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The most important thing about your home office isn't that it's an office, or even that it's at home. The most important thing is that it's yours. Setting up your office precisely to suit yourself can be a thoroughly liberating pleasure, especially if you're leaving a corporate environment to do it.
Find Your Space
The first problem is where to put it. This can be a pretty tough question. Keep three things in mind: First, you are executive, secretary, mailroom clerk, receptionist and custodian all rolled into one. You'll be using a whole range of tools to perform all kinds of jobs.
Privacy Rules!
In many homes, this privacy can only be symbolic, and often it has to be guarded by rules and clocks rather than walls or doors. But the happiest home workers assert that the most important element of their home office is the door they can close. Have children? Make sure the spot you pick is away from the playroom for extra quietness.
Third, you'll always need more room than you think, and you'll always fill up whatever space you've got. Bigger is better.
Spaces to avoid:
Never establish your home office in a location that would not be acceptable living space, no matter how great it may seem otherwise. This sounds simple, but it's not.
Bad spots are invariably tempting space: it has lots of square footage in a part of the house where no one will bother you. But bad spots are also too cold, too hot, too damp, too bright or too dark. Don't ever put a home office in a basement or attic that is unfinished, mold and mildew and will destroy your electronic equipment and furniture.
Carpeting your office will keep the noise down when people are there. It acts as a barrier to sound. Acoustical walls are another great way to keep out surrounding sound, although will run more money.
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