It is becoming increasingly common for people to work at home. For Northern Virginia homeowners, the ability to work from home - especially when brutal winter weather makes travel hazardous, is critical to their jobs. When the square footage and number of rooms in a house doesn’t make it possible to dedicate an entire room to an office, the only way to solve the space dilemma is by turning a closet into an office area.
Any closet can be transformed into a functional office that will allow you to work from home productively, or give the kids a quiet place to do their homework without worrying about distractions from other members of the family.
How Do You Plan to Use the Office?
The first step is to figure out how you plan to use your office. Make a list of everything you need to be able to do in the space, and every function it needs to fulfill. If other family members share the space with you, include the things they need to have in the space, too. Take the time to go into detail when you list things. The importance of those details will become clearer once you measure the closet space.
Measure the Closet
The dimensions and the square footage of the closet ultimately determine what you’ll be able to do within the available space in the closet. Measure the width and depth and multiply the two figures to get the square footage of the area. Measure the height from floor to ceiling so you can understand how to use the vertical space when you’re laying out the design of your closet-office.
Office Equipment Needs
Make another list of the equipment you have to have in your office. Think of everything from software discs to hardware such as desktop computers, laptops, extra monitors, printers, external drives, file cabinets, reference materials, chairs, phones, tablets and anything else.
Connect to Electricity
Don’t forget about the need to plug your electronic devices in. Plan on plugging in accessories like cellphone chargers, lights, printers, fax machines, external hard drives, DVD drives, battery-powered backup power sources, as well as anything else that needs electricity to run. You’ll need to hire an electrician to install the outlets. Hire a licensed electrician to install grounded wall outlets, and have the technician install wall sconces or hanging pendant lights, so your desk and other work areas have sufficient illumination.
Plan the Design and Layout on Paper
Home improvement guru, Bob Villa recommends that you use paper to create the design of your closet-office conversion. Use a large piece of paper to represent the closet space. Cut pieces of paper into squares or rectangles to represent the desk, shelves, etc. Use a sharpie to label everything. Then cut out smaller pieces of paper to represent the lights, electrical outlets, computers, printers, and all of the other equipment, files or related objects you’ll need in your office area.
Do Something to the Walls
A decorative element on the walls will go a long way towards making a former office feel more like a warm and inviting office. Consider the design style of the rest of the home. For a rustic look, install wood paneling using a tongue and groove technique. The wood will create the illusion of shiplap - a hot trend in rustic interior design. Paint it to match the shelves and desk, or stain the wood for an earthier look. Whether you paint, stain or leave the wood in its natural state, you should apply several coats of polyurethane to protect the wood.
Choose Your Materials
Use ¾ -inch plywood for the desk and the shelves you intend to install in your closet-office. To soften the edge of the desk and shelves, and to keep things from falling off, attach a two-inch strip to each shelf - and the desk. Secure them with glue and nails.
Instead of shelf brackets, attach strips of hardwood to the wall below each shelf. Paint, stain and apply the protective polyurethane as you did with the shelves and wall panels.
Attractive reclaimed wooden bins or galvanized metal buckets or boxes will give you creative ways to store and stow things that would otherwise create a lot of unnecessary and unwanted clutter in your small office. Put wheels on your file cabinet so you can pull it out when you need it and slide it under the desk when you don't.
Most older homes have tiny closets compared to the standard walk-in closet that people value so much today. By turning a closet into an office space, you’ll transform something that didn’t function well or serve a useful purpose into an efficient workspace that suits the purpose for which any or all family members need it to work.
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