The Neko House Desk understands who’s really in charge of your home, and helps you convince them to let you have some space too.
A big part of the appeal of working from home is that even if you’re still working for somebody else, you get much more control over your immediate environment. Want to play music during your shift, while also spending it all in your pajamas and setting the thermostat to whatever temperature you want? Go right ahead! No one is going to stop you.
However, while you may not have to worry about your personal freedoms being encroached on by fussy managers or inconsiderate coworkers, that still doesn’t make you the ultimate boss of your home office if you have a pet cat. As feline fans know all too well, their pets tend to think of themselves as being the higher-ranking half of the relationship, and so really it’s a matter of how much of your workspace they’ll let you use, since they’ll, of course, claim dominion over at least a part of it.
Unfortunately, no amount of attempted explaining will convey to your cat how it’s in their best interest too to let you work efficiently, so that you can earn the money that pays for their treats, toys, and other essentials. So instead, Japanese furniture and homewares company Bibilab has developed a compromise: the Neko House Desk.
Neko is the Japanese word for cat, so you could also call this the Cat House Desk, but again, this piece of furniture is for people who own pets, not bordellos. Bibilab proudly built in numerous design points to help promote harmonious sharing between you and your kitties, starting with a two-tier cat space along the right side of the desk, each with side-access portals and a weight capacity of 20 kilograms (44 pounds) for the top section.
There’s another cat space on the underside of the desk surface, in the normally unutilized space in front of your knees when you’re sitting.
This cat lounging area is positioned so that you won’t bump into it while sitting at the desk, but is also close enough so that your cat can easily cross the gap onto your lap for some cuddles.
The section of the desk is also connected to the wider top-tier section on its right edge, allowing your cat to easily move from one to the other, or in or out of the desk entirely, without having to go under the desk itself.
There’s also a way for your cat to go through the top of the desk, as the designers have included a feature they call the “Surprise Cat Hole,” so that your cat can poke its head topside for a quick pet/scratch or for playtime.
This feature also gives you a great reminder/excuse to take periodic breaks for mental refreshment, helping you avoid the always dangerous situations of work burnout and cuteness deficiencies.
▼ The monitor says “Start,” but the cat says “Stop…and play with me!”
Combined, these features give your cat attractive places to occupy, which will hopefully keep them from lazing about in spots that would make it hard for you to get work done. Despite all the playful touches, the Neko House Desk is still a practical piece of furniture too, with slits to run cables through and even a spot for desktop PC users to put their tower (though this does take up the bottom half of the two-tier cat space, so you’ll probably want to get your pet’s permission first).
It’s also sized to easily pair with Bibilab’s Cat Tower Rack, another item from the company that gives your cats more space of their own so that you can have a little more for yourself too.
▼ Neko House Desk dimensions (in centimeters)
The Neko House Desk is priced at 24,800 yen (US$160) and available through Amazon Japan here, while the 16,862-yen Cat Tower Rack can be ordered here. And if you’re looking for some uniquely purpose-built furniture for when you’re done working for the day, Bibilab can help with that too.