At Work At Home

by Neal Zimmerman

Taunton Press: 2001 Hardcover, 234 pp., $29.95 ISBN 978-1561583799

This new volume from Taunton Press is subtitled 'Design Ideas For Your Home Workplace.' Just as it is fun to see other people's woodworking workshops, so is it fun to tour all these home workspaces. Not just a gallery of home office ideas, the book shows remodeled spaces for craftspeople, writers, and entrepreneurs of every ilk.

From initial home construction to garage and attic makeovers, the book is full of ideas concerning how to efficiently use space and work at home. It has many suggestions for dividing workspace, negotiating privacy, establishing boundaries and storage of all kinds. It alerts a remodeler to less-thought-of considerations such as adequate parking for visitors/clients, divided-off interview space as opposed to the actual workspace, and entry access to make a home office more professional than leading people through the house to an office room.

Computer workstations are a modern staple. There are photo ideas for every variation on that necessity, from ultra-modern to classic styling. A section on 'niche spaces' is interesting: "There's no rule that says you need a whole room for your workspace." Here are ideas for coaxing space from an upstairs hallway, a built-in below a stairwell, or nooks and alcoves within larger rooms.

If you remodel other people's homes, or just want a space to call your own, this full-color book is a terrific starting point.