Ikea BRUSALI Desk Impressions: No doors, yes service?

Still going through desks, this time the Ikea BRUSALI desk with the shelves on one side, not the corner desk with shelves on both sides. It wasn't the cheapest but when sorting the "Desks and computer desks" category by price on Ikea.ca, I found the BRUSALI closer to the top than the bottom.

Messing with ice cubes.

Disclaimer: I had not had any firsthand experience with any BRUSALI desk products when I wrote this piece. Details were quoted from the Ikea United States website or Canada website in mid March 2017. Details on this page are NOT guaranteed for accuracy.

Ikea BRUSALI Desk First Impressions
One color option, brown, was all I found on the Ikea.ca product page for the BRUSALI desk (303.022.99 in brown) going for CA$ 79.99. From the product photos, I saw a rectangular desk with a set of shelves on one side, four legs, and side panels that didn't extend all the way to the floor. This detail, the floor clearance, may not seem like a big deal, but it was something I really appreciated. Routing cables and surge protectors, as well as cleaning the floor underneath the desk would likely be made easier.

A trip through the "Assembly instruction" document and a closer look at the photos suggested that the shelves were adjustable. There also appeared to be a narrow shelf under the desktop near the back -- saw it in the photos and it was mentioned under "Key features" too. And while I'm on the instructions, the process for the BRUSALI desk didn't look that different from other Ikea furniture I had put together in recent years.

Inside a desktop computer.

The dimensions on the BRUSALI desk's product page were noted to be 90 cm x 52 cm x 73 cm (width x depth x height). Width was a tad on the narrow side for my liking but it wasn't surprising after seeing the photos. Height looked satisfactory to me. I would have liked a bit more depth than 52 cm, however, it wasn't that much lower than my preferred minimum of 60 cm. Stepping back to the width again, the leg room felt like it would be a bit cramped with the shelves on one side eating into the 90 cm -- ignoring the width of the legs themselves. If I used one, I could see myself crossing my legs and resting my shoes on the panels to the sides. And the shelf seemed like it would push an occupant to one side of the desk. But being right-handed, that may not be an issue for me.

Otherwise, the desk was on the bare bones side, but I still thought it had enough going on to look reasonably nice (e.g. the shelves, edges, floor clearance on the sides). A door on the shelves probably would have given the BRUSALI desk a bump up in attractiveness -- and price too. It reminded me of the Ikea MICKE desk with the cabinet that was CA$ 99.00 on the Ikea.ca website. For about $20 more, the MICKE was roughly the same size at 105 cm x 50 cm x 75 cm (width x depth x height) according to its product page. This one did seem to have a door for the side cabinet, and two drawers. Guess the decision would come down to aesthetics, floor clearance, and a bit on width? Also, the BRUSALI desk only came in a darker color so dust was something that concerned me a bit.

Final Thoughts
When I was looking at the Ikea BRUSALI desk initially, I was concerned that I'd have nothing to say about it. Turned out that wasn't an issue. Overall, I found it to be a reasonably attractive, competitively priced, and functional desk. Its width was a concern, especially with the shelf under the desk restricting leg room and pushing the user to one side.