Q - I am in the process of changing my work place from an office
building to my house. What do I need to
know to change a spare bedroom into an office?
Dick - Powder Springs
A - In my opinion working from the house is the best! I've done it for a number of years now. In fact if you call me in my home office you
can rest assured that I am wearing boxers and a tee-shirt, unless it's casual
Friday…
The most important thing about
turning an extra room into an office is that it needs to be properly wired to
provide for telephone service, high-speed internet, fax machine - copy machine,
computer - all the things that make working from home possible.
I recommend that first you have
an electrician install a dedicated high amperage line to the room so that you
have enough juice for any and all office equipment that you might need. You should also have surge protection
installed on your whole house to help protect all that equipment.
You should also make sure you
have enough wifi and band width to be able to host all the chats and meetings
that are all the rage.
Basically then you are set to go
once you buy the equipment.
I would add though that you might
want to make the room as 'officey' as possible.
Select some nice, appropriately sized office furniture, get yourself
some shelving, and perhaps put pictures and awards on the walls.
Making it feel like a real place
of business will help you accomplish more than say working off a card table
with your printer on an ironing board and your scanner balancing on the seat of
the stationary bike you got 7 years ago in order to get in shape - you know the
one, it has exactly 21.7 miles on it.
Thinking that your home office
might qualify for some tax breaks?
Ehhhhh, maybe, but I doubt it.
Your tax advisor would have more info on that, but know that it goes by
the % of time you spend in that room doing only work, not eating, not working
out, not a corner of your bedroom, not an area of your man cave. Just work.