Real-Life Checklist: Creating a Perfect Compact Corner Home Office

Written by

Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director at AT Media
Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director at AT Media
For more than 10 years, I've led Apartment Therapy's real home content, producing thousands of house tours from around the world. Currently, I live in my maximalist dream home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with my partner, a perfect dog, and a cute cat.
published Jan 7, 2016
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(Image credit: Lauren Kolyn)

Are you looking to carve out a small little spot in a corner of your living room or dining room (or maybe even bedroom) for a work or hobby space? Just a little bit of room that’s all for you to flex your creative muscles? You might find inspiration for what should be in that corner from this beautifully appointed home office set-up.

(Image credit: Lauren Kolyn)

A couple of light sources

Whether you do your work during the day next to a natural light source like a window, or you prefer to burn the midnight oil, you’ll need some sort of light to get your work done.

Room for a laptop

If any of your work needs a computer to get it done, make sure you have room for your laptop or desktop, and make getting power to your technology easy to access and the wires easy to disguise.

But room for other creative endeavors, too

If you do any other type of work outside of the digital realm, make sure you have surface room that can support your art or creative work.

(Image credit: Lauren Kolyn)

Inspiration outside your field

Sometimes we get stuck, on an idea, a thought. We’re not sure how to solve a creative problem. Having inspiration outside your field of work within reach can help you take yourself out of your own thoughts and give your brain a break that could result in letting the creative gears work on the problem in your brain’s background.

Tools of your trade

No matter what creative work you like to dig into at home, make your tools easy to get to and appealing.

(Image credit: Lauren Kolyn)

A comfortable seat

Though we’ve learned in recent years that sitting for long periods of time isn’t exactly ideal for humans, you still sometimes need to sit to do your work. So make sure where you’re sitting is comfortable. And if it’s not, add something to your seat so that it becomes more comfortable.

A sturdy surface

Whether you buy it or build it, make sure the surface — the desk or wall-mounted shelf — that you do your work on is sturdy and can literally support your creative efforts.

A style that complements the rest of the room

If you will be commandeering a corner for your creative work at home, consider styling and decorating this work corner in the same style as the rest of the room so it blends in and complements the room, rather than sticks out and makes the space feel disjointed.