My tornado shelter is the closet under my stairway. However if I had another tornado room, I’d certainly consider this project for my husband to do! From Pinterest,
Spine Lamp is Creepy Decoration
I would think this lamp would have much greater impact in – oh I don’t know – a chiropractor’s office than a home office. But it’s still too cool to ignore! From Oh Gizmo,
Now I’m pretty sure it’s not an actual spine but nevertheless it looks realistic enough to creep out a few people. And if you were wondering the answer is yes, the neck of the lamp is also flexible allowing you to aim the light where you need it.
The Spine Lamp includes a marble base and classy gold paint finish and is available from Mark Beam Studios for only $1,500.
Ouch! That’s a bit beyond my budget, but I still think it’s great!
Working At Home In a Non-Traditional Way
For one job, I go to the office and sit behind a desk. Sometimes I go out to meetings, luncheons, or to the scene of emergencies to work with the media. For another job, I sit in a recliner with my laptop. I field phone calls, answer emails, moderate comments (oh those spammers are so horrible!).
I have a non-traditional office, for sure! When you work-at-home, you have to stay focused and that is definitely a challenge sometimes! Sometimes an actual office inside the home works, while others thrive like I do in a comfortable chair in the living room. From Apartment Therapy,
His job requires a lot of phone calls, filing, and storage, where my writing needs are much more mobile, so we decided right away that his desk should go in the spare bedroom, and he’s been happy there ever since. I, on the other hand, have moved from a small desk setup in the open kitchen/living room area, to the dining room, which doubles as the library, and even to the bedroom, where I had a desk/nightstand combo for a while.
Sitting in a home office can be so isolating so I definitely understand the need to change locations within the home!
Dry Erase Chore Board
All those yellow sticky notes laying on my desk are just unsightly. The little reminders usually get lost under piles of paperwork – only to be rediscovered a month later. Or I’ll sometimes have a phone number written down with no idea who I’d be calling when I dial the number. The Aesthetic Writer found a really cute solution to this problem – make your own dry erase board using paint chips (except in this case, she made a calendar),
Beforehand, I had cut all my paint chips to be 2″ x 2″. Just enough room to write the times of important meetings. Then I arranged the colors so that there was a balance between light and dark colors. And finally, I taped all the paint chips to the blank side of the picture insert.
How very very cute, affordable, AND useful!
Happy 4th of July
Have a very safe, enjoyable 4th of July and remember those who have sacrificed everything for our freedom!
Photo by City of La Vergne, Tennessee.
Magnetic Switch Cover
Every office needs one or more of these. In fact, every home could use them, too! A magnetic switch cover!
NeoCover is a light switch cover powered by neodymium magnets. We’re not talking one or two keys here. The NeoCover is powerful enough to hold up to 27 keys.
Safe to use with flash drives! SOLD!
Keep Your Office Clean – Or At Least Pretend It’s Clean
Keeping a clean office is extremely important if you have clients that might like to pop in to see what you’re working on. If someone were to walk in my house today, I’d be embarrassed because it needs vacuumed and dusted. Plus my kids’ shoes are scattered all over the living room and there is a pile of clothes that need folded and put away. The embarrassment would be much worse if it was a client to step through my door!
If you have to clean an office FAST for a last-minute client visit, Apartment Therapy offers some tips on making your work space presentable,
• Use a lint brush on your desktop and keyboard for a quick dusting (especially if you have pets). If you have time, deep clean your keyboard with tape or a sticky note.
• If you’ve got a rip or stain on your office chair, cover it with a decorative throw or a small pillow.
• Stack books and magazines in neat piles, or place them into files or bins, like these inexpensive ones from IKEA ($1.99 for a pack of 5). You can keep them folded and ready to go for clutter-clearing emergencies.
Great tips! Life saver!
Sometimes Traditional Employment is the Answer
Work at home jobs can be ideal. They give you flexibility, you can be choosy about who you work for, wear pajamas all day even! The downside is that you probably won’t get a regular paycheck and health insurance could be a problem.
I had to leave my independent contractor position a little more than a year ago because my family needed the stability of a bi-weekly paycheck. I’m not the only one. From Beating Broke,
When I quit, I decided to give the new situation of blogging and a part-time job 6 months to see where it went. While the part-time job remained fairly stable, the blogging income has been anything but. My income on that front has fluctuated by several hundred dollars from month to month, and hasn’t grown at the rate that I had hoped it would. Because of that, and the fact that I was operating on limited funds to cover any differences between my income and what we needed to pay bills, I’ve got to make the right move here and get a job.
Kudos to B.B. for having the courage to go it on her own. I have always heard, though, that if you do this you should have at least six months to a year of salary saved as you groom your business for success. With the economy seeming to be slowly recovering, I do hope she’ll be able to make another go of it in a year or two.
Working for the Love of Working
I love my job. I love writing, talking to people, working to make my community a better place to live. I also like the paycheck I get every couple of weeks, but to work for the love of working is a rare gift. The Greenery talks about the phenomenon,
Perhaps you’re actually one of those extremely driven souls who thrive on long days at the office, negotiating, litigating, or typing your heart out until moonglitter streams into the windows. If so, I commend you. But I don’t entirely trust you. What are you trying to avoid? Do you fear human engagement outside of the cubicle? I mean, what’s the work for, if not to find a sense of meaning inside a life that’s larger than the work itself—and by larger, I mean full of people, friendships, laughter, travel, feasts, and not a few glasses of wine?
I believe in my heart that it depends on the job. If you love what you do, then it’s worth every minute.
Deductions for Home Office
Home office deductions at tax time can be a beautiful thing, however you’d better be careful if you use them. While justified expenses are truly an expense that should be deducted, the IRS will cast a close eye on those using home office deductions. From Reuters, you’d better watch out,
Exclusive use. The home office must be a designated home office that is used exclusively for the trade or business. You can’t deduct a guest bedroom that is used half of the year by your in-laws. There are some exceptions to this, such as daycare facility use (with some special rules), certain storage use and rental use.
Remember while the deductions are okay, they can be risky. This link to the IRS provides very specific instructions on home office deductions.‘
Photo from wine press for words.