Small private room with nothing near (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
close to
'near' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'small private room with nothing' is the wordplay.
'small private room' becomes 'closet' (I've seen this before).
'with nothing' becomes 'o' (I've seen this in other clues).
'closet'+'o'='CLOSE TO'
(Other definitions for close to that I've seen before include "near" , "'Nearby (5,2)'" , "Nearly" .)