For more than 18 years, I’ve had a home office. I worked from home when it was considered uncool … or just unusual … to do so. Fortunately, armed with my Mailboxes, Etc. (now the UPS Store) address, no one knew I worked from home.
That was until I published my first book, Organizing Your Home Office For Success. When the truth about my workplace came out, I was often asked when I was going to get a “real office.” How could I possibly get anything done from home? (That was before the world began its great adventure on the “Information Superhighway” … and before I owned a computer with a hard drive that was smaller than a two-drawer file cabinet.)
A working home office in disguise
Over the years, I’ve worked from home for years in home office spaces that included a spare bedroom, a small den, a dining room, a guest room, and finally a dedicated home office. Then, a few years ago, I finally came to the conclusion that I didn’t want my home office to look like an office. Instead I wanted it to look like a den or a library.
So when our family built a home, I designed the perfect home office. I did everything I could to make it comfy, functional … and a departure from the typical home office. As you can see by the photo, I incorporated a window seat and a built-in desk and bookcase with doors to hide my workspace, printer and files. I also had a cabinet for office supplies.
We’ve recently moved to a new, smaller home, and now I’m in another new home office. This one is actually half the size of my old one, but as I always tell my clients, it’s not the size of your office. It’s how you use it.
