How to Turn a Closet Into an Office: The Cloffice Reveal!

Do you work from home often enough to need a dedicated work space, but simply don’t have the space to give in your apartment or home?

I lost my office when baby #2 arrived and got relegated to sharing a loft space with all our gym equipment. Not a big deal, until you realize it was open to everything, so there was no peace or quiet to be had while doing any work.

So, I looked to my guest room space create an office. We have guests often enough that I didn’t want to carve out space from the room for a desk setup. And from that concern, my cloffice was born.

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But, How Do You Turn a Closet Into an Office?

It’s actually pretty simple at its core.

Remove the closet rod. Add a desk top. That’s it.

You can either build a desk top into the closet (like I did), or simply place a desk into the closet. Just make sure it’s narrow enough that the doors still close around it.

If you want to build the desktop, you can do that with some 3/4″ sanded plywood, 2×2 supports, and a 1×3 front. It’s pretty easy, as building projects go!

And, I decided to add built in shelving on either side of the closet and a built-in desk top, to give me a little more storage and make the space feel a little less like a closet.

Tip: Don’t glue down your desk top if building it. And, leave the screw heads uncovered by caulk or wood filler. If you sell or rent your home down the road, or your life changes and you no longer need a cloffice, you want the desktop to be easy to remove. Then you just need to add a closet rod back in and your cloffice is back to a closet.

What About Power & Lighting?

This is always the first question I get when I’m asked how you turn a closet into an office.

If you need a power source at your desk (and don’t want to spend the money adding outlets to your closet), you can use a power clamp or run a surge protector from the nearest outlet while you’re working, and simply unplug it when you are not.

And, I added battery operated, remote-controlled puck lights as lighting for my shelving. But, I really get most of my light from the guest room, so these are more decorative than anything else.

Don’t Forget About Your Style!

For me, the most fun part about turning a closet into an office was adding some style to the space.

I went with a bold wallpaper and a deep blue color for the desk and built-ins, to give my cloffice it’s own character and feel. (You can check out exactly how to hang your own wallpaper with my how-to post here).

I also balanced out all the bold with lots of neutral accents and decor.

So, What Do You Think?

It’s really a pretty simple project to turn a closet into an office! And, whether you customize the whole space yourself, or simply add a desk and remove the closet rod, you’ll love having a little dedicated work space to call your own.

Want to Shop My Space?

You can check out all my cloffice (and home finds) at my Amazon Storefront and on my LTK page.

And, if you’re in the market for some wallpaper, Photowall has an amazing selection of patterns and makes a product that is super easy to work with. Make sure you check them out!

Have Questions? Looking for Home Decor Tips?

Check out our posts on How to Hang Wallpaper With Paste, How to Create a Home Gym, and The Power Tools Every Grown Up Should Own!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post in the comments below! Or, you can always send a direct message to us at our Contact Us page.

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Last but not least, please review our Disclaimer before completing any project we describe here.