I Showed Two Designers My Makeshift Office — Their Brilliant Ideas Made It 10x Better

Ever since reading Virginia Woolf’s famous essay A Room of One’s Own, I have viewed a woman’s right to her own private space as both sacred and essential. In my current Los Angeles home, my office does double duty as the guest room. My husband and I host occasional out-of-town visitors, but mostly this room is meant to be my sanctuary where I can write and relax. The trouble was that its awkward layout served to host our guests better than function as an office for yours truly. 

My grandfather’s mahogany sleigh bed jutted out into the middle of the narrow room, and the walls were lined with bulky furniture. Plus, my desk chair wasn’t even comfortable, so I rarely worked at my desk; instead I opted for the velvet-rose arm chair in the corner. I was desperate to reprioritize how the room functions, so I called on two seasoned interior designers for advice to help me reconfigure the space.

The first task was to deal with the challenge of the imposing bed. “I’d treat the bed as secondary and rotate it so it is parallel to the wall — sort of like a giant daybed,” advised Bethany Adams, an interior designer based in Louisville, Kentucky. To finish the look, Adams suggested positioning large accent pillows against the wall, noting that fewer, bigger pillows is her rule of thumb. She also advised changing out the current floral duvet, which she found a bit chaotic, for a solid color. 

In what felt like a radical suggestion, Adams recommended that I move the dresser into the closet and get rid of the bookshelf entirely, replacing it with a light and airy etagere, mounted to the wall. Finally, she advised investing in longer drapes and hanging them so that they just barely cover the window frame. “Making these changes will make the room feel 100% larger before you ever move a stick of furniture,” she promised. 

I also consulted with Jean Liu, the principal designer and founder of Jean Liu Design in Dallas, who solved my desk problem with two practical suggestions that struck me as ingenious. First, she recommended moving the desk to be centered in the window, instead of right next to the bed stand. “It’s a bit awkward to have two pieces of furniture of similar height and materials right next to each other,” she said. “Instead, it would be so nice to look out and to bask in the natural light while working at your desk.” 

Secondly, Liu recommended swapping out my wooden chair for an upholstered one to act as a contrast against the desk. “From a functional standpoint, something upholstered could be more comfortable while you’re sitting there.”

The final piece of the makeover was the art and accessories. I braced myself for what was coming: I knew my walls felt chaotic and cluttered. But Liu’s suggestion honored my personal aesthetic, while improving the style. She suggested, “The pieces will pack the biggest punch if they were all rehung as a gallery wall above your bed and across that bed wall, instead of now where some pieces are on the opposite wall in a stair stepped fashion.”

Goodbye, haphazard wall, and hello to intentional grouping! For the final touch towards a brighter, roomier space, both designers recommended clearing my surfaces of the photos and trinkets. 

I couldn’t wait to get to work. Based on Adams’ suggestion, I replaced the heavy, low-hung curtains and dark wood rods with lighter linen blackout curtains and elegant embroidered sheers hung on gorgeous brass curtain rods, all from Anthropologie, my personal go-to for all things home decor. They opened up my room and made the space feel lighter and brighter. 

Then, taking Liu’s advice, I moved the desk in front of the window and replaced my chair with a super-comfortable, modern desk chair — in light pink. It is from this cozy spot with a view of Jacaranda trees in bloom that I now write to you. 

It turns out, the dresser did fit nicely in the closet (thank you, Bethany!), and I didn’t shed too many tears when the bookshelf, and some of the books, were donated. I found a light and airy wall-mounted etagere at Lowe’s, which Adams had also recommended, and it now houses some of my beloved trinkets and books, while reducing the clutter on my desk. 

For the new linens Adams suggested, I opted for some soft bamboo sheets in a cozy cream. And I couldn’t resist the Bubble Cuddle Blanket as an accent throw and the matching Bubble Cuddle Pillows, all from Cozy Earth. For the rest of my large pillows I procured two linen euro-size pillows from Crate & Barrel and a velvet lumbar pillow from West Elm. 

Finally, in the spirit of lightening up the space, I decided my rug was too dark for the room and chose this cheerful rug from Rifle Paper Co. to replace it. 

My old, cramped room is barely recognizable now. I float in here with the promise of a new day. I am able to focus much more easily without so many visual distractions. Somehow, with these small-yet-significant renovations and a sprinkle of magic, this room went from being a design conundrum to my favorite place in the house. I had no idea how liberating and invigorating these changes could be.