13 Reasons NOT to Build that Office Closet
We say it all the time here at Office Nomads but we truly mean it: we don’t compete with other coworking spaces.
Our biggest competition is your living room. Or your kitchen. Or your dining room. Or, apparently, your closet-turned-office. Your office closet.
Your OFFICE CLOSET.
Say hello to our competition. Sure, it’s adorable. But it’s still a CLOSET.
Yep, we just got word that in search of heightened productivity and Pinterest-worthy remodel projects, folks are turning their closets into offices.
Now, we love a good creative use of space. And home improvements are delightful. But we think you could do so much better by putting your resources towards getting yourself out of your house and into a space that truly meets your needs.
So we wrote you a quick list to be sure you know we’re serious.
13 reasons why you should definitely NOT build that office closet:
(and maybe you should just join a coworking space instead)
Remember when they turned a broom closet into an office on The Office? It was done as punishment. It generated Ryan’s idea for “WHUPH.” This should not inspire you.
It is a near-guarantee that no matter how you build it, you’ll be staring straight at a wall.
You won’t meet anyone new by staying at home in your closet. Because you’ll be staying at home. In your CLOSET.
There will inevitably be a solid portion of time where you’ll head straight into your office looking for the backup stash of toilet paper that used to live in that closet. Speaking of that, where are you going to move the backup stash of toilet paper?
You think your problem is that you don’t have the right room to work in, but really the problem is that you’re still in your house.
It’s really not advisable, or safe, to host Waffle Wednesday in a closet.
You can’t really invite a client in for a meeting in your closet.
Where will you put your clothes now that your office is in your closet?
Coming out of the closet at the end of every work day is emotionally exhausting.
Do a little test run: take someone on a tour of your apartment and introduce them to where you spend a significant portion of your day: your closet.
Let’s be real, the close proximity of your bed means you’ll be working from your bed way more frequently. Which sounds lovely, but we promise it isn’t.
If you think working in a closet will save you money, run a quick budget on what you’ll spend on making the closet “perfect for work” and then how much money you’ll spend on reasons to leave your house so you don’t have to keep working in the closet.
You’ll never know the mental benefits of separating home and work until you do it.
This list is likely to keep getting longer as people keep sending us more ideas on why they shouldn’t build office closets. We truly hope this helps. Because we’d much rather see you working alongside others than struggling by yourself in a closet.
See? So much better. Definitely not a closet.
PS if you’ve been tempted to build an office closet and this article is making you think again, we are relieved. Please come and visit us and we can talk about it. And have some laughs about it together. That’d be great.