My mother has one in her house, it has built in cabinets and desk with filing drawers. Little slots over the computer for envelopes, bills to pay, etc. I'm not exactly sure of the dimensions, but I would guess about 6 feet wide, maybe 8 feet deep.

In ours, we have one a little bigger. Right now its going to be 10 feet deep, and 7 feet wide. Its on the interior of the house, so no windows. I would love a window, but its just not possible...but we just needed an office and I don't like the idea of a computer in the kitchen or laundry room.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I need to know what the minimum size would be to comfortably have an l-shaped desk and a chair, and work up from there? It doesn't need to be big - I have a small secretary that I use in the living room now and it is fairly functional. I would, however, like to have a filing cabinet for paid bills, receipts, etc. handy.

I would start by measuring your l-shaped desk (or, if you don't have one yet, looking at desks you like and seeing what the their measurements tend to be). If you want a filing cabinet, take that into account as well. If you need more storage space, consider the walls. You can store a surprising amount of stuff in a small office by using the walls. Having a window makes a small space feel larger, so if you can manage to use an external wall so you can have that casement window, I'd definitely recommend it.

I once had a home office in a long, narrow walk-in closet that was exactly the width of my l-shaped desk. I put the desk against the short far wall (which had a window in it), my printer stand next to the shorter ell of the desk, and a file cabinet next to the door behind my chair. Everything else I needed went on the walls. I'm not ordinarily a big fan of tiny nooks, but it was an extremely usable space and I actually found myself missing it from time to time after I'd moved my office to a much larger room.

I would do a double pocket door, if you can make it work.

I have an L shaped desk in my office. It is 4'11" deep and 6'3" wide. If you were to put it in a closet exactly that size there would be plenty of room for the chair and movement. So, I think 6x5 or 6x4 even would work. If cost is an issue you could use a cheap desk or folding table at first and have a built-in done later.

I have a "closet office" off the living room. It's 5' wide, by 7' long. One window. The door opens out into the living room; the door is on one of the 5' walls.

It's cozy, to be sure. At the moment, it's utter chaos; I'm making do with a cheap, small, unfinished corner desk, and papers I'd dearly love to have in filing cabinets are piled on the floor against one wall. The desk is against the wall opposite the door; I sit with my back to the door.

I've been planning builtins, which I'll build myself, so I don't have to try to find as-built furniture that fits. The interior 7' wall will be bookshelves, floor to ceiling. Planning to make the first 30' or so be slightly deeper, with sliding doors. Above that to ceiling, open shelves. Deep enough for small hardcover books, no more. The desk will be narrow, with a narrow filing cabinet under on the lefthand side, and the righthand side supported by the base of the bookshelves. Desktop computer under the desk, perhaps in the base of the bookshelf.

It's never going to feel like a large space, but we had a similar issue trying to pack in all the functional areas we wanted into a small floor plan. I think this will work out fine; I can fit quite a bit into this space, I think. And frankly, I rather like a small space. Everything's close at hand. Heck, I'll be able to reach a lot of material on the walls without even getting up out of my chair. :-)

--Steve

We also wanted a small office to keep the sq footage down. It's about 8X 9 with a small window, L counter, room for a 4 drawer legal file calinet,built-in shelves on two walls,computer in its corner, 4 in 1 printer on the counter. There is no door but I recommend one if you'll be generating noise competing with the living area.I don't like clutter so I constantly am throwing the unneeded away, so this kind of office will work for me. This was designed 13 years ago (before Windows 98), so as you can imagine our computer use has soared way beyond our expectations. There's usually somebody in the room, either my wife or me. Small rooms are a little more susceptible to temperature problems. In the hot summer with a CRT monitor spewing heat, this room would rise in temp faster than the overall house. That pressed a fan into service. Now I have an LCD monitor so that has improved greatly. My electric bill runs half what I used in a prior house...all because we got smart.We cut sq footage in the bath/toilet area too...the theory was don't heat and cool large rooms you're not in very much.

srercrcr brings up a really good point about the heat. I'd forgotten that about my little closet office. It was cozy in winter, but in the summer, it could really become quite unpleasant. Computers put out a ton of heat, and with only one window, you can't get any cross-ventilation. If you have central air, you may want to make sure that there's a register in your office space, especially if it's a place where you expect to spend a lot of time.

Thanks for all the info! I don't have a desk I will be using - I will be doing built in cabinetry in there so having a premade desk "fit" is not necessary. It sounds like 6 feet wide by 5 feet deep is the minimum, and that may assume the l part is narrower (which would be fine) or that I don't have an "l" (which probably would be fine too).

Cozy is fine - I will likely have the door open most of the time anyway and I hate clutter so I won't be storing a lot of stuff in there - just desks seem to collect things :)

Thanks again!!!

Hi,

We are in the framing stages of new construction and I have a pocket office in my plan, off the kitchen, with a pocket door. I am doing built in cabinetry in there in an L-shape. My interior dimensions are 6'8" by 5'8" and I have a small window. I will use mine similar to what you are planning, just like I use the desk in my current kitchen-- will house the laptop, all mail, calendars, office supplies, some kid craft supplies, and probably junk! :)

When the walls went up, it felt very small, but it is small. It will serve it's purpose, especially since there will be cabinetry in there. I will have some open shelves and on the long wall will have all upper cabinetry and one drawer bank, but I could have had a filing drawer if I wanted it.

This is a terrible picture, but it is a picture of the pocket office if you can get a idea of the size. I can take more pictures in a month or so when it is enclosed. You can see the small window and the size of the room. It looks like a walk in closet, and it basically is. But it will have a door that I can shut to the mess!

Thanks Shelly - that is exactly what I needed to know! I can't stand the clutter of a kitchen desk so this sounds like a great solution!

A major issue in a small office is the amount of noise office and computer equipment will make. The use of laptops and/or Macs and putting printers, etc. in a closet or another room can help.

Thanks macv - although with 3 boys under 10 I would welcome the buzz of a computer :) instead of the racket I am usually surrounded by. Our plan is to have a server closet with a wireless network and a bluetooth printer as we seem to never use our desktop anyway and we each have a laptop. We may put the printer in there for convenience if there is space.

I am a stay at home mom so I won't be spending hours in there - just paying bills, on the internet, etc.

Athensmomof3-- this is why I did the office -- I have always had the kitchen desk right out in the open and it's always a disaster! Now my disaster can be behind a door! :) I am a stay at home mom as well (just 2 kids, though) so I won't be spending alot of time sitting in there either, especially since I have a laptop.

I am doing the counter height in here the same height as my island in my kitchen -- 36 inches so that I can use an extra island stool in there for a place to sit.

A major issue in a small office is the amount of noise office and computer equipment will make. The use of laptops and/or Macs and putting printers, etc. in a closet or another room can help.