A Home Office Refresh - Part II | Calico Blog

Creating a Better Workspace in a New York City Apartment

Jessica and Adam are a young two-career couple, shut out of their city offices and doing their best to work from home. In Manhattan, home is a one-bedroom apartment that barely has workspace for one person, much less two. When Jessica needed to revamp their bedroom to accommodate a desk, she knew what was needed to make this work: draperies for light control and privacy—plus color and style too.

Having shopped Calico for fabrics, Jessica was aware they offered Quick Ship draperies and knew she could get quality drapery panels and hardware in two weeks. Here is Jessica Steele’s story of her Before and After home office makeover where she now works and creates content for her blog, The Steele Maiden.

At Home with The Steele Maiden

After two years in our Manhattan apartment, there was one corner left that had never been fully addressed. Tucked between the staircase and our bed, this space housed a simple desk and oversized chair but served as more of a dumping ground for books and laundry than any sort of functioning workspace. And with a busy career, a side blog business, and enough going on in New York City to keep me out and about more often than not, it hadn’t really demanded decorating as much as the rest of our home.

Until of course, mid-March of this year—when both my partner and I (like so many others around the world) suddenly and unexpectedly needed to work full-time jobs out of our one-bedroom apartment. It took all of four hours on the first work from home day to know I needed to transform this space quickly. With hopes to make it a little more functional and a lot more aesthetically pleasing, I set out to address two major problems.

The first was sun glare. I never thought I’d call the endless afternoon light in our apartment a problem. In fact, it was one of the top reasons we chose the place! But with a desk that faced the window, I found myself painfully squinting into my computer screen by 3 p.m. each day. There were wood blinds on the windows, but when I closed them, I felt cut off from the outside world…not exactly what I was going for during this already isolating time. I knew I needed draperies to help filter the light rather than block it completely. They would also soften the space.

After taking a few simple measurements, I was able to shop Calico Quick Ship window treatment options online to find draperies and hardware, with quality that I knew I could trust. Since the space felt stark with a white, high gloss desk and white walls, I added depth and texture with pinch pleat drapes in richly saturated, Emporio rayon/linen in color Navy.

For hardware, I chose the clear acrylic rod along with end caps, brackets and rings in the champagne finish. This gave a modern touch to offset the pre-war charm of exposed brick and dark wood floors throughout the rest of the apartment. After a simple install, the space felt instantly transformed.

After that, I addressed the second problem—personality. The space lacked any of the personal touches that makes the rest of our home feel like “us”. With shopping limited to essentials only, I utilized what I already had elsewhere in the apartment to round out the space. A lamp was pulled from our entryway to add extra light when I wind up working late. Books were organized onto the windowsill or into a nearby wire basket on the floor. A small tray from my dresser now serves to keep a few pencils and my glasses close at hand.

Lastly, artwork and plants (the little things that spark joy for me) were pulled from throughout the apartment to fill the nearby walls, shelves and windowsills—resulting in a space that feels happy and creative. Later down the line, I plan to add an accent pillow to the chair in this gorgeous Luxe fabric, Jenzen in Blue from Calico. It will help tie all the colors together and add a bit more pattern to the space.

While our temporary situation isn’t ideal, we’ve made the very best of it with this updated home office set-up. Now, to tackle that work from home to-do list...

What’s special about Calico Quick Ship Drapery Panels?

You can dress your windows without the wait—both Pinch Pleat or Grommet drapery panels and hardware sets ship free to your home in 10 days or less. They are available in 15 colors of our most popular rayon/linen fabrics. In addition: