I have been lucky enough that I've been getting a ton of business this summer and have spent every waking hour (the ones where I'm not chasing my son around or feeding my daughter) editing, managing orders, updating my website, etc., etc., etc. Previously, I was doing this all on the kitchen counter. There are a number of disadvantages there: my laptop is dangerously close to lots of liquids & foods, my broke-down back is not a fan of the barstools, and it just really cluttered up our kitchen/dining area.
All of a sudden I got this great idea since I wanted to clean out the closet and needed a better workspace: repurpose - closet office! I thought I was a genius and that I invented this. There's nothing like Pinterest to make you feel unoriginal! Then, the more I thought of it, my parents are actually the trailblazers here: they did this very thing for me when we remodeled my bedroom way WAY back when I was in probably 4th grade. They one-upped me a bit, in fact, as my childhood closet office had a built-in overhead light and no doors. Doors are a necessity here, however, to keep the monster (Abram) out!
I LOVE my new workspace! It is much more functional & comfortable than the previous setup. Bonus: it was CHEAP too. Here's how I did it & what it cost:
1. I cleaned every last thing out of the old closet, including the bars.
2. I sanded, patched, sanded the larger wall issues (already had the supplies).
3. Lucky me, I had leftover paint from the rest of the house, so I painted the walls with African Elephant Gray (one of the 4 different shades of gray painted in the house - no joke) & the doors, trim & top shelf white.
4. I went to the local lumber yard and bought a sheet of MDF board for $40. I had them cut the main desktop piece but left the rest of the cutting for the Mr. at home. When I measured, I made sure it took up the entire space of the closet, leaving only room for an inch or 2 gap at one end to let cords up. Also, I left about a half inch between the edge of the desk and the trim, just to make inserting the desktop a little easier.
5. The desktop got a couple coats of white paint. Again, I already had this on hand.
6. I bought 10 pairs of shelf brackets, totaling $25. MDF is super heavy so we had to use the studs and 5 shelf brackets. We put 1 in each corner and then one in the middle against the back wall. It's sturdy!
7. Mr. cut the other 8 shelves, painted them white, and we installed them each with a pair of brackets. I measure them to fit snug in the space from the wall to the trim and all the way across.
THAT'S IT! The rest was accessorizing and that part was also really cheap! I was able to get everything else at either Wal-Mart of the thrift store in town. Check out some of the details:
I read on one of the Pinterest blogs on a closet office that you should give decorations a function. I like that idea. In fact, this yellow vase, I use it as my trash can! It was $2 at the thrift store. The two little frosted candle holders hold my pushpins and paperclips. The pair was also $2 at the thrift store. I got these little chevron storage boxes from Wal-Mart for $1.75 each. In one I keep all my business cards, receipts, etc. and in the other I keep my tech stuff such as my external hard drive and extra SD cards. My pen cup is just a mason jar that I had in the cabinet with a piece of lacy ribbon tied around the top.
I love this lamp (I love lamp!) that I got on clearance at Wal-Mart. The shade was $7 and the base was $12. The chair is another thrift store find for $14.50, and the wax melter was one that I already had here at the house (it's a cheapy from Wal-Mart too).
Guess where the yellow clock is from...Wal-Mart! $3! I actually made my memo board. I bought cheap white frames from WM for about $3 each. I already had old corkboard leftover from another project at home, so I cut it to fit and voila! It looks good as the focal point rather than the standard message boards.
I even decided to get my desktop organized! I got this Sweet Spot Desktop Organizer background template from Squijoo.
This was so easy and cost me less than $150 and took less than two days from start to finish! It will be a great spot to grade tests once school starts back up as well. Until then, happy editing to me!
