"I was reminded of your mom's and my first apartment. Literally a two-room, third floor

apartment.  had a Murphy bed that folded down out of the wall and a large closet. The other room was a small kitchen. I attached a hollow-core door to the wall at one end and hung it from the ceiling on the other. Made for easy cleaning. We sat on

wicker bar stools. On the north side of the main room was a dormer window. This was a space about 5’ x 6’.

These photos show how we utilized this space for a cozy work/reading area. In one your mom is sitting on a daybed and in the other I have my drawing board. Same space, different uses.”

The desk

I'm a spatial person, and use the physical location of objects to jog my memory. As a result, I wanted a 'defensible' area on my house, where I could spread out my things and not worry about them being moved around by my two kids, my wife, or anyone else. However, taking over an entire room was out of the question, so I built a deep shelf into our office closet (far left), about 5 1/2 feet off of the floor (with power and a small lamp), which only I can easily see and reach. That's my little oasis.

Related reading

Abito compact, reconfigurable apartments / American mansion decay / Not So Big House books: great visuals, difficult writing to wade through