My Home Office – I Love It, but Don’t Really Need It

June 4, 2018
IN: home office, my home office, office

I love my home office! I really do. In fact, it’s one of my absolute favorite spaces in our house. Given the opportunity to design it however I wanted, I couldn’t help but to lean super feminine. And the pink walls might be my favorite part.

But I’m Planning Something Totally Different for House #7

When thinking about a floor plan for house number seven, I decided I don’t need a home office. As much as I love the look of this space, I don’t need a whole room dedicated as a work space for myself.

I mean, sure I love to sit at this desk and work, but the reality is working from a laptop means I can create an office space anywhere, and I often do……work from the living room sofa, or my bed…I can and do work outside of my home office regularly. In fact I’m currently writing this post from bed.

So when it came down to figuring out a floor plan, dedicating square footage solely for me to use as an office seemed like an unnecessary use of space for the way we actually live.

Instead, I’m planning to create a huge walk-in closet that will multi-function as both a dressing room and an office space. And call me crazy, but I’m pretty pumped about this idea! I think it’s going to be pretty great to work in a space I won’t feel the need to keep so tidy because it will be much more private to the house.

I’m trying to be as thoughtful and intentional about the floor plan of our next home as I can. And I just don’t want to have any square footage that isn’t used to its fullest potential.

So what do you think? Am I going to regret not having a dedicated office space in our next house? Do you think it’s weird to have a closet multi-function as an office?

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I think this is really smart of you! I don’t think it’s “weird” to have an office space in your closet; I don’t think it would have ever occurred to me to have that place pull double duty, but I dig it. It’s like a little Carmel Cave!

We have a guest room that also has a desk in in that I used to primarily use as a place for a small file cabinet and for guests to use for their laptops etc. I do work from home quite often and do all of my acutal work at the kitchen island or on the back deck when the weather is nice. When my teens were younger, they primarily did homework in the kitchen or at the dining room table (small house (1300 sq feet) with open plan – so that dining room table is literally two steps from the kitchen). However, as they have gotten older their habits have changed. My just-graduated high school senior started using the guest room desk as his place to do work around 4 years ago.. I think he liked it because he could leave his books and papers there and not have to put everyting away every night. His bedroom is quite small (and is always messy) so I think he just likes the guest room space better! The younger one, now a high school freshmen, has always liked using his room for homework and we just upgraded his old little table to an actual desk. I can’t recall how old your children are and wheter their homework habits are set in stone, but it might be nice ot have a desk area for them, someplace other than their rooms!

I totally get it. I have a dedicated “office”, but now that I am no longing doing all the volunteer work that I did in the past (lots of computer time) I really don’t need one. Hubby however, has started working from home. But, he’s a pile guy…so I really wouldn’t want his office on the main floor. He is currently using my craft room (an extra bedroom upstairs). I see several of our rooms changing function in the next year or so.

In our last house, my office was in the big pantry. For our new place, which is under a total gut job remodel right now, my office will also be in the pantry. Since my husband works from home and needs a real working man’s office, we are converting the former dining room into his office. So, it can become a master bedroom on the first floor if that’s ever needed, the next door powder room is now an en suite full bath.

I too had an office in our last house and it was nice. However, in this house, I converted a coat closet in our laundry room into my “office.” I used an Elfa design to maximize every square inch in there. I have a massive Mac and I needed a place that could be closed up. Here’s why the laundry room situation works best for me. It’s right off the garage so mail can be sorted as soon as I walk in the door and bills are put in their spot since I’m the bill payer. My camera lives in the mud room right by the laundry so I can grab my camera card easily when I need to download pics. While I don’t think your closet is a bad choice, I’d just think about how your household functions carefully. If I were in my closet/dressing/office room, I’d get distracted pretty easily. One other thought for you is resale and what other people think works. I’m in our sixth house too and I thought House 3 was my last house. Now, I’m about to move into my seventh house. Most of the moves were calculated, but this one was a total surprise. The beauty of a custom home is that you can make it what you want, but you also always have to think about resale. Happy planning!

I think it is a great idea to have your office in the closet! Just make sure you have lots of windows to be able to see out outside and get natural light (so that you don’t feel like you are stuck in a – well – closet 🙂 ). But based on your previous post, I think you are planning the window route already! I love being brought along on the planning phase of House 7! It’s always so interesting to see behind the curtain.

I completely agree with not having a room dedicated to your home office. I also concur with an earlier comment concerning mail and bills- if you’re the bill payer, you may not want to truck all that stuff into your closet and could end up with piles on the counter. If we ever build, I think I would prefer a laundry/mudroom/office space so mail gets immediately dumped in a tucked away space. It irritates me to no end when letters and bills are left on the counter. Whatever you decide, I’m sure it will be beautiful and sophisticated.

I have an “office” in our HUGE his-and-hers walk-in closets, and it’s dreamy! Go for it!

my office is actually the living room of our house. Who needs a living room? I have a long table in front of the window so I can look out and see what’s happening in the neighborhood.

My bff has a home office in her large pantry right off of the kitchen, garage, and mud room. She loves being able to plan her shopping lists there and drop all of her mail when she comes in the door! Our dining room is also our home office out of necessity, but our daughter recently moved out for good, so we plan on converting her bedroom to a guest room/home office very soon. Although I hate her being gone, we really can use the space and I can’t wait to have just a dining room again! Plus, she will still have a place to stay when she comes to visit a few times per year.

Hi Carmel, I currently have a small desk and printer in my dressing room off of our bedroom. We have an old small house (1700 sq f) for 5 of us and 3 dogs, so rooms do double duty and get used fully. It took living here 17 years to figure out where I could carve out a space. Maybe you could refer to this space as your dressing “room” instead of “closet” and place the desk in front of a window. Psychologically you will feel better about it and be more likely to use the space. Looking forward to the reveal of your new home!

No “correct call” on this one. Every persons life is different, priorites are different, needs and wants are different…ect…ect…ect! The times have changed too. Simply, you have to do what works for you. Carmel, you know what you don’t want and /or need. I am also assuming that you would not be entertaining clients in your closet office…LOL!

I live here in South Orange County in Southern California…..we do not have mud rooms (or basements) out here. The idea of an office area in/connected/near your mud room…love it.

I chuckle about resale…..one of my very best buddies is in home design. Several years ago when we were gutting our kitchen, she was looking at some of my selections ie granite, tiles ect She said you might want to go more neutral for resale purposes. I laughed and told her that I (We) were not redoing the kitchen for someone else to enjoy. The kitchen was for us, primarily me. She was and still is a strong believer in the resale factor when doing anything. I believe you must do what makes you happy, what works in your life and your style and your space.

I have a small bookkeeping business and work out of my walk in closet. Love it.

I have a really nice office space in our house. It has a desk and credenza that my husband purchased from Crate and Barrel about 11 years ago, before we met. I need to pull it all together to make it function a bit better. Honestly, I have dreams of doing one wall of built-ins and then a small sofa, coffee table, and chair. I could create a small desk space on one of the walls that is in the space which happens to be angled. I think I would make it into a Woman Cave of sorts (my husband has a Man Cave in the basement). I think sitting at a desk isn’t for everyone, especially now that you can take your lap top and phone every where. I tend to like sitting on a sofa with my laptop and I like to be able to look out the window. It’s fun to watch your process 🙂

That’s an interesting idea – I never would have thought of it! Ultimately a home office should “work” for YOU, so whatever works for you, I say go for it! Can’t wait to see it!

I think the closet/office/dressing room is a great idea…as long as it has a window, even a porthole. Otherwise, you may find you feel confined and miss the natural light while trying to work. You know you best!

Also – when our kitchen was redone several years ago, I chose deep drawers instead of lower cabinets, which are great all around. I discovered that the drawers also work well as a file cabinet! I have a section of one of the drawers devoted to filing papers that come into the house. Some stay there forever (kid stuff!), some (tax documents) eventually move to more permanent storage. I find this helps with getting rid of piles of paper on the kitchen counter!

But I’m Planning Something Totally Different for House #7

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