7. Carve out a niche for a message center. if you don't have a lot of room for a large kitchen desk, opt for a smaller counter-height message center that allows you to perch or sit if you need to. A few open shelves and a spot to plug in phones, a laptop and a printer and you've got what you need.
If you're still not too keen on having a computer in the common areas of your home but like the idea of monitoring computer usage, how about tucking a desk with a computer into a closet? When it's in use the doors are open, and when it's not you can close everything up and have it out of sight.
... when you can use them to hide all kinds of things. These doors open and slide back into the sides so that this kitchen office can quickly be hidden. That's a lot faster than putting papers and equipment away, and it looks tidier anyway than having the typical office items sitting on a counter.