Bespoke home offices and studies in Cumbria
A desk designed
around your working day
Studies, libraries and home offices: bespoke desks, cabinetry built from the floor up for files and technology, and finishes made for you, across the Lake District.
A desk drawn for one person
Start with the person
Designed around a life, not a catalogue
We start a desk by watching how someone works. Do they write by hand or type all day, spread drawings out or need two screens, take calls standing up, keep paper or nothing at all? The desk for the Acatus study began that way: a sculptural, faceted desk in green metal and walnut, with a clock set into the top, cable outlets exactly where the devices sit and a hidden tray beneath for every wire.
Height matters more than anything. A standard desk is about 74 cm high, but the right height is the one where your forearms rest level with your elbows relaxed, and a sit-stand mechanism can be hidden inside bespoke joinery. Leather writing surfaces, drawers sized for the things you actually keep, and a place for the dog under the desk are the details we draw in.
- Cable outlets and power where the devices sit
- Height set to you, or a concealed sit-stand frame
- Leather, marquetry or stone writing surfaces
The Acatus desk
Every wire, out of sight
Seen from below, the same desk hides a tray that carries the cables from the floor box to each outlet, so nothing hangs down where you can see it. The clock and the charging points sit flush in the top, and the walnut and green metal faces are folded and fitted like a piece of jewellery.
We also make freestanding desks for our collection, such as the 12 Cilindri desk in dark green figured sycamore and leather with an inlaid clock.
Office cabinetry from the ground up
Storage that is built, not bought
Files, printers and technology, hidden
A working study needs more storage than it looks. We design full walls of cabinetry from the floor up: lateral filing drawers that take suspension files, a ventilated cupboard for the printer and the router, a safe, a stationery drawer, and open shelves above for books and objects.
Everything that hums or blinks goes behind a door with ventilation and power, and the network is wired to the desk rather than relying on Wi-Fi through thick Lakeland stone walls. Shelving can be lit from within, and a library ladder on a brass rail reaches the top of a tall wall of books.
- Lateral filing drawers for suspension files
- Ventilated cupboards for printers and routers
- Wired network to the desk, not just Wi-Fi
Folded and patterned metal shelving
Steel, bent and etched
Shelves that are part of the architecture
We have designed shelving in stainless steel sheet, folded so the shelf and its bracket are one piece and the edge stays thin and crisp, with patterns laser-cut or etched into the faces. Powder-coated or brushed, it sits against timber panelling or plaster and holds a surprising weight for how slight it looks.
The patterns can come from our own designs, from a client’s family crest or from something personal, so the shelving becomes a piece of the room rather than storage bolted to it.
Finishes made for you
- 01
Marquetry
A desk top, cabinet doors or a whole wall in our hand-laid marquetry, in veneers chosen for the room.
- 02
Leather
Hand-stitched leather writing surfaces and drawer linings in colours to match.
- 03
Lacquer and dyed veneers
Deep greens, inks and oxbloods that make a study feel like a retreat.
- 04
Metal
Brushed nickel, bronze and brass, plated and etched with pattern.
- 05
Panelling
Oak or walnut panelling with jib doors and concealed lighting.
- 06
Fabric
Upholstered walls and chairs in our own velvets and linens.
Light, sound and video calls
A room that works on camera
Light from the front, quiet all round
Place the desk so daylight comes from the side, not behind you or straight onto the screen. For video calls, a soft light in front of you and a considered background, shelves, a painting, panelling, look far better than a window behind your head.
Panelling, books, a rug and upholstered chairs keep the room quiet. In an older Lakeland house a panelled study with a fire is the best room in the house to work in, and we can make one from a spare bedroom or a corner of a barn.
Turnkey interior design in Cumbria
Our interior design serviceWe are an interior design studio in Windermere and we work only in Cumbria, so we can be on site when it matters. We draw the scheme, specify every finish and fitting, then organise and manage the people who build it: cabinetmakers and joiners, stonemasons, plasterers, electricians, plumbers and heating engineers, tilers, steel fabricators, decorators, curtain makers and upholsterers, and the builders who hold it all together.
Most of them we have worked with for years. They know how we draw, we know how they work, and you have one point of contact instead of a dozen. We handle the sequencing, the orders and the snagging, and we hand the room back finished, cleaned and ready to live in.
We work across the Lake District and the rest of the county, including Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere, Coniston, Hawkshead, Kendal, Keswick, Cockermouth, Penrith, Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands and Cartmel.
Makers and suppliers worth knowing
- Desks and cabinetry: our own designs, made by cabinetmakers we have worked with for years
- Metalwork: folded, laser-cut and etched stainless steel, brass and bronze
- Leather: hand-stitched writing surfaces and linings
- Technology: wired networks, concealed power and ventilated equipment cupboards
Questions
Home offices, answered
Anything else, ask us. We reply personally within one working day.
How long does a bespoke desk take?
Usually ten to fourteen weeks from signed-off drawings, depending on the materials. Marquetry and metalwork take the longest.
Can you hide all the cables?
Yes. We plan a floor box or wall outlet beneath the desk, a cable tray inside it, and power and USB outlets flush in the top, so nothing is visible.
Can office cabinetry take standard filing?
Yes. We size lateral filing drawers for standard suspension files, and plan ventilated cupboards for printers, routers and other equipment.
Do you design libraries and studies as well as offices?
Yes, from a single desk to a panelled library with a fire, ladder and lit shelving.
Where do you work?
Our interior design work is throughout Cumbria, including Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere, Coniston, Hawkshead, Kendal, Keswick, Cockermouth, Penrith, Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands and Cartmel. Our furniture, including desks, ships worldwide.
More rooms we design
Interior design
Interior designKitchensLayout, cabinetry, stone, appliances and light, designed in our Windermere studio and built by craftsmen we have worked with for years, anywhere in Cumbria.
Interior designBathroomsMarble, light and water: we design bathrooms, shower rooms and wet rooms across Cumbria, and manage the stonemasons, plumbers, tilers and electricians who build them.
Interior designBedroomsPanelling, murals, hidden curtains, fires, dressing rooms and en-suites, designed in Windermere for houses across Cumbria, and built by trades we trust.
Interior designLiving rooms, halls and staircasesLiving and dining rooms, entrance halls and bespoke staircases: plasterwork, lighting, fireplaces and joinery, designed in Windermere for houses across Cumbria.Enquire
info@patience-gough.com
Tell us about your home offices
Tell us where the house is, what you would like to change and roughly when. We reply personally and arrange a time to come and see the house.