At poet Ocean Vuong‘s Tumblr, we found this question from “a Young Poet and Possible Hermit: Ocean, how much time do you spend alone? Are you a reclusive poet? Do you worry about losing friends? ” Vuong’s answer was a revelation:

i am v reclusive. but i do like giving readings, even though i get terrible stage fright, because i love meeting other readers and writers and knowing their own stories. but yes, my social skills are limited and i feel i speak best through my work. right now, i am writing inside an actual closet. i cleared out my closet and it turns out it’s the best place to write. the perfect size, like a cockpit of a tiny space shuttle.

warmly, –ocean

We wish we had a photo of Ocean’s cockpit-like writing closet…but we can imagine it  and love to think of the poems that emerge from it, like this snippet from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous:

 

But we found some other cool tiny spaces in what-once-were-closets…

Author Merritt Tierce writes in a converted closet in her Denton, Texas home. Clear space.

Our favorite is from Decoding Labs, at top, (with a before-and-after the transformation of utility closet off a back staircase). It was accompanied by this note, applicable to EVERYONE:

Sometimes you want to go be alone and read in a dark, cozy corner somewhere. Closets are the perfect venue, if you can deck them out properly.

Decoding Labs also featured an oddly-shaped coat closet that sits under a staircase…

These cozy spaces aren’t just for hermits, recluses, and introverts who need to recharge. Depending on how they are outfitted, they can provide a clear, focusing space for those who want to write or meditate or just dream…