If you want to create a home office, and there isn’t just enough space in your home, converting a spare closet into a home office or cloffice can be your best DIY solution. Many closets in our homes are usually not used to their potential, and transforming one into a cloffice can solve your space issues while helping you stay productive and organized.
If you’re planning to convert a closet into the perfect work space, here are some tips to help you (also check out all the closet office ideas further below!):
First of All, Which Closet is the Best Closet?
When deciding which closet to makeover into a cloffice, think about which closet you use the least. Balance this with the one you most either have access to or can easily convert without reorganizing your entire house. Truly, you can use any closet in your house from a guest room, to an office nook in a living room or dining room, to the linen closet in hallway, or your master bedroom closet. Even a built in bookcase can be reconfigured as a cloffice.
If you’re lucky enough to have a walk-in closet, you have a little more flexibility with layout, storage solutions, and design ideas, especially if you have to share the space still with your clothes. In the end, your closet of choice can be a small closet or a big closet because any closet can be turned into a cloffice with enough creativity.
I’ve Chosen My Closet, Now Where Do I Put My Desk?
A desk is a home office essential, but it’s even more crucial to have a desk that will function efficiently when it comes to a small home office.
Before selecting a desk for your closet office, it’s necessary to understand how exactly you’ll use the space. Do you need a wide surface to spread your tools out to be creative? Do you need a place to keep stacks of your paperwork? Or do you just want it to house your computer setup?
With all of this in mind, the easiest thing to do is to keep it simple. Wall-mounting a simple table or countertop to act as your desk will reduce the need for desk or table legs and give you more opportunity for storage space underneath. If you’re handy, check out your local hardware store, Habitat for Humanity Restore, or construction surplus supply store for scrap wood or countertop material that you can use to build a simple floating desk. For those less handy, IKEA is a good starting point for simple, table desks with thin table legs that can be incorporated into your closet.
To be even more space efficient, especially if you don’t keep items on your desk when not in use, you can install any of these tabletop options as fold-out desk in your closet office space. This will allow you to collapse your desk when not in use and extend beyond your closet door boundaries when you need to work.
If you still have to share your closet with your clothes, or create this dual-purpose combo closet office, divide your closet. Split it down the middle, or a similar ratio like 60/40, and literally make a wall, panel, or even some cabinetry in the middle. This will give you a solid surface to connect a desk to, should you choose to wall-mount it, and a solid surface to attach hanging rods to on the other side for your clothes.
After dividing the space, make sure you have a second and possibly even third hanging rod to take advantage of as much clothes hanging space as possible. Consider swapping your hangers to thin, felt space-saving ones that you can find at places like Amazon™, Target™, or Home Goods™, so you can fit your clothes more comfortably.
To help declutter your new work area while still keeping it a clothes closet, rotate your clothes seasonally. Store out-of-season clothes in bins under your bed, in a garage or attic, or another space in the house all together. Store only what clothes and accessories you need to in there. If you can store shoes under the bed, on the back of the bedroom door, or by the front door, move them there. The same goes for anything else like outerwear, hats, handbags, and jewelry.
Storage Ideas: Where The Heck Do I Put My Stuff?
As with any small space, efficient storage options are a must for your closet office, and the interior design solutions you select will decide how effectively you can work.
When adding storage, create separate spaces. Most closet offices will need spaces to store paperwork, stationery, and electrical items like chargers. Do this by adding floating shelves and use all the vertical wall space you can. Add a variety of baskets, jars, and boxes to store small office supplies. Consider peg boards, magnet boards, hanging rails with baskets and hooks to hang tools or stationary supplies. This will keep them easily accessible but off your desk.
Cabinets are another important element in closet offices. It might be tight, but most home office closet situations will have the space to store at least one set of drawers or a small file cabinet underneath your desk. If possible, put yours has casters. This way you can roll it out to extend your workspace as necessary.
You can inject your personal style into your work zone through these storage pieces. Make them as fancy or as minimalist as you like. Regardless of the design, remember that whatever interior design aesthetic you go for with your storage solutions, it needs to function.
Closet Office Door Ideas
If you have a closet door, this is another incredible opportunity for storage ideas. Take advantage of over-the-door hanging shoe racks or wall-hanging storage bins mounted to your door to store spare office supplies (or other things like socks) while keeping them easily accessible. Hang a mirror on the door to help bounce light and make your desk area feel more open.
If you’re working in a very small space, use the back of your door to hang your chair or stool. This will obviously work better if your seat of choice is collapsible. We’ll come back to seating choices in a moment.
Lighting Sources For Your Closet Office
One of the most crucial parts of cloffice interior design is lighting.
Adequate lighting sources are a must-have for your home working space. If your selected closet already has a built-in light fixture, use it. You can replace bare-bulbs with a multi-light fixtures to help illuminate the space.
LED strip lights installed under shelving are also an excellent way to illuminate your desktop or working surface without any additional lighting fixture. Invest in a simple desk lamp to use as task lighting in your closet office. Finally consider adding a mirror to bounce light from around the room and it has the added bonus of making your cloffice feel bigger.
Power strips will be your best friend. They will allow you to plug in multiple light sources in addition to your electronics safely. Consider mounting one to a wall or underneath your desk to keep wires tangle-free and out of the way.
However, for a perfectly lit closet office, you may consider calling an expert to add outlets and fixtures to your workspace. This is totally optional, however, but worth considering as a long-term home improvement project if you anticipate keeping your closet as a cloffice permanently.
Comfortable Seating
Considering the amount of time you’re going to spend in your cloffice, you need something super comfortable to sit on. Although if closet space is an issue and you may have to settle for something small. If you’re transforming your coat closet into a cloffice, for example, you may not have enough room to store a rolling office chair under or at your desk. However, look for a small-scale office chair with all the features of a larger model – Amazon™ and IKEA™ have plenty of options.
If you are purchasing something new, however, consider a chair or stool small enough to tuck in under your desk when not in use and the closet doors are shut. If not, make sure it is multifunctional and complements the larger space where your closet office is.
Honestly, what we’ve seen a lot of people do is just commandeer an already existing stool, folding chair, or a kitchen chair. Don’t be pressured into buying something new when you already have a chair or stool that will work perfectly. If it’s made of metal or wood, buy or make a cushion make it more comfortable. This will make it easier for you to sit in it while staying productive for several hours – plus it’ll allow you to bring in a fun color, pattern, or texture into your workspace.
Closet Office Design Ideas
When considering any sort of interior design aesthetic for your closet home office, you have the freedom to do what you want. We’ve seen several examples of closet office design ideas drawing inspiration from all the interior design aesthetics. We’ve seen minimalist and modern closet offices, industrial, rustic/farmhouse, and everything in between.
Your taste in furniture and choice of home décor help guide your home design. Naturally this will carry over to your office design as well. However, due to the naturally smaller space cloffices tend to be, we do not recommend over decorating this space. As much as we want to add all the home décor pieces we see on HGTV™ and Instagram, it is less than ideal when designing an office nook such as this.
Check out our Pinterest board for a curated collection of our favorite Closet Home Office styles and layouts.
Benefits of Having a Closet Office
- A cloffice provides a separate, designated space where you can sit and work in private while not reallocating an entire room or living space.
- Making a closet office in your home is a great way to utilize an otherwise wasted space.
- A perfectly managed closet office space with storage solutions will help keep all you and your office supplies organized.
- You will not need any extra space to create a cloffice in your home.
- A cloffice establishes a private, designated space where you can separate work-life from home-life and still be productive.
Sometimes, spaces like small apartments and homes require a bit of creativity and flexibility to create a home office. With some imagination, transforming a closet into a home work space can allow you to be efficient and productive, whether you are working from home temporarily or for the long haul.