Home office design solutions for corners and alcoves

Need to work from home but short on space? Check out these 10 ideas for tucking a fully functioning home office into the tightest of corners, chosen by Country Homes and Interiors. For more decorating inspiration go to housetohome.co.uk

Find out how to make the most of the wall corners and alcoves in your home office – however big or small the space you have to play with is.

We take a look at the best ways to use the wall storage space you have in your office room, whether you use the room for working from home, life admin or arts and crafts…

1/10 Organised home office

room with wooden flooring and desk with chair

(Image credit: Future PLC/Tim Young)

Put your favourite theme on the wall of your home office for all to see, pasting up sheet music as ersatz wallpaper. Or, to keep things nice and easy, search out a wallcovering in a similar design. In front of this busy pattern you’ll need simple, elegant furniture. Choose a stone-painted desk and a curvy metal armchair. Traditional parquet flooring, polished to a shine, brings a warm tone to the room.

Similar wallpaper
Tangletree Interiors

2/10 Elegant window desk

room with wooden flooring and desk with metal chair

(Image credit: Future PLC/Tim Young)

Set a desk by French windows so that you can enjoy the garden view while you work. Mix up styles by teaming an elegant small desk with an eye-catching fuchsia metal chair. Adding a comfy cushion makes it more welcoming. For a peaceful home office setting, decorate wall panelling and woodwork in white, then punctuate with favourite photos of friends and family.

Similar desk

Chic Shack
Similar chair
Barker & Stonehouse

3/10 Sewing corner

desk with chair

(Image credit: Future PLC/Dan Duchars)

Find a corner where you can get to work on your next sewing or craft project. Shelves fitted on unobtrusive supports in an alcove are a neat way to store fabric. Haberdashery can be tucked into mini drawers on the table top. Make sure to include a noticeboard in your home office to highlight samples and ideas for your next project.

Similar table
Anthropologie
Similar mini drawer set
Ikea

4/10 Filing arrangement

green filing cabinet

(Image credit: Future PLC/Tim Young)

Clear a space by the door in your home office to get filing organised. A bright and breezy metal drawer unit will cover the business side of things, while a wooden pigeonhole unit will take care of the small bits and pieces you’ve been meaning to find a home for. Hang up a basket for still-to-be-sorted mail. A metal decorative letter brings in vintage appeal.

Similar filing cabinet
Bisley Direct
Similar decorative letter
London Garden Trading

5/10 Vintage desk

room with wooden flooring and study table

(Image credit: Future PLC/Jon Day)

Decked out in pale yellow tones, this home office corner is a harmonious space to work or practise your painting skills. The vintage metal table and chair are a little rough around the edges but that just adds to the charm. To add softness, hang full-length curtains featuring flowers in bloom at the French windows and top bare floorboards with a textured rug.

Similar table
VI Metal
Similar chair
Pimpernel & Partners

6/10 Alphabet sideboard

alphabet sideboard

(Image credit: Future PLC/Claire Richardson)

This fun alphabet storage chest has multiple drawers to take home office paraphernalia, and its rustic crafted letters will prove a talking point too. Decorate the wall in a deep, peaceful blue, pop a butterfly print into a clear frame, then style up the chest with a twinkly votive and hydrangeas from the garden. Music while you work never goes amiss, so turn up the radio and hum along.

Similar music system
Tivoli Audio
Similar chest
Graham & Green

7/10 Nature themed home office

pink desk and chair

(Image credit: Future PLC/Trevor Richards)

When you’ve only the smallest space to work in, choose your furniture on a scale to match. This bijou desk in pastel pink is petite but practical. Bumblebee wallpaper sets the bug's life theme, joined by butterflies on the wall art and letter holder. A troop of beetles marching across the cushion and lampshade complete the scheme in quirky country style.

Similar desk
Scumble Goosie
Similar wallpaper
Farrow & Ball

8/10 Printer corner

vintage desk with yellow eames style chair

(Image credit: Future PLC/Dan Duchars)

Print from the other side of the room with a wireless printer. It’s good to have a regular spot to work in – this vintage desk is livened up by a sunny yellow chair and a framed print of brightly coloured lamps. Treat yourself to a tablet and you can hotdesk from anywhere in the house.

Similar desk
Josephine Ryan Antiques
Similar chair
John Lewis

9/10 Painted country desk

home office with floral wallpaper and painted desk

(Image credit: Future PLC/Spike Powell)

This painted desk with two roomy drawers has space to keep all your paperwork tucked neatly away. Decorate your home office in country style with wallpaper depicting Arts and Crafts flowers and white painted floorboards. The metal finish of the stool, lamp and wastepaper basket add touches of on-trend industrial style. When you’ve finished, tidy papers away into colour-coded box files.

Similar desk
Scumble Goosie
Similar wallpaper
Morris & Co

10/10 Floral noticeboards

floral noticeboards

(Image credit: Future PLC/Tim Young)

Set up a home office that's high on horticulture. These three magnetic noticeboards have been covered in a botanical fabric to lend a natural history feel to your work place. The classic pedestal desk, in a distressed slate-grey finish, is topped by a gleaming chrome vintage-style phone and teamed with a floral-themed pen pot, bowl, organiser box and notebook.

Similar noticeboards
Ikea
Similar fabric
Sandberg