Office at Home..

The home office is just not a space where you charge your laptop, but a functional office where you are productive. To be productive, you have to be disciplined and not get distracted. It is not hard to accomplish this if you a have a suitable work space.

First find a well-lit, clearly defined, and dedicated spot for your home office. Preferably, this spot is away from the busy areas of the house such as the kitchen and the family room. Limit personal things - awards, family photos, and memento's are nice to have, but at the same time, you do not want clutter that accumulates dust.

Technology setup and office ergonomics comes next - High speed internet connectivity, copier/fax/scanner machine, charging station, crisp monitor, back-up hard drives, and for ergonomics this picture says a thousand words.

source: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/healthsafetyguide/A4.htm

Office supplies and organization - Do not be stringent when buying the supplies you need, as they are key to your success at home. It is OK to buy them as you need - you might need filing cabinets, book shelves, mail trays, message boards, pens/pencils, calendars, planners, notepads, memos, to-do lists, portfolios, business card cases, wastebaskets, etc., Here are a few examples. Since office supplies come in a wide variety, pick the style that represents your personality.

Your books and portfolios' need a place - a wall mounted, a.k.a floating book shelf, takes up the least amount of space. Personally, I am not a very big fan of armless chairs for a home office as you see below, but love the floating shelves. You need super comfortable chairs that are ergonomically suited for you. These examples are from cb2.

Floor book shelves also come in a wide range, see a few examples below from westelm and home decorators.

Paint the room a cool color such as blue or green, or a neutral color such as grey or beige. Warm colors such as red or bright yellow can be too strong in an office space. Lighter wall color, and lighter color furniture will reflect the most light making it brighter and cheerful for you to work.

Remember, if you own a small business, you can get a self employment tax break for your home office expenses as long as this is your primary office where you meet your clients and do business. This office should be client friendly, and easily accessible from the front door. Consider privacy of your home when you do business with clients at your home.

Finally, don't you wish this was your home office? Look forward to hearing from you..