Finn Juhl is known for adding visual lightness to his designs, and the Nyhavn Desk is no exception. When Finn Juhl established his first studio at the exclusive address of 33 Nyhavn in central Copenhagen in 1945, he designed a very simple desk with burnished steel legs, a detail which came to shape his furniture design during the 1950s. When Finn Juhl moved his studio to 38 Sølvgade in 1957, these same tables were still used.

When Finn Juhl designed the Nyhavn Desk he was inspired by the simplistic designs of his American counterparts, in particular Charles Eames. However, his sense of functionality and detail is what adds real character to this piece. During his career, Finn Juhl designed a series of different tables with almost invisible legs in burnished or painted steel with wooden toes. In this way, he introduced an almost floating lightness into his designs. The Nyhavn Desk can also be seen as Finn Juhl's response to the criticism of his inspiration with the free sculptural art and its exclusivity.

The desk is manufactured in different sizes and available with a veneered table top in teak, oak, walnut, Oregon pine, or linoleum in the colors 'black' or 'mushroom' with matching wooden toes on painted steel legs. The table can be ordered with a tray unit with three drawers in a warm or cold range of colors. The orange and blue colors are characteristic for Finn Juhl's designs and derive from his inspiration from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's wheel of warm and cold colors. The tray unit is mounted with brackets, to further emphasize the floating lightness of the table.