A Harry Potter superfan has transfigured her home office into a whimsical wizarding workspace – showcasing hundreds of items of Potter memorabilia she has collected over the years.
Carla Rodriguez’s office looks straight out of Hogwarts itself, featuring the likes of a laddered bookshelf, a broomstick, star-covered ceiling, and masses of memorabilia tied to the popular franchise.
Carla, 32, from San Antonio, Texas, attaches her love of Harry Potter to watching the movies with her dad when she was younger.
Since then, she’s moved into the collector space, gaining a huge following online and adding more and more magical items to her home each and every week.
Carla and her husband, Carlos, 37, created their first Harry Potter-themed room back in 2016, when they added a magical touch to their second baby’s nursery.
Then, in 2018, they dedicated a corner of their home to Harry Potter pieces Carla had been collecting.
But it was in 2023, when she moved to a new home in Texas, that Carla decided to take on her biggest challenge so far – dedicating an entire room to her work and Harry Potter collection.
The dream was to have built-in bookshelves and a bewitched ceiling like the Great Hall.
The whole process took several months, with Carla first sourcing the bookshelves from IKEA, before turning to a contractor for advice on installing them in a style similar to those at Hogwarts, adding touches like a sliding ladder.
Carla and a friend worked on wallpapering the ceiling with a starry sky, and dark blue was selected as the perfect color of choice.
The finishing touches were then added – lamps, wands, mirrors, figurines, and hundreds of other Harry Potter items – with Carla sharing every step of the way on her popular social accounts.
As the office was coming together, many of the items in Carla’s collection had not been on show for a while, so she now enjoys sitting in the space, admiring the magical items she has amassed.
She said: “When we moved to Texas we decided to go all in with the office of my dreams and do built-in bookshelves, with a ladder, decorated ceiling and everything it is today.
“Since I’m a collector, the number of pieces I have grows every week, and, for me, it was important to have a place in my home to display them and to be able to enjoy the collection visually.
“I wanted it to be organized and neat.
“I love the process of reorganizing the collection, as I put all the pieces back on the shelf.
“It gives me a chance to appreciate pieces I haven’t paid attention to in a while and also decide what I can sell or donate that no longer fits in the collection.
“The biggest challenge is realizing I have too much stuff, no matter how many shelves we build!
“I love creating different spaces in our house, and I always love sharing the process, sharing ideas, and gathering feedback and inspiration from my community.
“It would not be half as fun if it wasn’t for the Harry Potter and collectors’ community.
“From time to time the videos go viral and new people find the page.
“The responses, thankfully, are mostly positive – people realize you don’t have to decorate your house in the usual grey, white or green.
“You can be bold and mix your fandoms and passions in your house decoration and enjoy it.”
