# Tell me you don't want this desk **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284 "2013-08-15T05:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/1 "2013-08-15T05:17:40Z")
Really. Come on, you can NOT convince me you do not want this desk. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MKikHxKeodA/maxresdefault.jpg "The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKikHxKeodA) Can you? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/2 "2013-08-15T05:33:31Z")
But can it play Melancholy Baby? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/3 "2013-08-15T05:34:10Z")
The coolest desk I ever saw was one that looked like a model manor house on a table when you weren’t using it. But you could unfold it and turn it into a regular desk. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/4 "2013-08-15T05:34:32Z")
That’s made by IKEA, right? Seriously, one of the most fascinating pieces of furniture I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/5 "2013-08-15T06:09:47Z")
Impressive. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/6 "2013-08-15T08:47:50Z")
How does anyone get the guts to play with it like that? - the maker died in 1793, and that as got to be delicate. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/7 "2013-08-15T09:00:08Z")
Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/8 "2013-08-15T09:37:54Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > How does anyone get the guts to play with it like that? - the maker died in 1793, and that as got to be delicate. I want it, yes, but I’d be afraid that I’d break it. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/9 "2013-08-15T10:26:43Z")
My word! I’d be giddy about one curved surprise drawer, or one hidden strong box OR “hey, my desk has a fold out easel” That it has all those things and is beautifully ornamented makes me smile. I’m glad I clicked the link. If the same OP had been made by a stranger with a recent join date I’d have guessed spam. That desk makes me want to be better at my job today. Even the key is beautiful! ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/10 "2013-08-15T10:43:32Z")
I’d lose stuff in there. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/11 "2013-08-15T10:46:59Z")
If it comes with the noise in the clip I’d destroy it with a sledgehammer in about the time I could stand watching that. Maybe 30 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/12 "2013-08-15T11:05:26Z")
No, thank you, it’d lose its novelty within a fortnight. I prefer practical furniture that does what it says on the tin. If it came in tins. I’ve often thought, as thousands of others have, of wanting secret passages in my dream home. And then I realise they’re no good if they don’t have a practical use, and as I’d be living alone, vegetating on my couch for most of every day, they’d be wasted on me, so it’s really a silly idea. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/13 "2013-08-15T11:13:11Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I’d lose stuff in there. Yup- ‘Oh, drat, I think I left it in my desk… Um, I’ll just need an hour, 14 keys, the instruction book and possibly a caving torch.’ ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/14 "2013-08-15T12:14:38Z")
The James Bond of desks. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/15 "2013-08-15T13:00:13Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Yup- ‘Oh, drat, I think I left it in my desk… Um, I’ll just need an hour, 14 keys, the instruction book and possibly a caving torch.’ I picture myself just standing there, every day, staring at the desk and trying to remember which button opens the _thing_ and then deciding “fuck this, I’ll use the kitchen table”. It’s gorgeous though! My granny designed a really great desk. It looks beautiful and old, but actually it hides everything for her computer (The Machine, as she calls it). It’s so nifty and pretty that the company that made it for her asked if they could keep the drawings and she just went and said yes! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/16 "2013-08-15T14:34:40Z")
as long as I don’t have to dust it ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/17 "2013-08-15T15:04:13Z")
I loved it, thanks for posting it. I have a roll top desk that has a secret compartment which I never use because I forget about it and think I lost it! So I stopped using it! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/18 "2013-08-15T15:27:44Z")
1. “you know the Germans always make good stuff” 2. While searching for the accurate wording of the quote above, I discovered that the recently deceased Karen Black had been in the ShamWow guy’s execrable [Underground Comedy Movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0201290/) ☹ 3. The Wikipedia biography for the cabinet’s maker, David Roentgen, has this quote from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica: > [@](#): > > Roentgen was not a great cabinetmaker: "His forms were often clumsy, ungraceful, and commonplace; his furniture lacked the artistry of the French and the English cabinetmakers of the great period which came to an end about 1790. His bronzes were poor in design and coarse in execution; his work, in short, is tainted by commercialism. 1. Mee-ow, 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/19 "2013-08-15T15:53:43Z")
this thread is deskusting. Benjamin Gates wants it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284/20 "2013-08-15T15:59:56Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > That’s made by IKEA, right? Can you imagine the do-it-yourself assembly instructions that would have to come with?! In at least three languages. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-you-dont-want-this-desk/666284.md?page=2)