With so many people telecommuting instead of sitting in a cubicle, having a home office has become more important to home buyers and owners. But if you don’t have an extra room to turn into an office, how can you carve out your own space?

Easy. Turn a closet into your home office.

Tips for Turning a Closet Into Your Home Office

Add good lighting

Most closets have dreadful lighting, so you’ll probably need to upgrade the fixture. Choose something fun and whimsical such as recessed lighting that makes you smile each time you sit down in your new space. A fancy desk lamp can add additional lighting if needed.

You don’t have to have a desk

Installing shelving can leave space free to tuck your filing cabinet and more underneath the workspace. Add storage shelving or cabinets above your workspace for work materials, framed photos, and other decorations that make the space your own.

Go wild with your design

A small closet office is a great place to play with color and texture, so don’t be afraid to experiment with materials that you haven’t used in your designs before and hire a contractor to help you with the job. Metal shelving, a bold color choice for your interior painting, a fanciful chair, or a really cool barn door to hide it all behind…all of these can take your space from “oh, that used to be a closet” to “Wow, what a great office”.

Be practical

You’ll need electricity, so plan to either have an electrician install an outlet or invest in a good extension cord and power strip.

Here’s some inspiration for closet to office transformations

Need a place to create your own home office? Start your home search here.