Building A Cloffice: How To Turn A Closet Into A Compact Home Office

Look at height, length, and depth before determining what kind of furniture you’ll include. Why cut the plywood 3/4″ less? I know I am missing something, just not sure what. Then I used some left over navy blue paint to create this faux patterned tile design. Using a level, mark a line 1/2″ below the final height of your finished desk.

An even cheaper option is simple to mount a shelf (or just a piece of wood) in the closet. With a few shelving brackets (that’ll likely come with any shelf you buy). This is more than enough to hold up a laptop or monitor and a few other items.

MAWA European Space-Saving Hangers

This acts as an extra bit of support on the back end for the desk since that plywood is actually overhanging the desk base by a good foot. The amount of each item you’ll need depends on how big your closet is, and how many shelves you want converting closet to office to add. My closet measures 53″ wide, and I needed four 12′ pieces of 1″x2″ select pine. Ludmer asked for “something with a nice high-tech feel.” The result was a sleek black granite built-in desk and a white faux leather office chair.

  • Shop Theodores to put by the desk because it was the perfect scale for the space.
  • Sometimes a simple hardware update is all that’s necessary to bring new life to your doors.
  • Simply measure out the area where you think the drawer will fit neatly.
  • However, for a truly well-lit closet office, you may need to call an electrician to add outlets and light fixtures to your new work zone.

She points to peel-and-stick wallpaper such as WallPops for big impact in a small space. She suggests wallpapering the inside of the closet, including the door, for a chic and interesting workspace. Don’t be afraid of using a bold pattern, which can actually create the illusion of a larger space.

Step One: Make a Plan

If you only have one master bedroom closet, free up that space by purchasing one or two wardrobes for your shoes and clothing. If you have a guest bedroom that rarely gets used, upgrading the closet into an office turns it into a dual-purpose space. You can simply close the closet door in your office when you have overnight guests. Virtually any unused closet can be used to create your private office nook. From a small reach-in closet to a walk-in with a window, these under-utilized zones are easy to transform into your own happy little cubicle. All you need is a work surface, a comfortable place to sit, and a healthy dose of inspiration.

If you have a couple of drawer units under your desktop, you want those items to have furniture risers under them. If you’re still keen to lay a different floor over your cloffice, do not use busy patterns as they will overwhelm a small space. As long as you have several sources of light, you can turn off the ones you don’t need at the moment and create an ideal ambience in your home office. This way, you can easily access the items whenever you need them, without cluttering up your desktop. In a small workspace with ambient light, task lamps increase illuminance which helps with focus-based activities. Some people embrace the lack of light and create a more intimate atmosphere by adding dark colours, which also adds cosiness to the space.

Maximize vertical space

To transform a closet into an office, you can start by removing the closet doors and any unnecessary shelving or hanging rods. Install a desk that fits within the closet space, add a comfortable chair, and organize the walls with shelves, corkboards, or magnetic boards for storage and display. Ensure proper lighting and consider adding cable management solutions for electronics. Because a closet office can be such a tight space, it’s important to make use of every inch of wall space. Shelves are one of the best ways to add a ton of storage to your cozy nook. If you want to DIY your closet office, your local home improvement store offers hundreds of easy-to-install shelving solutions.

turn closet into desk area

Just remember to extend the plywood all the way to the back of the wall and under the shelves. I had just started my business, and I needed a place to store my laptop, stationery – everything,” she says. When the pandemic began, Christine Warnke already had a cloffice in the entry hall of her two-bedroom Washington, D.C., condo.