I have a home office where I used to work 60+ hour weeks. It all felt very important. When I quit to pursue writing, the room still carried a serious air. I associated it with conference calls and stack ranking people and complicated financial models, destroying any hope of creative productivity.
Enter my own version of feng shui. First, I painted inspiring quotations along the main wall. 
Then I reinvented my laptop cover so it wouldn’t remind me of excel and PowerPoint.
Next I added sayings above my bookshelf to keep me character-focused. Like Jose Ortega’s, “Tell me to what you pay attention, and I will tell you who you are.” A great reminder to show not tell, and be purposeful in how you- and your characters- spend time. Also, Sylvia Plath’s, “It’s a terrible thing to be so open: it is as if my heart put on a face and walked into the world.” That thought encourages the vulnerability that makes great writing, and that sometimes fights my pride.
When I got tired of editing, but knew the book wasn’t ready I added these:
I gave Brain Andreas a shrine because his sayings have brought me hope and happiness since I discovered them in the early nineties.
My favorites read:
“Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.”
“For a long time she flew only when she thought no one else was watching.”
I abhor artificial light, so I moved my desk to the window and replaced the bright room light with a softer bulb in a star fixture. Something still wasn’t quite right, so I painted the ceiling silver.
A giant whiteboard wall maps out my current projects where my desk used to be. The blank space in the middle is to be filled with the plan for book two revisions, as soon as I figure out how to make that draft work 🙂
When I could think of no way to further procrastinate, it was time to start writing. My office had evolved from a place of business to a place of growth. It feels like home. When I’m stuck, I stand and read the words of other writers that now flank my walls and remind myself that I am not alone in this pursuit.
I didn’t know it until three years later, but my writing space wasn’t complete until my book sold and former Debutante Lisa Daily gave me this gift:
So, writers out there, I’m curious, where do you write?
Abby, I enjoyed reading about the redesign of your corporate work space into Abby’s writing room. You are inspiring me to do the same and start to paint!!
I am eagerly awaiting your novel but am so impressed by your journey!
You are clearly an artist as well as a writer! Beautiful!
As if you didn’t have enough jobs: mom, author, recovering corporate exec…you could be an interior decorator for artist spaces. So lovely. What a gift to yourself!
I love, love, love your writing space. And I’m so glad to have provided the finishing touch. I put whiteboards up in my office about 8 years ago, and it’s one of the best things I ever did. I tend to storyboard my books (a la Janet Evanovich) because I have a background in advertising & television, and find the whiteboards hugely helpful in keeping me focused. I love the fact that you did a silver ceiling. So creative 🙂
I can’t wait for your book to come out!