Home/Office

I may call myself a housewife, but I don't just do housework- I also work from home. Usually that means I curl up on the living room couch with my laptop and my pup for the day (no bonbons). It's cozy, but it's hard not to be distracted by the laundry machine, the plants that need watering, the carpet that needs vacuuming, and the siren song of the TV ("I'll just turn on Oprah in the background"). By the end of the day when my husband, JM calls to say he is on his way home, I look around the room and discover that there are magazines, coffee cups, papers, lunch dishes, bills, and craft projects everywhere, which I then scramble to put away (and try to remember where I put the next day). Lately, I have been dreaming about having a real home office, where my stuff could live all the time. Since I'm not exactly swimming in extra bedrooms, I have started thinking about converting a closet into office space, or a "cloffice," if you will. I'm not exactly swimming in extra closets, either, but I feel that with a little consolidation and purging, I might be able to pull it off. I've gathered some cloffice inspiration (as well as a dreamy office-in-a-trunk from the new Restoration Hardware catalog that I could neither afford, nor get up the stairs to my apartment).

Top left: Better Homes and Gardens, top right: Budget Living, bottom left: cbc.ca, bottom right: Better Homes and Gardens

I love the idea of wallpapering the closet to make it feel like it's own distinct space, and a ton of shelves would be great for all my office and craft supplies and magazines. And there's nothing like staring into a closet to keep you from getting distracted.

Top left: Martha Stewart, top right: Real Simple, bottom left: Sunset, bottom right: Lowe's

Here's my inspiration board for my cloffice, including a pinboard for inspiration and ephemera, a pretty glossy white file cabinet, a comfy chair that will roll into the closet when I'm not working, and an "Office Space"-approved red Swingline stapler.

1. Linen-covered pinboard, $149, from Pottery Barn; 2. Glossy white Parson's desk, $250, from West Elm; 3. Upholstered office chair, $500, from Ballard Designs, 4. Day-of-the-week Clips, $9, from See Jane Work; 5. White rolling filing cabinet, $150, from CB2; 6. Old-fashioned chrome pencil sharpener, $40, from The Container Store; 7. Chrome pendant lamp, $240, from Restoration Hardware; 8. Red Swingline Stapler, $21, from See Jane Work; 9-11. Portofino organizing boxes, magazine holders, and bookends, $10-25, from The Container Store.