Design Story: A L.A. Style Blogger’s Dream Office Makeover

Time Several Hours

Budget $ $$$

Skill Level

WORDS BY The Havenly Team

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Published on February 1, 2017

You certainly might not know it from this gorgeous reveal photo, but we’ll let you in on a little secret: for Los Angeles-based style blogger Mara Ferreira, getting started on her dream office makeover didn’t sound at all exciting. No, that would mean confronting the current dysfunction of the space – and clutter was the name of the game. Papers, shoes, clothes and boxes without any logical organization meant that by the time she found Havenly, Mara never even wanted to work in her office. Her ‘before’ photos speak volumes on their own – the space simply had no flow, and no room for creativity.

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When we matched Havenly designer Ann F. with Mara to help her wrangle the chaos, she immediately saw something that Mara didn’t – potential. Although Mara wanted to get rid of some pieces, like her IKEA desk, she also had a beautiful antique dresser from her grandmother and a white Parisian dining chair that were just begging to be incorporated into a dream office makeover.

The Concept Phase

With these key pieces in mind, Ann’s first instinct was to get to know Mara’s sense of style and get a feel for what she ultimately hoped her office space would do. For Mara, making it a priority that the space be inspiring and creatively driven was especially important. After quitting her job in fashion (and before that, abandoning a successful future career in law) to dedicate herself fully to the growth of her blog, Mara needed help honing in on the details that would make her fall in love with the space. Truthfully, she needed to simplify – and Ann was just the designer to help her do it.

Connecting instantly with Mara’s love of a classically feminine color palette and delicate gold accents, Ann put together two initial concepts for Mara to review. Both concepts incorporated her existing pieces, but paired them with modern elements to give Mara a slightly cleaner vision of what her dream office makeover might look like.

Concept 1 

dream office makeover interior design concept one

Concept 2

dream office makeover interior design concept two

Mara: “I loooove the concepts! You did such a great job! Both are so beautiful and feminine! I definitely feel drawn to aspects of each, and the addition of the green is so beautiful. Good idea!” 

The two collaborated on revisions to get even closer to a space that would really function as a visual representation of Mara’s style personality. Honest feedback from Mara was essential for Ann to design a dream office makeover that would really wow Mara’s guests. From the filing cabinets to the gold bookcases, no piece in the room was off limits for debate. The result is a final design that was easy to execute from start to finish. Click to flip the card and see how Mara went from rendering to reality with Ann’s design!

From Rendering to Reality

As she soon found out, Mara was able to finish her dream office makeover just in time for her next redesign – her very first nursery for a little one on the way. Stay tuned over the next few months to see how Mara came to Havenly again to work on that precious project; but in the meantime, check out the full gallery of photos from Mara’s full office reveal. In the mood for a dream office makeover yourself? Get matched with a designer today and #getdecorated – it’s as simple as that.

Mara’s Dream Office Makeover Reveal

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