Grovemade Desk review – the most gorgeous and well-made wood/metal workstation I have ever used

The Desk/Review

I was time for me to replace my aging desk. I work at one everyday for many hours and it was time to upgrade. I have had my eye on the gorgeous Grovemade Desk for a while, but the stars finally aligned and I have now had a chance to put this thing to the test in my home office. Short-form takeaway: It is nice, very nice.

Grovemade Desk review

The Grovemade Desk comes in various finishes and in your choice of a solid wood or a less expensive plywood, the rest is made of a high-quality and notably robust powder-coated metal. It is a standing desk, with an ultra smooth electric lifting function that is just as wonderful whether you’re sitting down or not.

They are not cheap, but if you’re looking to invest in something you actually sitting down at for the next decade (or much longer), the Grovemade Desk should very much be on your radar.

The Grovemade Standing Desk starts from $2,500.

Features at a glance:

• American Black Walnut / American White Oak / Eastern Hardrock Maple / Sumi Ink Dyed American Black Walnut
• Walnut Plywood / White Oak Plywood / Eastern Hardrock Maple Plywood (15-ply)
• Powder-Coated Steel
• 5052 Brushed Aluminum
• Merino Wool Felt
• Natural Cork / Sumi Ink Dyed Cork
• Fireproof PC (surge protector)
• Desk rated to lift 270lbs of additional equipment (excluding the desk itself)
• Programmable handset: Two height presets
• Surge protector: Outlets: 6, Switch: 1, USB Ports: 2x USBA + 2x USBC, USB Output: 5V / 3.1A / 15.5W, Joule Rating: 900J, Cord Length: 12 ft
• Desk Frame comes with a 5-year warranty. All other desk components come with a 1-year warranty.

Assembly

The Grovemade Desk, as I’m sure you were already imagining, requires some assembly. Because this is a standing desk, I’m sure you are also imagining that it’s a little bit more involved than slapping a couple legs on the bottom of a table top and calling it a day, but I am very much happy to report this thing is a breeze to put together. 

It took a while to get everything neatly out of the multitude of shipping boxes and organized to prepare for assembly, but with that out of the way it took me about an hour to put the whole thing together and have all my gear setup and ready to go. 

I should also note that I’m not particularly great at these sort of things. I have assembled my fair share of IKEA furniture and the like over the years, but I have a feeling most of the folks reading this will be able to put this thing together better and faster than I did. 

You’re essentially looking at a pair heavy duty metal risers that house the standing lift mechanism, a couple metal supports that hold up the desktop, the particularly fantastic full width drawer, and the under-desk housing that neatly stows away the built-in tech, power bar, and all of your cables. 

• Desktop
• Lifting Columns
• Control Box
• Handset
• Drawer
• Power Panel Box
• Feet
• Pair of complimentary coasters
• All hardware, cables, and tools needed for assembly
• Bonus hardware – Cable slip, cord clamps, mesh cord wrap, extra velcro straps, spare parts

From there it’s simply a matter of making your way through the particularly elegant instruction/assembly manual, popping in a series of screws with the included Hex keys, and you’re good to go – nothing you, more than likely, haven’t gone through before, and likely as simple and elegant a process, if not even more so, than most. 

Build quality

This thing is built like an absolute tank and I love it. I, frankly, expected nothing less from Grovemade in this department – everything it makes is particularly well constructed/thoughtfully crafted – and it 100% did not disappoint here. 

I am all the way impressed. 

Solid wood vs. plywood

I have the Walnut plywood model – this is the much less expensive version of the Grovemade Desk by comparison to the solid wood models – and I’m very happy with the finish. You can get the Desk in three wood finishes, including Walnut, Oak, or Maple, but you can choose the solid wood version or the plywood version of each. 

• American Black Walnut / American White Oak / Eastern Hardrock Maple / Sumi Ink Dyed American Black Walnut
• Walnut Plywood / White Oak Plywood / Eastern Hardrock Maple Plywood (15-ply)
• Powder-Coated Steel
• 5052 Brushed Aluminum
• Merino Wool Felt
• Natural Cork / Sumi Ink Dyed Cork
• Fireproof PC (surge protector)

I almost wish the brand didn’t use the plywood terminology, if not just because it might turn some folks off. It is indeed plywood, but it is a particularly wonderful example – it appears to be a solid layered construction with a smooth beveled edge around the front and sides that terminates in a beautiful desktop that looks and feels like solid wood to me. Hardcore wood guys will certainly be able to tell the difference, but I have some other proper wood furniture in the living room and I barely can.

Some of the plywood and particle board/manufactured wood furniture out there can be seriously gross looking and feeling, never mind being quite susceptible to damage, but this Grovemade ply is seriously nice. It’s so nice in fact that, even though I have a serious affinity for proper hardwood furniture and accessories, I might recommend folks go with the ply and save the cash in order to dip into the brand’s wonderful desk accessory lineup. 

Metal hardware

The Lifting Columns, Feet, supports, and the Power Panel Box are made of a heavy duty metal. The Lifting Columns, which are essentially the legs of the desk, are seriously robust and weighty – the quality is immediately apparent as soon as you lift them out of the box. 

Best drawer in the business

The drawer features a solid metal bottom with wood insert dividers separating the various sections of the inside alongside a high quality 100% merino wool felt liner and wonderful machined cork pockets for pens, small accessories, and basically anything anyone would need in their desk. 

I have never owned a desk with a drawer in it like this, but wow is this thing a game changer. You can neatly stow anything you don’t need in view in what might be the most elegant way I can even imagine. 

It slides in and out beautifully, is built like a tank, and provides some ports along the back so you can have your MacBook and other tech plugged in and charging when not in use – useful, functional, and ultra-clean. 

I require some additional cables for the studio monitor speakers – if you had more modestly sized speakers that rest directly on the surface, the Desk could support everything with all of the cables neatly tucked away. In order to maintain the ability to raise and lower the desk, while also utilizing the Power Panel Box to stow as much of the cables in the setup, I require some extra lead (so the speakers don’t get ripped off the stands when the desk gets raised)

Power Panel Box

Underneath of the desk is where the Power Panel Box is installed. This is effectively a near-full width metal shelf that houses all of the tech – the Control Box for the lifting action, the built-in power bar, and still provides enough room for you to store additional power adapters, excess cable lengths, and so forth. There is only a single cable that connects everything on/in your desk to a wall outlet, and it’s a high quality braided option that comes in the box.

It too is made of a solid, robust powder coated black metal, but it is also finished with a thoughtfully designed wood facade to match the overall look and feel of the Desk. Cutouts on both the front and back allow for proper airflow while also providing more than enough room for your to customize your desk experience with additional gear and tech. No more crawling on the floor, moving furniture around, or hard to reach cable installation – simply wonderful. 

Lift and lower

When it comes to Grovemade it’s all about the gorgeous design sensibilities, careful attention to detail, and the use of wonderful natural and robust materials. But this is a standing desk and it has got to be technically proficient as well….and it very much is.

I’m not all that much of a standing desk aficionado or anything, but so far I’m loving this aspect of the experience. Everything has thankfully been thoughtfully designed here in my experience, so you can lift and lower the desk using the included handset mounted directly beneath of the drawer without having any of the desk’s or your cables in the way. Because the Power Panel Box houses all of the tech with just single braided cable connecting your setup to the outlet in your space, your entire setup can lift and lower with ease. 

Conclusion

If I had to point out one negative aspect of this desk, and that is not easy in this case, as much as I relish the idea of making light of less-than-stellar choices and design aspects on tech and tech adjacent products, it would have to be the onboard power bar. It’s literally just fine, but it doesn’t have enough AC outlets to support my entire setup.

I presume it has more than enough for most setups, but with a monitor, Mac mini, a 25W MagSafe charging stand, a pair of studio monitors that require one AC connection each, a dock/hub for additional I/O options, and additional power bank requirements, it’s just not quite enough. There are workarounds here of course, but if you’re dead set on requiring a certain number of plugs for the setup you know you need, this is something to be considered. You, of course, could easily chain in an additional power strip, and this is what I will do, but it would have been nice to have the option to configure the power strip needed at the point of purchase to accommodate various setups, even if it reached deeper into my pocket. This is all, admittedly, a personal and minor gripe, but I just couldn’t help myself. This Grovemade Desk is wonderful and this, in no way, deters me from recommending it, but it is, at the very least, something to be considered.  

In the end, this is an expensive desk, but one that is very much worth every penny if you ask me. I spend a lot of time at my desk, and it has been a joy to come and sit down to get some work done once I got the Grovemade Desk all setup and ready to go. My previous desk lasted me nearly 12 years, and I do not mind making an investment in a proper one like this for 12+ more.

Buy the Grovemade Desk