Things You'll Need:
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Step 1
Find a desk with ethnic flavor or one in wicker and iron - or faux paint a plain old wood table with zebra or tiger stripes for a fun look.
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Step 2
Complement the desk with an old-timey mahogany desk chair (a tropical wood, mahogany immediately suggests foreign shores), a chair made partly of cane or rattan, or a standard office chair.
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Step 3
Use a conventional metal file cabinet or basket-type files. An old file cabinet could also be painted with an animal-skin motif to complement the painted desk.
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Step 4
Light your work surface with a lamp of wicker, cast resin (perhaps in the shape of a small palm tree or elephant), pottery or a porcelain ginger jar.
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Step 5
Look for a painted canvas floorcloth with a foreign theme (perhaps an antique world map), an Oriental-style carpet, an animal-skin rug or a flat-woven dhurrie.
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Step 6
Accessorize the room with handmade objects: tribal masks, carved wooden boxes and imported candleholders that are molded, painted or hand-carved.
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Step 7
Paint walls with a faux stone texture, or cover with grass cloth or ethnic print wallpaper. Hang a few folk art paintings on the walls, but don't go overboard or you'll have too many distractions in the room.
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Step 8
Continue the theme with small office supplies: baskets or ethnic-inspired ceramics for pencils, an unpainted woven wicker wastebasket.
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Step 9
Dress the windows in a bamboo or palm frond print fabric. Or choose bamboo matchstick blinds or 2-inch-wide wood blinds - either can be used in combination with fabric at the window.
