If you don’t have a designated office in your home, consider converting a closet into a home office. You do not need a lot of space to be able to effectively have a home office. Although I have a commercial office outside of my home, I also have a home office to work projects at home. I converted an 8″ x 8″ closet into my home office. My home office serves as a command center in my home. I run my household and multiple businesses out of my office. Many family members and friends did not believe I could successfully convert the closet into a fully planning business. My only regret is that I didn’t take any “before” pictures. You can check out my “after” video here on YouTube. I took the following steps for my office conversion.
- Completely empty everything out of the closet. – You will need to determine exactly what you are working with.
- Remove clothes rods and shelves you will not use. – I decided to completely remove the existing shelf because I wanted to install a new Elfa (The Container Store) shelf system.
- Paint – Don’t be afraid to have fun with color. Try to avoid dark colors which will make the “office” look smaller. My brand color is wine. Although, painting the entire office wine would be too much, I decided to paint my office beige and paint an accent wall in wine.
- Make sure you have adequate lighting. – I opted for a fun and creative lighting feature. I absolute love it. Its different and unique and reflects the over all look I wanted to accomplish in my office.
- Make sure you have electricity. – You may need to hire an electrician to install an electrical outlet. My closet did not have any wall outlets or telephone jacks. The fine electricians from Divine Elements of Design did an awesome job. They even installed my TV and Roku so I could access video streaming. Check out my previous post on how I turned a regular TV into a smart TV.
- Find a workable desk. I used an existing desk I purchased several years ago from Office Depot. I know having a white desk is the current trend, but I love having my own style.
- Get a Comfortable Chair – I’ve used traditional office chairs with wheels in the past, but for this project, I wanted something a little more Divine. I turned to my own custom furniture for a stylish chair in a damask fabric that I loved. The silver nail heads on the chair was a perfect finishing touch.
- Shelves and Cabinets – Determine exactly what you want to store in your office. A single two drawer filing cabinet may be sufficient. Since I am running multiple businesses, I needed a tad more space for files, reference material, and projects. The custom Elfa system from The Container Store was perfect for my shelves. I also used three existing two drawer filing cabinets. I always recommend using what you and adding to it.
- Personalize it with accessories and decor – Your home office should reflect your personality. Bring accents into your office that make you happy and productive. Your office doesn’t have to be all about work. Have fun and be creative. Bring in flowers, plants, and candles.
I hope these tips and suggestions will help you on your home office conversation. Remember you can convert any space into a workable home office. Don’t forget to click here to check out the YouTube video for a tour of my home office.
Thank you very much for reading this post. Please feel free to leave any comments, questions, or suggestions. If you’re thinking about converting a closet into an office, please feel free to ask me for any advice. As always, I would love for you to follow my blog to stay updated on home decor ideas, organizational tips, and planning & productivity strategies. You may also visit our main interior decorating website at www.divineelementsofdesign.net for information about our interior decorating services and products.
Whoa! I checked out the video and I LOVE your office! I love that chair, the color you chose, your light fixture- it really turned out great! Now I’m inspired to try. 🙂
Thanks for checking out the video. I’m happy it inspired you. Feel free to post any questions or ask advice in my blog. Home offices are my favorite.
We are turning our extra walk-in closet to a home office and it’s working out great. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for stopping by. I’m sure your project will turn out fabulous!!
Great tips! We have a room that kind of serves as an office at the moment, but my fiancé has kind of taken it over with all of his stuff, so I need to find somewhere to have a little office, going to take note of these tips!
LOL.. Let him have the room. You can create your own fabulous office someplace else, and not have to worry about it being overrun with his stinky man stuff… Have a great day!!
Great idea, and your office looks very nice. This is a wonderful idea for people with limited space, like myself.
Thanks for stopping by. It doesn’t require a lot of space to be able to have a functioning office. Goof luck with your project.
Very creative. Looks really nice. Makes working from home intriguing and comfortable. Thanks for the tips!!!
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, it makes working from home great!
I love this idea!
thanks for stopping by! Have a great week..
I absolutely love it! Your video is fantastic (though I do wish you gave a view from completely outside the closet, just to have a better idea in my own head). This is something I struggle with – the blog and my son’s school. We refuse to convert our guest room into an office as well for so many reasons! Well… looks like I need to get to work on choosing a closet and getting to it! Great great idea, I love it.
Michelle – http://www.heylittlefighter.com – A special needs parenting online resource
Thanks for stopping by. I’m sure your closet transformation will be awesome. I wish I was I able to stand back more, but my umbrella light was In the way. I’m happy you were able to get a few ideas. I visited your blog as well, it’s awesome. Have a great week!
What a great idea, if only I had a closet I wasn’t using!!
I’m Bethany. I’m sure you can find a spare closet. This one was a junk closet at first. LOL. Are you really utilizing all of your closets, or do you just fill them up with stuff. Think about it. Thanks for stopping by.
This is just giving me inspiration to turn one of the hall closets into a wine cellar. It needs a cool dry place to live, just like my shoes. Bet my husband won’t like this idea one bit. 😉
Wow! Turning a closet into a wine cellar is an awesome idea. I think it will work. How will you keep is cool and dry? I wild love to hear all of your ideas. Good luck!
Nice! I need to figure out a way to do something similar. With having a house full of 4 boys and my fiance and myself. . we need all the space and organization we can have!
Yikes!! You do have a full house. You definitely deserve a nice cup of tea!!!
I just watched the video and I am blown away! I love how organized you are! You have made use out of every single inch of your space. I don’t know if you ever watch the Tiny House shows, but your space reminds me of those, because they also have to use every single inch of space in the most efficient way possible. Nice job!
Thank you so much. Your compliment was so kind. I’ve never watched Tiny House, but I’ll be sure to find it and watch it. Thanks and have a great week.
great tips!! We may do this for one of ours, since our office is currently our playroom for our child.
liz jo @ sundays with sophie
Thanks for stopping by. Go for it. I think it’s a great idea. As much as we love your little ones art work, we don’t want your important papers to be used as canvas. 🙂
Awesome tips, I made need to keep this in mind for when I move. Just in case!
Thanks for stopping by. You can really use any small space for an office.
This is a cool idea. I have a small room that was made into a closet and storage. I want to turn it back now.
If you need a home office, you should definitely do it! Keep me informed
All great tips! I really need an office but I also need a bigger place. Thanks so much for the idea! I need to go look in my closet and think about how to make this work. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for stopping by. It a closet is too small for you, maybe a less confined place will work better.
It’s nice to know I am not alone in the world of closet office. Any time someone comes over and sees where I work the response is always the same. “Woah! There’s like a whole office in there!”
Lol. Yes, people are always surprised. I think it’s a great way to utilize the space. Thanks for stopping by.
what an absolutely fabulous idea!! how creative.
Thanks. And thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome week!
Thanks for stopping by.
I actually did this with our old home! We had 3 pretty large closets in our basement and only really used 2 of them! And I really needed a place to store my craft projects and (ideally) work. It worked great and was a bonus feature when we sold our home!
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing.
I really like the idea and it would work if I didn’t actually need the closet space. Too many clothes. But it’s a great idea and good use of space.
Is there ever a such thing as too many clothes. Lol. Thanks for stopping by.
I am TOTALLY doing the same thing with a closet we have under our stairs. I need an office so bad!
Awesome. Please come back and let me know how it turns out.
Great idea. Now clean out a closet.
Candy recently posted…Sausage and Cabbage
Awesome tips. I LoVE that chair! Great little space.
Michelle recently posted…Entrepreneur Mindset Override
This is such a great idea!!! It turned out so nice!!
I wish I could post a picture. I converted mine with a cool modular shelving system from The Container Store. I made and awesome stand up desk with drawers and files that all pull it. I love it and it just closes off when I am not using it!
What great tips! I have an office, but may use some of these tips to help convert our main closet into a more usable area.
I need to do this!
this is really great – we will probably need to do this as our home business grows – thanks for the tips!
Great post! Our apartment is tiny, and this is tons of inspiration. Love how you used vertical space all the way to the ceiling!
I’m in the process of redoing my office (just pulled down the shelving last weekend). I’ve received some inspiration and ideas from your great video! Thanks!!
This is great! I don’t need to make my closet a home office, since I have a second “bedroom” that I’m using, but really that room is the size of a walk in closet haha! It just has a window and a tiny closet too. lol
Angie recently posted…Beauty Tips | How to Look Younger on a Budget
What a great idea! I never thought about using a closet for an office! I’m going to have to remember this!
Awesome tips! Thank you for sharing some inspiration!