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“That’s what guest rooms are for,”David Quarlestold himself when he decided to convert the spare bedroom in his Memphis home into a dedicated workspace. The multi-hyphenate (a jewelry maker, Zumba instructor, and interior designer) was forced to bring his career(s) home when the monthly rent for the downtown studio space he was using jumped—and that was before COVID made WFH the new normal.
For a brief stretch, the former bedroom juggled all three of his professional pursuits: It’s where he hosted Zoom meetings with clients, soldered necklaces, and broke a sweat. “It was getting to be too much,” recalls Quarles. After building a separategym outside, he turned his attention to crafting an equally beautiful and functional office where he could pivot from prepping a jewelry shipment to assembling a mood board in moments. “I definitely feel like if you’re going to work from home, why not make it feel like an escape?” he says. Ahead, Quarles shares four ways he made the room do overtime.
Beat the Afternoon Slump With Bold Patterned Walls
Wrapping all four walls in Chasing Paper’sMud Cloth peel-and-stick wallpaperwas as much a practical choice as a personal one. “I like to design from what my history is, where my family comes from, so I wanted something that spoke to the African side of my ancestry,” he explains. The print’s dimensional effect (it almost reads as a real textile draped on the wall) helps disguise the fact that the original surface underneath is textured—and not in a flattering way. “It hides the bumps,” he notes.
Carve Out a Stash Spot for Closing Time
Desk storage was particularly crucial for Quarles, who had previously relied on a basic white sawhorse table from IKEA as his workstation. The tabletop, naturally, always looked cluttered. “I need a place where I can stash some tools when I don’t feel like doing a full cleanup at night,” he shares. TheLiving Spaces piecehe chose for his jewelry zone (both desks are from the brand’s Hollis collection) features a deep cubby where he can drop his soldering tools. That way, when he walks in the next morning, he doesn’t immediately feel overwhelmed. It also helps that all his beads and metal components are neatly organized (and color-coded) in semitransparent boxes on the shelves—an upgrade from the crates that used to sit on the floor.
Use Plants to Hide Unsightly Cords
The pegboard above Quarles’s jewelry-making station keeps his most-reached-for tweezers and pliers within arm’s reach, but to make the flat white catchall feel more deserving of its place against the blue backdrop, he added decorative touches like a small rechargeable picture light and plant clippings. Across the room, at his interior design desk setup, a small pothos sits in front of the router to camouflage the unsightly tech.
Crank Up the Impact With Statement Lighting
To help his clients zero in on their design style, Quarles will often ask them to name a song (or playlist) they’d picture themselves listening to in the room to try to capture the overall vibe they want to achieve. “Music is very much an influential part of my process,” he says. Naturally, when he’s deep into assembling contracts and pulling samples, he’ll throw on some tunes for himself to stay motivated and inspired. The reason you don’t see a bulky black speaker anywhere? It’s hidden inside the task lamp. “It’s a lightbulb speaker—and it’s surprisingly loud,” he admits.
Lydia Geisel
Home Editor
Lydia Geisel has been part of the editorial team at Domino since 2017. Today, she writes and edits home and renovation stories, including house tours, before-and-afters, and DIY projects, and leads our design news coverage. She lives in New York City.
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