For many of us adults, furniture is basically just furniture—utilitarian to serve a purpose in our home or workspace—and sometimes to show off our style. But for our growing kids, a new desk isn’t necessarily just a desk. It can be a huge part of transitions and getting older! KidKraft just sent us one of their new Study Desks to help us with upgrading our daughter’s room and help her with her next major milestone—starting kindergarten!
A few years ago, I wrote a piece about upgrading my son’s nursery to a big boy room, and since then, not only did a new little sister come into the world, but both of them welcomed two older stepbrothers into their life. Like most kids who grew up with several siblings likely experienced, hand-me-downs are a staple, and with four kids ranging from 15 to 4, our household is no exception. Our daughter inherited both the bed and desk from her brother that I wrote about in that article, and for a toddler, they’ve been perfectly adequate for her needs.
But this year has meant major changes to how all of us, especially our kids, use our spaces on a daily basis thanks to the pandemic and remote learning. Our daughter has mentioned several times that she’s a bit envious of all the boys and their desks that they do school work at every day, and so we’ve had an eye out for an upgraded desk for her for next year as she starts kindergarten (while simultaneously being completely unsure whether or not she’ll be starting it in class or at home), so when KidKraft asked if we wanted to check out their new Study Desk AND we saw that there was a lavender option, we couldn’t say anything but an emphatic yes!
The box arrived a little beat up, which is unfortunately not a rare occurrence with deliveries here, thankfully because it’s so well packed, there was just a minor chip on one piece and nothing that would be visible once built. Our daughter and youngest son both eagerly wanted to help and ripped open the box.
They are both very used to me taking photos of all the pieces of toys and games we get, so they knew the drill and helped me lay out all of the pieces for a photo. And then promptly decided that they’d had enough helping and left me to finish the Study Desk and Chair build on my own!
The instructions for the desk are easy to follow and pretty standard fare for most flat-pack furniture. A few extra bits and tools necessary to assemble are all included, though I’d recommend using a ratcheting driver instead of the Allen wrench if you have it. I’ve been using it instead for years when assembling furniture, and your hands and wrists will thank you! I did want to offer one quick word of warning on assembling this desk—if you’re used to the peg lock systems a lot of this type of furniture uses, like me, you’ll probably quickly go to town on screwing them into the bottom of the desktop. I was a little too forceful and the first one (thankfully hidden in the back) started to crack the top. Make sure you take it easy and stop when the base of the peg is flush, as there is nothing stopping you from going right through the desk if you aren’t careful.
Assembling the entire Study Desk and Chair took roughly 30 minutes once everything was out of the box. They fit perfectly in the space where my daughter’s old desk was. My favorite feature of this desk is the desktop organizer with the slots, corkboard, and whiteboard. We use whiteboards and pens a lot in our house (saves so much paper and they have really been a lifesaver during remote learning), so my daughter was thrilled to have a little one built into her desk. Her brother also has a corkboard in his room, so having her own on her desk also made her very happy. In addition to having a large flat drawer for storage, the desk also has two cabinet doors. I’ll admit I thought they were going to be two large filing cabinet style drawers just based on how they look and my own life experience, but my daughter had no problem quickly filling the shelves inside and the drawer with goodies and books.
As soon as I finished, my daughter exclaimed that she needed to test how it would work for school and grabbed her favorite workbook. Yes, it is a dry-erase workbook—like I said, they are magical! She went through the whole alphabet in her book before declaring the desk was perfect!
Lastly, before heading to bed she, of course, had to finish setting it up. This included putting some books in the desktop organizer, setting up her favorite photo of herself and her brother, and personalizing the desk with her name on the Whiteboard. And she wanted to make sure her favorite stuffed animal, Mousey, was in the last photo I took.
In summary, the desk and chair are easy to put together (especially if you’ve ever assembled any furniture from a flat box) and are made with the same materials you’d expect. The smaller size is perfect for little kids, and our daughter will definitely get several years of use out of it before she’s too big for it. With a great flat surface, lots of storage, and the whiteboard and pegboard built-in, I can’t imagine any child who needs a desk would find anything to complain about with the KidKraft Study Desk.
Disclosure: This desk set was provided free of charge for review purposes from KidKraft, but all opinions remain our own.
