New Yorker Transforms Unused Closet Into Dream 'Cloffice' for Just $700

The way people deal with breakups can vary across the board, but this content creator decided to throw herself into her interior-design passion, and the outcome is unbelievable.

Former teacher turned home-décor influencer Hatti Kolp told Newsweek that she's been "dreaming of this wallpaper" for years since she first laid eyes on it. However, she hadn't found the right place to use it in her home where it could be "the star of the show." That was until she saw the potential to turn a simple closet into a luxury office.

Home improvements are a great chance for owners to give their space a new lease of life, whatever their budget. While interior design has remained important, a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies by Harvard University found that interior improvements made up just over 9 percent of total expenditures in 2021, which equated to around $32 billion. The study revealed that $331 billion was spent on home improvements throughout the year. System and equipment replacements, and exterior design, were the most-expensive categories.

Following her breakup in early 2023, Kolp turned her relationship grief into creativity, and transformed an unused closet into a small haven for working in. After a week stripping back the closet to its bare bones, refinishing the wooden floor, and adding the all-important wallpaper, Kolp had her dream "cloffice."

"Inspiration struck when I went through a breakup earlier this year and suddenly found myself with an empty closet," Kolp said. "I knew for my own healing that I had to create something wonderful for myself with that closet. So, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring in the wallpaper."

After spending $700 on the wallpaper, Kolp repurposed other items she had from previous home improvements to save money on the project. She explained that she didn't add any additional décor to the walls because she wanted the new wallpaper to be the focal point, and the rest of her new "cloffice" to be kept minimal.

Kolp said: "The main hurdle I had was the floor of the closet, as a previous tenant had painted it gray, so I spent about two days stripping and refinishing it. Another hurdle was prepping the wallpaper. Anyone who has used wallpaper will know it's a frustrating process, especially if the walls aren't straight.

"I was dealing with pretty damaged walls, so I had a lot of prep work to do before I could put the wallpaper up," Kolp added. "But because it's so special, I didn't want to add any décor to take away from it. No mirror, no art, nothing."

Kolp began sharing the closet transformation on her TikTok and Instagram accounts (@hattiekolp), titled "creating my cloffice." She ran through each step of the redesign and had millions of social-media users invested in how it would look by the end.

"For me, this was mostly a fun project where I could challenge myself creatively and inspire others to see their space's potential in a new way," Kolp said. "The project is dedicated to my family's beloved cat, Mattie, who passed away last week. He would have loved the birds in the wallpaper, and I felt his presence with me as I worked.

"I am so passionate about design and have so much love for my apartment. I think this project is a testament to those feelings," Kolp added. "Most of the reaction has been astoundingly positive. My followers know how close this project was to my heart and everything that it meant to me.

"As always, people love to give input on what they would have done, but that's just part of the game that comes with sharing your life on social media."

When Kolp shared the finished design on social media, hundreds of people wrote to applaud her amazing renovation.

One person commented: "A realtor's dream! Now all NYC apartment closets will be advertised as home offices."

Another posted that "this space feels like the best place to work when you have to get work done and have been procrastinating."

Do you have any amazing videos or pictures of your home renovations that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.