How To: Create Home Office Space

Jul 13, 2020 | Posted in How To & Decorating Tips | Share

A wooden built-in home office is created under stairs by adding both closed and open storage cubbies, plus a desk, lighting, chair, and bulletin board on the wall. This one uses blonde wood and a white chair. — *Photo courtesy HomeDoo.com*

Now more than ever, a home office is necessary for modern life. But how do you find space for a home office in your already-packed-to-the-gills city apartment or condo? I’ll show you how!

A home office under the stairs, showing a dark wood desk with two drawers, plus a pull-out keyboard surface, and open storage cubbies. A black rolling chair with silver arms makes it easy to get in and out of the space, on a white tiled kitchen floor. Small framed pictures on the wall create a pleasant workspace, while painting the underside of the stairs in white allows light to bounce around the space easily. — *Photo courtesy HomeDoo.com*

The first place to consider, if you have a multi-level home, is under your stairs! It can be as simple as placing a desk with drawers or storage and a chair at the highest end, or you can create a full built-in workspace.

A 'before' image of the client's open-plan living/dining area shows multiple open shelves, a secretary desk and piles of boxes pushed up against the back wall, with a dining table towards the front. A passthrough to the kitchen is just visible at the left, and the rest of the white wall is blank. — *BEFORE*

The next-best place to uncover space is in your living area. Bonus points if you have an open-plan living/dining room, like my client’s San Francisco condo.

After the redesign, you see a large wall of custom storage, mostly in white with one yellow square cabinet door and one red rectangular cabinet door. A television and media storage is also built-in, with a corner built-in desk and open shelving at the far right. In front is a white marble table and red modern dining chairs, with a bubble pendant light above, and club chairs in the background. — *AFTER Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer*

By creating a wall of custom cabinetry, we tamed storage and organization into a beautiful, single unit with a built-in desk.

A closer look at the built-in corner desk and open shelving in white, with silver legs, and a black-and-silver rolling chair. A laptop is open on the desk, and books and collectibles dot the shelves. Natural light comes from the window just out of view on the right, with track lighting above. — *AFTER Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer*

Open shelving allows frequent-use items to stay within reach, while displaying beloved memories near her corner desk. The key is to edit by rotating collectibles, instead of adding to the ones already on display.

A bedroom with papers strewn all over the bed also has a desk with large Mac computer and keyboard, plus many boxes and shelves of folders, books and supplies pushed against the walls. — *BEFORE*

Another not-so-secret place for a home office is your guest bedroom, or even a main bedroom, depending on your room use. In my client’s SF bay area condo, we needed space for a bed and a second desk, but not at the same time.

A set of four photos showing a guest bedroom and home office space. In the first image, you see a large blue storage wall with white open shelving either side. Next to it is a coordinating blue and white built-in desk and office chair. In the second image, you see a small white desk folded down from the blue storage wall, with a chair. In the third image, you see a bed starting to come down from the blue storage wall. In the fourth image, you see a fully-dressed bed has been pulled down from the wall unit, with built-in lighting overhead. — *AFTER Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer*

Again the solution was custom cabinetry, this time creating a convertible bed and fold-down desk, plus open shelving for this guestroom/home office. There’s even a fold-down bedside table to help guests feel at home, doubling as concealing storage when in use as a home office. Easy, smart and beautiful!

A blue-grey wall is contrasted by dark wood floating shelves above a dark wood desk with silver legs, and a red chair with silver legs, next to a full-length gold drapery pushed back into an accordion fold. Warm gold wood floors shine underneath, with white paneling to finish off at the bottom of the wall by the floor. Collectibles, books and art line the shelves, and a small desk lamp shines at the edge. — *Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer*

Kimball Starr Interior Design creates space for home offices throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Nevada, and she can for you, too. Contact her today for a consultation!

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How To: Create Home Office Space

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