfors. It’s almost as if the trees have decided they have no patience for human attempts to turn them into something unnatural.

Fallen Tree Bench by Benjamin Graindorge

This bench by Benjamin Graindorge can’t hide its origins, the smooth surface giving way to stripped branches and then bark. ‘Fallen Tree Bench ‘ is fully supported on one side by a tangle of branches as if we caught it in mid-morph.

Driftwood Coffee Table & Side Table by Bernardo Urbina

Designer Bernardo Urbina blends unexpected upcycled materials together into minimalist tables and other objects. For these two tables, he chose wrap Traviesa and Tugas wood around a black folded metal base.

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Wild Wood 28 Temporarily Tamed Tree Based Designs Branch Out

Nothing says ‘don’t talk to me’ like a soundproof helmet, a cocoon-shaped desk or a chair that basically swallows you when you want to disappear. Designed for introverts and people who just want some dang peace and quiet in a noisy open-plan office, these furniture designs and wearables offer hiding places for the busiest and least private of environments, like airplanes, coffee shops, hostels and even city sidewalks.

Tunnel Chair & Bed by Noga Berman

Can you find privacy within existing furniture? Designer Noga Berman has come up with a way to incorporate ‘hiding places’ into relatively ordinary-looking functional furniture pieces, including a chair and a sofa. Wrapping elastic bands around the frames creates ‘tunnels’ within the furniture that you can hide part or all of your body inside.

Brody Desk by Steelcase

This desk by workplace furniture manufacturer Steelcase feels enclosed yet open at the same time, with a design that offers some privacy and minimizes distractions without cutting you off from the entire office. It might look like tight quarters in there – and it is – but the design is intended as a sort of break from your regular desk, for periods of time when intense focus is required.

Privacy Pop Bed Tent

Worried about privacy while traveling, or stuck in a dorm room with several roommates? The ‘Privacy Pop’ bed tent may not offer much in the looks department, but it’s highly practical, offering a room-with-a-room that sets up in minutes and blocks out light.

Desk Chair Hoodies by Bernotat & Co

‘Chair Wear’ is a series of textile chair add-ons by Bernotat & Co that bring a little extra functionality, like pockets, without requiring an additional piece of furniture. The ‘Hoodini’ has an oversized hood that you can put over your head while reading or talking on the phone.

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Made For Introverts 13 Furniture Designs Wearables That Prioritize Privacy

More than just a surface to sit on, these modern chair designs are (sometimes literally) works of art, sculptural yet functional, from a flat-looking canvas you can actually sit on to a series of chairs that slide inside each other, inception-style. Customize a chair’s look with removable graphic panels, hook two high-backed seats together to make a room-within-a-room, or scare your guests with hanging chairs that mimic beasts of the deep sea.

Monster Chairs Might Eat You

Rest inside the mouth of a sea beast, real or mythical, in this series of fun and frightening handmade chairs by Cape Town artist Porky Hefer.

A Painting You Can Sit In

Hung flat on a wall, these canvases look like nothing more than two-dimensional paintings. But pull them down, lean them against the wall and take a seat, and you’ll find that they are surprisingly up to the task. These lightweight furniture pieces by YOY design studio are made of wood, aluminum and stretched elastic canvas.

Home Office in a Chair

If you’re the type who works from home but isn’t into sitting at a conventional desk, the Four Works Armchair can meet all of your needs. A seat is embedded within a bookcase-like base that also offers a light, cupholder, power outlets, storage and a laptop platform.

Inception Chair

Ten interlocking chairs ranging from adult to child size fit within a single frame in this chair by Vivian Chiu, inspired by the dream-within-a-dream concept of the movie Inception.

Rhinoceros Beetle Chair

Adding to a collection of realistic animal-shaped chairs rendered in matte black, Maximo Riera presents The Beetle Chair, which is only recognizable as furniture when viewed from the back.

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Neat Seats 14 Crazy Creative Modern Chair Designs

When you live in a small space, every square inch counts, and furniture that can expand and contract on demand makes it a lot easier to fit all the functions you need into your home without feeling overwhelmed with clutter. Modular furniture sets and rooms-within-rooms containing fold-out and slide-out components make clever use of the space available, and the ability to hide things away when they’re not in use will please minimalists, too.

Sleepbox: Tiny Bedroom for Public Spaces

Sleepy travelers can catch a night’s sleep in private surroundings with the Sleepbox, a compact lodging pod meant for public spaces like airports and train stations. For those with layovers or unexpected delays, a room-in-the-box right inside the transit station could definitely be an affordable and convenient option.

Cocoon 1 Room Pod

This unusual room-within-a-room is almost as much an art piece as it is a functional living space. Cocoon 1 by Micasa Lab is a plastic pod offering a separated space that provides a sense of privacy and solitude while maintaining a connection to the outside world. It contains built-in furniture, a kitchen and a power pack that can provide either 40 hours of light, or 20 hours of light plus 30 minutes of cooking.

Boxetti: 3 All-in-One Fold-Out Living Spaces

Minimalists, rejoice – options that hide virtually everything from view when not in use are not only becoming easier to procure, they’re more stylish than ever, too. The Boxetti Collection by Rolands Landsbergs is a series of fold-out, slide-out living spaces contained within simple white modules. It includes a bedroom box, a living room box, an office and a kitchen.

Sleek and Simple Fold-Out Bedroom Box

For those in temporary living spaces, or who just don’t care about personalizing their homes, all-in-one box systems like the Room by ODA offer a modular dwelling system that collapses and expands. It comes with three elements – the pod, a media station and a satellite. Colors and materials can be customized.

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Fold Out Room 12 Ultra Compact Living Pods Systems