You’re dressed for success, but sit at a desk that undercuts your image as a serious, successful professional bound for the corner office.  A cluttered desk covered with inappropriate knickknacks and photos can be your downfall.  “Like going on a date, first impressions at the office are often lasting,” says, Deborah Wiener Deborah Wiener , an interior designer and owner of Designing Solutions in Silver Spring, Md. “We also make quick judgments about work relationships. You want your desk to say: ‘I mean business and I’m ready to move up.’”  The key to success is to use desk and office decor to underscore your professionalism.  You can burnish your image by posting news clippings about industry trends or big names in your field in your cubicle or on your office wall. A magazine cover involving your company can be artfully displayed in an off-the-shelf frame purchased from OfficeMax , Office Depot or Staples or home improvement stores such as Lowe’s or Home Depot . Photos of staff get-togethers, awards ceremonies or other special work-related events are also appropriate.  If your company does business overseas, consider hanging up a large photo of the office in England, Germany, Japan or China and landmarks from that country to underscore the size and scope of your company.  Photos defining your company’s product or service can highlight your desk and even the office’s reception area. If you’re a caterer, consider pictures of some of the fancy spreads you’ve created for weddings, business meetings and other high-profile events.  Your screensaver might display your company logo or mission statement or relate to the type of work you do. If you’re an engineer, going retro with a slide rule on your flat panel screen is a good way to spark comments.  Your cubicle shouldn’t be cluttered with goofy photos of you and your friends painting the town red in exotic places. Go easy on mementos and other personal items.  You don’t have to be politically correct up to the eyeballs to know that beefcake and cheesecake photos are wildly inappropriate for your cubicle, screensaver or private office. Even if no one objects–and someone almost certainly will–you don’t want to cast yourself as an adolescent.  Clients need to know you’re focused on their needs. It’s fine to keep a small photo album of family shots tucked in a desk drawer to share with co-workers, but you don’t want to overdo the personal shots with clients or prospective clients, who may walk through the office as they size up the company.  It’s also wise to keep after-hours items out-of-sight. If there’s no closet available, tuck your gym bag under your desk and prop the tennis racket up in the corner behind the chair where guests will sit.  At staff meetings, Wiener suggests showing up with a portfolio and a metal pen to underscore your seriousness and attentiveness. Such a pen will cost a little more than a fistful of throwaway plastic ballpoint pens, but it’s still cheap enough that losing it won’t be a tragedy. Remember: Brushed brass always beats brightly colored plastic.  A desk lamp is a good way to make your work space stand out in a large room filed with cubicles or a wall lined with offices. Use something other than an incandescent bulb to create a bright, warm glow–and all the good connotations that go with it.  This assumes, of course, that you cleaned up your desk and keep it organized.  “You can do this on a shoestring budget,” Wiener says. “It’s worth it to make sure that the first impression you make at work is a good one.”  Check out seven easy ways to make that happen.  Comments are turned off for this post.
Your work space says a lot about you. Here's how to make it says you're ready for that corner office.