Inside a neutrally nuanced Mayfair duplex where work and wardrobe meet modern ritual

Design DNA is the Homes & Gardens series that breaks down beautiful rooms into their essential elements. Each installment dissects one interior and shows readers exactly what makes it work, from the anchor furniture and layout choices to color, lighting, and styling details.

The notion of a ‘home office’ is increasingly antiquated. Papers are digitized, laptops replace hulking screens, and few of us work in silos anymore – so why design a space like one?

For Claire Sá, founder of De Rosee Sa, a London duplex called for a more relevant ritual: getting dressed. Work and wardrobe both shape how we present ourselves, demanding spaces that inspire so it makes sense that a dressing room should sit in an office.

Situated in the iconic 60 Curzon in Mayfair, once home to Mirabelle – the restaurant of royals and rock stars – reinvention has long run through the veins of this address. Now, Claire decodes its Design DNA, revealing how a storied space can be retooled for modern work life, with takeaways to elevate yours.

A room-anchoring desk

All eyes feast on the asymmetrical elm burl desk by Danielle Siggerud, its twin tabletops balanced on tree-trunk legs. ‘It has a sculptural, commanding presence that anchors the office, pairing beautifully with the tactile walls and sheers. It introduces warmth and gravitas, setting the tone for a workspace that feels both serious and inspiring,’ Claire says.

For her, a desk is never just a work surface. 'It can double as a place to put on makeup, to write a note, or to sit with a laptop for a short burst of work. A bespoke or carefully chosen desk sets the tone for the whole space and can help the office feel part of the home rather than separate from it.’

Don’t be afraid to splurge or go bold – the right desk anchors a room and supports more daily practices than you might presume.

See-through threshold

There’s a difference between a room that’s open concept and one that’s truly multipurpose. The first risks feeling directionless; the latter creates distinctions, carving out zones within a larger whole. The line between the two is what Claire calls a threshold – not a hard break, but a mediary that lets spaces flow together and apart.

‘We kept the spaces distinct but connected with subtle thresholds: a windowpane screen that lets in light but breaks it up with mullions, mirrors to bounce light deeper in,’ she says of linking the office and dressing room, a choice that helps ‘shift the mood without fully dividing the room.’

Shared lighting helps too. Objects like the Susie Atkinson Plato lamp, perched on the bespoke leather-top dresser that bridges both rooms, set the ambience on either side.

Since this project's 'threshold' is bespoke, try a silken screen divider. Albeit more opaque, it offers the same pause between spaces and while doubling as a design canvas.

Neutral, textured backdrops

Neutral palettes are notoriously tricky. One wrong move and they mope into monotony. In this Mayfair office–dressing room, texture keeps the scheme layered from floor to ceiling.

‘Texture is key,’ says Claire. ‘From Weitzner’s silk wallcovering to the Dedar-clad wardrobe doors, every surface has tactility.’ Even the larger gestures serve the same purpose. The handloomed Nordic Knots rug, made from New Zealand wool, softens the space against grass-cloth flooring and textured walls, adding dimension through contrast.

If you’re attempting a similar palette at home, keep Claire’s advice in mind: layer texture wherever possible, whether through wallcoverings, upholstery, or even a single tactile pillow. And don’t assume ‘neutral’ means beige. Inside the wardrobe nook, Claire paired blush pink and green – ‘These are not colors you would naturally put together, but testing that tension gives the room personality,’ she says.

Storytelling objects

Another way to prevent neutrals from slipping into sameness is also the most obvious: objects with character. ‘The layering of fabric, art, and objects ensures the neutrals feel alive rather than flat,’ says Claire, who treats every surface – from tabletops to the dresser divider – as a stage for interest.

‘The art is a mix of commissions, dealer pieces, and vintage finds, chosen to feel collected over time rather than staged,’ she adds. Even a paperweight isn’t just a paperweight here – it’s a brass-and-leather cigar holder by Austrian painter Carl Auböck, circa 1950.

Not every piece needs a pedigree, but the best ones tell a story. Prioritize finds that feel lived-in or storied – think antique sales, Etsy, or 1stDibs – and your neutrals will always read as layered.

Unorthodox placements

For Claire, multifunctionality is born from breaking the rules of placement. ‘Allow there to be an armchair in the kitchen, a desk in the dressing room, or cozy lamps around a dining table,’ she says. ‘Even in a bathroom, if it has a beautiful view, why not put in a chair or a desk? Sometimes it is just about putting a piece of furniture where you would not normally expect it and seeing what happens.’

These tweaks subtly shift how a space is used. ‘If you put an armchair in a bathroom, inevitably you will sit there on your phone and behave differently. If there is nowhere to sit, you just brush your teeth and leave,’ she quips.

Here, a Watts Hesketh upholstered stool could have been omitted. Instead, it anchors the dressing area with an invitation to linger, turning storage into a space for pause.

The edit

What are the key elements of a well-designed multipurpose space?

We move through many roles in a single day, especially in an age of hybrid schedules. One minute you’re finishing a deck, the next you’re ‘Zoom top ready,’ and five minutes later you’re back in pyjamas. For Claire Sá, the solution is fluidity. ‘The idea was to avoid a dark, cupboard-like dressing room and instead create a space to wait, relax, or even send a few emails,’ she says.

‘An office today isn’t always a formal room,’ she adds. ‘It’s often just where you pop up a laptop, so combining the two made sense,’ offering space for work, yes, but also for trying on clothes, pausing between activities, ‘or making getting ready feel like an event.’

A multipurpose space should meet you where you are. In London, that meant a dressing room–office hybrid. For an LA yogi, it might mean swapping in a meditation corner instead.

How do you create a balanced home office?

A balanced home office shouldn’t feel like an office at all – it should read as an extension of your home. That means reflecting your own taste, not defaulting to the bulk-purchased ‘office accessory’ bundles in plastic and chrome. If it wouldn’t make the cut in your living room, it has no business living in your workspace.

Claire proves the point with her own substitution: a now sold-out Soho Home dining chair in lieu of a traditional desk chair. Upholstered, comfortable, and elegant, it sidesteps the clunky ‘office’ label altogether.

The lesson here is to defy expectations. Choose pieces that inspire you, even if they weren’t designed for an office. And most importantly: don’t fall for the big-box office propaganda – it’s creativity, not convention, that keeps your space balanced.

What design choices make this room timeless?

60 Curzon has carried weight since 1936, when it first opened as Mirabelle, one of Mayfair’s most storied restaurants. Now reinvented as 32 boutique residences, the address arrives with built-in history. Despite that legacy, Claire knew it couldn't behave like a nepo baby: the space had to honor its past while forging a path of its own, speaking to a modern, cosmopolitan buyer – not rest on its laurels.

‘Our aim was to create a home that feels both sophisticated and welcoming, a balance of classic Mayfair elegance and mid-century modern warmth,’ she says. ‘We wanted it to resonate with today’s lifestyle – practical, adaptable, and layered with personality.’

Her method was to cross centuries. ‘For me, it’s all about composition, mixing textures, finishes, and eras so the space feels curated rather than fixed in one style,’ Claire explains.

Timelessness is not about looking back; it’s about making history live comfortably in the present.

What should every dressing room include?

Glass-front wardrobes have become trendy for a certain set of department store connoisseur, but they’re not always the most inspiring. Sometimes, a closed door is the better choice. Concealing clutter creates calm – and, counterintuitively, can spark more creativity when putting outfits together.

‘A flat wall of cabinets can feel heavy, so we added depth with details that make the frontage feel more polished, like inset silk wallpaper panels and a bead of contrasting color,’ Claire says. ‘Doors were essential to conceal the messier side of storage, but we treated those fronts as an opportunity to decorate and refine.’

Inside, practicality rules. ‘The layout was calculated, with enough space for long dresses and shoe storage. A mix of drawers, chests, and his-and-hers sections keep it practical but also a little more open.’

Think as carefully about what’s outside as what’s within. Closet doors are as much design opportunity as the clothes inside.

Do what’s necessary, not what’s expected. A desk can be a vanity, a dressing room an office – who cares what you call it? Build for your rituals, not theirs. Infuse the space with your DNA, and suddenly the room starts being yours.