The humble ladder has been used as inspiration for all manner of things, from jewellery to clothing, poetry to songs, and most often, furniture.  Shelving units and side tables made from old ladders, (or made to look like they are made from old ladders), are very popular and have that shabby chic feel, as well as the Scandinavian minimalism aesthetic that is such a desirable look right now. 

Argos have capitalised on this trend by introducing the ladder desk. This came about partly as a response to the rise in home working during 2020, and partly as a way to save space, at a time when we may be crammed into the home with the whole family for days on end.  The ladder desk is a clever piece of furniture that turns any small space into an office in a stylish way, that won't make it look like you've brought the office desk home with you.

There are two upper shelves that can be used for storing pens, books and other office stationery equipment, while the work surface is large enough for a laptop and mouse/separate keyboard.  The work surface also has a built in drawer, to help you keep the space tidy; if the ladder desk goes into a bedroom, you can use the drawer to store your computer and kit when it's not in use.  This turns the desk into a multifunctional space for getting ready, eating, or displaying items you like.  It can be very hard to draw a firm boundary between work life and home life when you are using the same room for a variety of functions, and that is why being able to hide the work kit away is so important.

The ladder inspiration is clear here, and it's in the name, but this ladder desk is made for the purpose of being furniture so it doesn't need to have as many rungs as a real ladder.  If you wanted to make your own ladder desk from an old ladder, you could remove some of the rungs to achieve the spacing seen in the ladder desk.  Alternatively you could keep all the rungs and use them as clever storage features.  Hooks can be used to hang items from rungs, and you can also buy baskets which hook over shelves that would be ideal as additions to a homemade ladder desk.

If you need more space to work, and you have enough space to play with, you could use two stepladders to make a desk with oodles of storage and a desktop that is wider and longer than the one in this Argos ladder desk.  The desktop could be made from anything, a plank of wood, scaffolding boards; or even an off-cut of kitchen work surface or an old door.  Place both stepladders with the rung sides facing each other and lay the work surface across the gap between them.  You can secure the desk to the ladders with U shaped clips screwed over the rungs into the back of the desk top.  If there is a height discrepancy between the two ladders you can use wooden battens to fill the gap and keep the surface level.

You can then add shelves higher up with longer boards, and use hanging basket storage solutions.    You could use bespoke storage boxes to the rest of the ladder structures, making the best use of the space you have.  As a home office set up this helps keep all your work related items stored in and around the ladder desk.  You can even decorate it with lights for parties or at Christmas; it doesn't need to be ugly just because it's made from old ladders.  If it's time to replace your stepladder then hold on to the old one as it could be the start of a great DIY project.