Little Room for a Desk? 7 Spaces Show How to Make It Work
If a 140-square-foot home has room for a desk, you probably do too. Get ideas from these smart space savers
Even if you show up to an office each day, it’s likely you do some work from home. Having a dedicated space to house your laptop, pay bills and keep track of important papers can make it easier to stay on top of life’s administrative tasks.
Even if your home isn’t large — in fact, if it’s downright tiny — you may still be able to carve out space for a home office. Here are some inspiring ways homeowners found to create room for their work, and some tips for blending a workspace in with the rest of your home.
Even if your home isn’t large — in fact, if it’s downright tiny — you may still be able to carve out space for a home office. Here are some inspiring ways homeowners found to create room for their work, and some tips for blending a workspace in with the rest of your home.
Key to living successfully in this small space was finding room to run her interior design business, Brontosaurus. Mistak loves vintage but considers herself a minimalist. Her workspace, outfitted with a desk and chair, also displays items that reflect her passions for travel (the tribal necklace from South Africa), her love of vintage pieces (the black lamp on the desk) and her line of work (the dinosaur, which reflects the name of her company). Note that she kept the palette in the workspace similar to the one in the bedroom region of the studio.
Desk and chair: ABC Home; shelves: Lack, Ikea; gold candlesticks: Hudson Vintage; black lamp: Housing Works; wall paint: Big Bend Beige, Benjamin Moore
Read more about this work-live studio ♦︎
Desk and chair: ABC Home; shelves: Lack, Ikea; gold candlesticks: Hudson Vintage; black lamp: Housing Works; wall paint: Big Bend Beige, Benjamin Moore
Read more about this work-live studio ♦︎
2. A Tiny Home in Southern California
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Vina Lustado
Location: Ojai, California
Size: 140 square feet (13 square meters); one bedroom, one bathroom
Vina Lustado has designed homes and commercial spaces for more than two decades. For her own space, she was drawn to living small. She spent one year — and about $40,000 — planning and building her tiny home. It’s on an acre in Ojai, California; Lustado and her boyfriend pay $400 in rent each month.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Vina Lustado
Location: Ojai, California
Size: 140 square feet (13 square meters); one bedroom, one bathroom
Vina Lustado has designed homes and commercial spaces for more than two decades. For her own space, she was drawn to living small. She spent one year — and about $40,000 — planning and building her tiny home. It’s on an acre in Ojai, California; Lustado and her boyfriend pay $400 in rent each month.
Though the space is tiny, Lustado made room for a built-in desk. Note that it’s a permanent feature of her home, rather than something she has to repeatedly set up and take down.
For uses beyond the workspace, Lustado designed her home to be flexible. She can roll a storage piece that normally rests near the desk over to the sofa, where it can serve as a dining table.
Read more about this tiny home ♦︎
Read more about this tiny home ♦︎
3. A Contemporary Flat in London
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman who works in the creative and media industries
Location: Central London
Size: 270 square feet (25.1 square meters); studio with one bathroom
Olga Alexeeva, of interior design firm Black and Milk Residential, modernized this small mid-19th-century flat in London for a group of developers, with the goal of making it an efficient space for multiple uses.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman who works in the creative and media industries
Location: Central London
Size: 270 square feet (25.1 square meters); studio with one bathroom
Olga Alexeeva, of interior design firm Black and Milk Residential, modernized this small mid-19th-century flat in London for a group of developers, with the goal of making it an efficient space for multiple uses.
Doors on one of the living room walls open to reveal a mini office, with drawer space below and shelves above. The designer also added an electrical outlet so that a printer could be placed up high.
Read more about this studio with an office ♦︎
Read more about this studio with an office ♦︎
4. Zones for Each Purpose in NYC
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Jacqueline Clair
Location: Upper East Side, New York City
Size: 350 square feet (32.5 square meters)
Nurse and blogger Jacqueline Clair loves color and pattern, but she wanted to make sure her studio on Manhattan’s Upper East Side felt clutter-free. The solution: creating boundaries between spaces used for different purposes.
Bookshelf: Expedit, Ikea
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Jacqueline Clair
Location: Upper East Side, New York City
Size: 350 square feet (32.5 square meters)
Nurse and blogger Jacqueline Clair loves color and pattern, but she wanted to make sure her studio on Manhattan’s Upper East Side felt clutter-free. The solution: creating boundaries between spaces used for different purposes.
Bookshelf: Expedit, Ikea
Clair enlisted the help of interior designer Darlene Weir, who suggested that Clair turn the desk out and away from the wall. The drop-down secretary is where Clair writes her blog, York Avenue, after her nursing shifts.
Secretary: Pottery Barn; artwork: Matchbook Magazine and 20 x 200; New York skyline: Jessica Durrant
Read more about this studio ♦︎
Secretary: Pottery Barn; artwork: Matchbook Magazine and 20 x 200; New York skyline: Jessica Durrant
Read more about this studio ♦︎
Photos by William Taylor
5. Modern in Manhattan
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A retired widower based in Dallas
Location: Upper East Side, New York City
Size: 340 square feet (31.6 square meters)
Stephen Killcoyne, a designer with Allen + Killcoyne Architects, created this pied-à-terre for a Dallas-based retiree who wanted a place to stay in Manhattan that would be close to his daughter and grandchildren.
5. Modern in Manhattan
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A retired widower based in Dallas
Location: Upper East Side, New York City
Size: 340 square feet (31.6 square meters)
Stephen Killcoyne, a designer with Allen + Killcoyne Architects, created this pied-à-terre for a Dallas-based retiree who wanted a place to stay in Manhattan that would be close to his daughter and grandchildren.
One of Killcoyne’s key design goals: not having a bed in the living room. Though you can’t see it in this image, the bed is tucked just behind the louvered partition behind the desk.
The storage wall near the desk contains plenty of space for hiding electronics and possessions, and it also offers a spot for displaying art and collectibles, which keep the apartment’s efficient design from feeling too cold.
Read more about this Manhattan pied-à-terre ♦︎
Read more about this Manhattan pied-à-terre ♦︎
6. A Manhattan Pad With an Office Nook
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Willa Kammerer
Location: Upper East Side, New York City
Size: 300 square feet (27.9 square meters); one bedroom, one bathroom
Multimedia producer Willa Kammerer moved from Portland, Maine, to New York City with the goal of finding an apartment she could use as a live-work space. She created private areas for work, sleep and socializing, all within her studio on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Willa Kammerer
Location: Upper East Side, New York City
Size: 300 square feet (27.9 square meters); one bedroom, one bathroom
Multimedia producer Willa Kammerer moved from Portland, Maine, to New York City with the goal of finding an apartment she could use as a live-work space. She created private areas for work, sleep and socializing, all within her studio on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Kammerer’s office area features a large desk, a computer, a printer and more than one hard drive. She used a wooden fish crate covered in a piece of orange suede to prop up her printer. Inside the crate, she created shelving to hold her supplies.
When Kammerer wants to shut out the office, she can simply close the curtain that partitions off her bed.
Read more about this Manhattan live-work studio ♦︎
Read more about this Manhattan live-work studio ♦︎
7. Trailer for Two in Northern California
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Alek Lisefski and Anjali Krystofiak
Location: Sebastopol, California
Size: 240 square feet
In 2012, Alek Lisefski didn’t know where he would land permanently, but he knew he didn’t want to pay a high rent. So the freelance web designer built a tiny house on an 8-by-20-foot flatbed trailer. He built the home in Iowa in just under seven months, then towed it to rented land in Sebastopol, California. Eventually, girlfriend Anjali Krystofiak moved in.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Alek Lisefski and Anjali Krystofiak
Location: Sebastopol, California
Size: 240 square feet
In 2012, Alek Lisefski didn’t know where he would land permanently, but he knew he didn’t want to pay a high rent. So the freelance web designer built a tiny house on an 8-by-20-foot flatbed trailer. He built the home in Iowa in just under seven months, then towed it to rented land in Sebastopol, California. Eventually, girlfriend Anjali Krystofiak moved in.
Lisefski’s home includes two built-in tables, one of which (the one in the corner) he uses as a desk.
Read more about this tiny home with an office ♦︎
More
Once a Cluttered Closet, Now a Creative Workspace
Browse photos of compact office spaces
Read more about this tiny home with an office ♦︎
More
Once a Cluttered Closet, Now a Creative Workspace
Browse photos of compact office spaces
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Annie Mistak
Location: Brooklyn Heights, New York City
Size: 500 square feet (46.5 square meters)
Musical theater performer-turned-interior designer Annie Mistak decorated her 1901 Brooklyn rental — which she calls a “lady’s boudoir” — with a mix of thrift-store finds, travel mementos and remnants from her interior design jobs. The paint color, too, was Mistak’s work.