Every time I post a picture of my mini office space, affectionately known as The Hatch, I get a ton of questions from all of you about where things are from and how to set up a designated office space with no room. I decided to compile all of that into one comprehensive post for you guys here!
Let me know in the comments below if you have any other questions!
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Choosing Your Space
Not everyone has a spare bedroom readily available to turn into the office of their dreams. But, given the fact that we are now a year into this pandemic and a lot of people are still working from home, it’s important to have an established working space. Going into the office but looking to start a side hustle? Even more important to create a workspace that you love! How can you get those big dreams of yours off the ground if you hate the four walls you’re surrounded by???
The first step in choosing where to build an office space in your home is to figure out where your “dead space” is.
Is there a closet that’s so tiny you can barely fit two winter jackets, which essentially renders it totally useless? How big is that gap between the wall at the end of your hallway and the nearest door frame? Do you have a massive kitchen, but rely heavily on Grubhub instead of your minimal cooking skills? Is there a pantry that is mostly empty with the exception of a few packages of ramen? If you have an in unit washer and dryer, what’s that space looking like these days? Is there any dead space there?
If none of these apply to you, where does clutter tend to accumulate? I’m talking about those big piles that you continue to clean month after month but they still keep magically appearing after staying clean for all of a week. Believe it or not, all of these places have office space potential.
Now that you’ve established all the dead space in your home, it’s time to figure out which space will best serve you as a tiny office.
Everyone’s needs are different, but I had two primary ones:
- I needed to be able to fit my new desktop computer and a light on the desk. My desktop is 22 inches, so I needed quite a bit of space. If you only need your laptop on the desk then you can probably get away with a smaller space. Plenty of natural light? Even better because you don’t necessarily need to have space for a lamp!
- I needed to be able to close myself off from all the noise in my house (Mark singing, the dogs barking at the postal works, the TV in the living room, etc.) If you don’t necessarily need a door to block you off from the rest of your home, but you would like the feeling of privacy, consider your ceilings and the surrounding walls. Do you have the ability to maybe put up a shower curtain rod to close you in? Is that even something you would want? Maybe you like feeling like you’re out in the open!
For me, the dead space that worked the best was at the end of a hallway off our bedroom that was serving literally no purpose whatsoever. There used to be a little closet organizer type thing where The Hatch currently resides, but it broke a few years ago and we really didn’t need it so there was no use in replacing it. The walls are also close enough together that I can put up a tension rod with a beautiful curtain to achieve a more polished Zoom background.
But what’s ideal to me won’t necessarily be ideal to you.
If the space you decide on is a closet, GO TO PINTEREST!!! There are SO MANY ideas for closets-turned-office on Pinterest!!! I have a million pinned even though I don’t have a closet that I can transform. They’re so clever and usually turn into truly stunning spaces!
Maximizing Storage
I think when it comes to designing an office for a tiny space, storage tends to get overlooked. What exactly do you need to have readily available whenever you’re working? What do you want (but don’t necessarily need) to have readily available when you’re working? Will you have any materials that you’ll need to store (think inventory, invoices, contracts, etc.)?
Things I wanted close by included:
- A diffuser, so I can diffuse allllll the inspiring and grounding essential oils
- Professional development books + my planners (pre-pandemic I was using a Passion Planner Monthly, Passion Planner Daily, and The Content Planner. I now only use the monthly Passion Planner and Content Planner)
- Plenty of post it notepads because I prefer writing to do lists and notes from phone calls on them rather than typing.
- Generic office items like pens, highlighters, paper clips, and binder clips. Pens + highlighters are especially important for me because I like to color code notes and plans.
- Extra batteries and memory cards for my camera
- At least one small faux plant so I can pretend that there’s some life in this otherwise lifeless space
- A desk calendar. Despite the fact that I rarely remember to change it from month to month, I always feel lost without one.
- Folders for tax information
What’s that old saying? A place for everything, and everything in its place? Even if you’re the most unorganized person in the world, your tiny office space is the one place where you can’t let clutter and disorganization happen! You’re already limited in space and the last thing you want to do is push piles of stuff onto the floor every time you want to get to your laptop.
I’m personally a fan of putting shelves all the way up to the ceiling. It adds dimension to the space, can be aesthetically pleasing if you choose beautiful shelves and items to keep on them, and they add what feels like an infinite amount of extra storage.
If you can’t add shelves because there are rules against drilling holes into the walls, consider getting a desk that has shelves built in (like this one!) If you search for “leaning desk ladder” you should find a ton of options!
Achieving an Aesthetic
Raise your hand if you’ve ever spent more time than you’re proud of ogling over an influencer’s seemingly perfect home. (If I had 10,000 arms, I would be raising all of them right now. I am forever guilty of just staring at pictures of people’s houses even if the post has nothing to do with the room.)
The biggest piece of advice I can give is to use Pinterest to your advantage. When we first did over our bedroom, I had an idea of what colors and textures I wanted to incorporate into the room, but I had no idea what the actual style was called. I had thought that it was like a boho aesthetic, but Pinterest told me that wasn’t quite right. Through some trial and error with search terms like “blue and white bedroom” and “blue and white beachy bedroom”, I discovered that my preferred style is actually Coastal Farmhouse (which is kind of funny because I typically hate the Modern Farmhouse look.) Once I figured that out and started searching specifically for “Coastal Farmhouse Bedroom”, I was able to find more relevant pictures to pull inspiration from and use it to create a solid plan for the bedroom.
But Jenn, we’re talking about your mini office here. Why are you telling us about your bedroom?
Well, Reader, that brings me to my second point! Because The Hatch is off of our bedroom and there’s a beautiful arched doorway that separates the two, I really didn’t want to close it off. Instead, I wanted The Hatch to have the same aesthetic as the bedroom so they could really flow into each other to make a beautiful cohesive space. I was also (and still am) obsessed with how our bedroom came out. The warm white walls and pops of leafy, tropical greens make me feel carefree and inspired, and having those types of feelings evoked is an important thing to have in your office space as well!
It’s just my preference to have spaces that don’t have an actual door match, or at least complement, each other. (Our kitchen is also off the bedroom, and while it’s technically blue it has white accents that are the same shade as our bedroom and hardwood floors the same color as our dresser drawers.)
If that’s not your jam and you want your new tiny office space to feel like a totally separate room, then you do you Boo Boo! Design your mini office to reflect your own personal preferences and what inspires YOU. Don’t do this for the ‘gram, do this for you and you alone.
Make It Your Own
That leads me to my last point that I want to make before sharing all the links you’ve all been asking for!
MAKE YOUR SPACE YOUR OWN.
Make it personal. Add things that are uniquely you. That can be anything at all: pictures of your kids, friends, your significant other. A shelf dedicated to all the journals you’ve filled out over the years. That jar of sand from your life changing trip to Antigua.
For me, my personal touch is that I have postcards that Mark and I have sent each other from all around the world under a large piece of glass on the desk. I also have my all time favorite picture in the world under the glass in a prominent spot that I look at any time I need a boost of confidence, a calming moment to just pause, or when I need to look at “someone” and roll my eyes out of annoyance. The picture is an old black and white photo of my grandparents in Italy surrounded by pigeons. My grandmother is a total babe in her bell bottoms and aviators, and looking at it I just know my grandfather is pissed she made him take the picture and that he know has a stupid pigeon eating out of his hand. The picture is truly one of my most prized possessions and I love having it in my little cave of creativity.
If you decide to create your own tiny office in a small space, share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #VWCreativeCave. I’d love to see what you come up with!
Links to My Favorite Things
The Desk:
My desk is actually vintage and belonged to my great grandmother! I honestly got lucky that it happened to be the absolute perfect size for this tiny space.
When looking for a desk, triple check how much room you have available and then look for a desk that is at least one inch smaller than wall to wall distance. This will give you some wiggle room and help account for the baseboards.
Below are some desks I found that are a similar size to this one (40”x20”x36”):
Desk Option 1 (No drawers on this one, very minimal look)
Desk Option 2 (This one has two decent sized drawers while still maintaining that minimalist look)
Desk Option 3 (This one is my favorite because it has two drawers and a little shelf!)
Leather Authenticity Sign: I got this on my trip to Waco at the Magnolia Market, but you can order it online here.
Peg Board
This is part of Ikea’s SKÅDIS peg board collection. This thing has been fantastic! I have the 14 1/4“x22” in the color “wood”, but it also comes in white. You can customize them anyway you want with a range of easy to use accessories that Ikea offers, and even attach multiple boards to each other to make a larger one! (If you don’t like the colors but like the overall look and functionality, the wood one seems like it would be pretty easy to paint. But I’m a sucker for Ikea DIY hacks.)
You can find the link to the exact one I have here.
Peg Board Accessories
These four accessories were the only ones I needed, but Ikea offers a lot more if you feel like browsing around.
Letter Holder (what I use to keep my book on display)
Wall Shelves
These were yet another purchase from Ikea, and you can find the exact ones here.
I also found similar ones on Amazon that even come in a pack of 2! You can find those here.
Geometric Wooden Shelf
Mark built this from some old wooden pallets, but you can find similar ones on Etsy (that honestly probably have much better craftsmanship lol):
Option 1: http://bit.ly/39YU2L8
Option 2: http://bit.ly/36RoCEo
Option 3: http://bit.ly/3a1L7s9
Option 4: http://bit.ly/3aJHTZD
Option 5: http://bit.ly/3p2O5kC
Desk Calendar:
I ordered this from Rifle Paper Co and it’s currently on SUPER clearance so I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be available! But you can find them here.
Plant:
Faux eucalyptus plant from Ikea
I know shipping with Ikea can be a little weird, so here’s an Amazon alternative. It’s similar in color, but doesn’t have the same trailing effect as the Ikea one.
Blue Globe
Super old from Target and I can’t even find anything similar. BUT I highly recommend keeping an eye out at your local Home Goods or Homsense, some of my all time favorite globes have been found tucked into their shelves!
Rattan Diffuser
This is from Walmart and tends to sell out pretty quickly, but you can find it here. They seem to restock pretty regularly so just keep an eye out!
Desk Lamp:
I bought this at Target, but it looks like they discontinued this exact model so here is the link to a similar one they currently have.
Smart Light Bulb
I recently switched most of the lightbulbs in our house to smart LED bulbs. They last longer, are better for the environment, and I can create any mood I want with them! It was especially important to have one in the hatch, where I have pretty much zero natural light. This bulb allows me to create fake natural light in my little space, which helps boost my levels of focus and creativity. You can find them here.
Books I Have at the Ready:
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
When Grief Gets a Passport (shameless plug for my own book here)
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