You should decide what the function of the desk is supposed to be beyond the obvious......
I don't know if drawing attention to your furniture is a good idea when you are trying to hold customers focus and limit non profitable chat time about stuff you can't sell like the story about the desk.
You want the desk to draw them in but not distract them away from your mission, first rule in selling is always be closing.
I would go for comfortable, neat, and functional but do not make the desk the center of attention.
matching / supporting neutral colors , two colors that complement each other for the top and the base.
On the other hand if you will have a receptionist who has the time and task to engage and hold customers then decorate it such that you can tell a story behind it and up your customer face time.
think of it the same way if you were to make your clip art books and apparel catalogs available in a user friendly environment they could be held there forever while they brouse and shop...aka the nice new cars on the show room floor, the furniture at the furniture store, the tools in the tool department at home centers.
We discovered this when we named our embroidery business.....the name is Manhattan Moose Embroidery, there is no logo associated never had one but I have been asked 10000000000 times how the heck did you come up with that name and 10000000000 times told the story.
I have spent a lot of time talking about that name
? What do you want your desk to do for you?
mooseman