Home.Work: Setting Up an Office at Home

by Fay Sweet

In this age of telecommuting and advanced technology, working from home has never been more appealing. Yet fashioning a home office is anything but simple. Now, whatever your space and budget, the perfect home office can be yours. Full of creative solutions to common problems, this imaginative guide takes you through the logistics step by step. Assess your needs, identify available space, devise a decorating scheme, convert an entire room or part of another room (such as the kitchen)...all without breaking the bank. Large-format color photographs, floor plans, case studies, and ingenious tips solve storage, furniture, and lighting dilemmas. You can even learn time-management skills and exercises to keep you fit and alert, once you're ensconced in your new quarters Whether you're already working at home, planning on moving your office there, or simply need room to catch up on work from your day job, make your home work pleasurable as well as productive.

159 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2000

Reviews

[Bradley White · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is seeing all the iMac G3 computers (and the occasional Intel laptop with a tiny monochrome LCD).

The book covers every possible aspect of working from home, in almost unnecessary, detail. There are some inspirational spaces profiled, worth skimming through for the pictures - unless you need to decide which lamp to buy for your desk, chapter 4, only ten pages.

Look, I liked the book. I like seeing what people do with their spaces, so it will find a spot on my book shelf.

[Michael Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s interesting to compare this treatment of the subject with Neal Zimmerman’s At Work at Home, which I also read recently. While Zimmerman concentrates on creating “livable” working spaces at home, which are not always elaborate or expensive, either, Sweet seems to have a thing for cold, bare, “industrial” environments with square, hard-looking chairs, exposed rivets, and shiny metal gooseneck lamps. Is this a British design thing, I wonder? It’s an interesting take, I suppose, but if I could afford a professional designer to set up my own office at home, I’d pick Zimmerman in a second.

[February Four · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would, primarily because it's not just a showcase. The book contains a lot of helpful ideas and hints on how to assess one's needs, plan one's space, etc, before going on to show examples of how some people's home offices serve their needs. If you're looking for some advice or guidance on setting up a home office, it's definitely worth taking a look in here.