Home sweet office. (interior design) (includes related articles on home office tax deduction and practical aspects of planning a home office)

The great advantage to working at home is that you can put your personal stamp squarely onto your daily work routine. You don't have to rush for the 7:02 train every morning (or even be awake at 7:02). You don't have to wear a dry-cleaned suit every day, engage in petty turf battles or drink bad coffee.

It means you can work uninterrupted for five hours and then take a lunch-time stroll with your dog or pick up your child from school. Yet, so often, people who work at home forget that their personal stamp also extends to the work environment they create. Few put the same thought and effort into their home office design that they put into organizing their day. To work at home means you can create your own comer office-a space that's inspiring, efficient, yours. The key to a great home office is designing an environment that meshes with your work style and is a reflection of your tastes and your home-whether that's French country, chock-a-block with collectibles, or chic, sleek and urban. So play Rachmaninoff (or rap) as loud you like. Hang a piniata from the ceiling if you want to. Create the space where you can work at your peak. After all, you'll never be more in charge than you are now.

TWO ROOMS IN ONE

This home office was carved out of a high-tech, custom-designed family media room, …