How to turn a closet into an office

Sometimes we need some privacy to work. Whether its kids or other distractions, a dedicated spot for paying bills, surfing the internet or even doing some full-fledged work is always nice. If you don’t already have an office in your house, you can turn a closet into a high functioning work space. And you can even do it on a budget.

First, you’ll want to choose a closet that has enough room for a desk. You can find a small desk that’s 20" deep, so the closet needs to be at least that. To get the most out of your space, try to buy a desk that’s just a little bit smaller depth-wise than the depth of your closet. After you’ve chosen your closet, you’ll want to take the doors off of the closet. They will get in the way and limit your space. Next you can paint the inside of your closet. Don’t choose too dark of a color or you will feel too enclosed. Next, place your desk inside your "office."

Now you can see what other space you have. To take advantage of the space way above your desk, you can hang a long shelf all the way across from wall to wall. Your closet might even already have a shelf like this. If you have some room to the right or left, hang shelves from ceiling to desk level (or even to the floor if you have room). You can place baskets or boxes to hold your office supplies or a printer. Above your desk and below that top shelf, you can hang a bulletin board or dry-erase board on the wall. You might want to add a lamp for light. If you don’t have an electrical outlet near, you can buy a battery powered light.

The last step is to hang curtains to hide your space when you’re not working. A great way to accomplish this is to hang a curtain rod above the door trim on the inside of your closet. You can use a center curtain bracket in the middle if you need one. Use one or two curtain holdbacks on the sides to hold the curtains back when you are working. When the curtains are closed, it will look neat and you won’t have any hardware showing.

Holdbacks aren't just for holding back

This is a creative way to use holdbacks.  They are perfect for holding curtains that you don't need to move across a window.  Holdbacks come in tons of styles, sizes and finishes to match any interior. 

custom leaf holdbacks

round rosette holdbacks

from Priority Windows

Use holdbacks for curtains on multiple French doors

Trying to figure out how to hang curtains around several French doors in a row is challenging.  You can't hang curtains over the middle doors because there's nowhere to push the curtains.  If you don't want to leave the wall void of curtains all together, you can hang stationary, decorative curtains in between the sets of French doors.  You add tons of interest and color but nothing is in the way of opening and closing any of the French doors.

A great way to hang stationary curtains is to use stem holdbacks.  They came in a variety of styles and you can even build-your-own using different finials.  You could also buy very short curtain rods with finials.  A large rod, such as the 2" round rod, with 9516 finials would look great since the rods are so short.  All of this can be purchased online in any of our 15 finishes.

Home theater curtains

Maytex Velvet Blackout Panel, Red

Your home theater needs red velvet curtains! You can hang a rod above your projection screen and let the curtains hang to the sides or pull them back with holdbacks. Or you can cover an entire wall with them. In this case, order a round rod in a size that works with your curtains and two end caps. These allow you to butt the end caps against the wall so the whole wall is covered with no gaps.

If you want the curtains to cover multiple walls, go with a corner curtain rod so there is no breaks in the curtains. You can pull curtains over the brackets for a finished look.

Curtain Rods for Dummies, Part III - Holdbacks

Holdbacks or tiebacks are traditionally installed on the wall beside the window and used to hold curtains back, away from the window.  Hook holdbacks are shaped like a "U" or an "L" and designed to hold the curtains in the "U" or "L" section.  Stem holdbacks are usually made with a "post" with some sort of design on the front where the curtains go to one side of the "post."

Made of Metal has both stem and hook style holdbacks in different designs.  They are finished to match your rod and other curtain accessories.

There are also some creative ways to use holdbacks.  If you have an arched or other strangely-shaped window, you can hang holdbacks above or around your window to hang your curtains on.

Curtain Holdbacks

Holdbacks can be used in some creative ways.  This is pretty cool.  They used a leading edge curtain and contrasting fabrics.  I really like the black and white with the hot pink.

from www.idealhomemagazine.co.uk

Here is another idea.  She used hook holdbacks and hung them upside down above the window.  Then she attached rings to her window treatment and hung the rings on the holdbacks.  Very nice.

www.allthingsgd.com

You can also use holdbacks as hooks in your room to match your curtain holdbacks.  Hang jackets or hats or whatever on them.

www.pointyproducts.com