Practical Home Office Solutions (Paperback)

by Marilyn Zelinsky (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The life of the telecommuter or at-home self-employed worker appeals to many--47 million Americans already work out of their homes, according to Marilyn Zelinsky, and 8,000 new home offices are started each week. Yet surprisingly little attention is paid to the environment in which the work gets done. Most of us don't have a home office all set up and ready to sit down in the day after we quit our office jobs, so we end up using the dining-room table or a desk stuffed into a corner of the bedroom. Zelinsky's message is that it is important to have the right kind of space to work in--space that will feel comfortable, meet our specific needs (such as project space, or an area suitable for client meetings), maximize productivity, and keep us from falling prey to eyestrain, back pain, or carpal tunnel syndrome.

"I'll warn you now that this is not a book about pretty pictures. It's a book depicting the real world of what it's like to work in a home office." The largest section of the book is devoted to office planning--not for beauty, but for health and productivity, including finding the right furniture. Zelinsky doesn't do things by halves: design professionals and ergonomic specialists are consulted, along with their customers, who provide some hindsight on the process of setting up an office. All furniture price levels are discussed, from snap-together plastic units to Ikea computer desks to the high-end "computer armoires" that keep everything together and look like expensive antiques when the doors are closed. Zelinsky is a strong proponent of ergonomic furniture, correct work-surface placement, and healthy work habits. She even devotes a chapter to feng shui. True to her promise, there are numerous first-person stories of real-life home-office problems and solutions: working with several employees in small New York City apartments; dealing with poor telecommunications services in rural areas; setting up an office to accommodate a severe physical disability; fitting a retail business and showroom into your home. Whatever your circumstances are, this is a must-read before you take that home-office plunge. --Barrie Trinkle

Product Description
Learn how to create a proper home office that meets all your working and storage needsNwithout the help of an expensive interior designer! Whether you live in a small studio apartment, share a space with a work-at-home spouse in a different occupation, have small children, or require large, unusual equipment, there's a solution that will work for you at a price you can afford, says author and home office design consultant Marilyn Zelinsky. Called "an inspiration" by Catherine Greenman of Home Office Computing Magazine and a "must-read" by Kristen Richards of Interiors Magazine, this highly acclaimed, one-of-a-kind problem solver includes hundreds of examples of home offices for all types of businesses, floor plans and before-and-after photos, advice on choosing affordable furniture and technology, and much more!

Product Details

• Paperback: 329 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (August 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070633657
• ISBN-13: 978-0070633650
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #863,447 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a book written from both the Heart and Experience, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

The kitchen table. The laundry room. The corner of the master bedroom.

This is where many Americans tend to locate their home offices, and Marilyn Zelinsky's book, "Practical Home Office Solutions" gives an excellent case as to why this spells disaster and even a better case on how to avoid it.

Written from experience and from the heart, Marilyn takes us on a journey, somewhat personal but extremely factual, that shatters the stereotypical home office. We don't need a home office lifted from the pages of Architectural Digest. That's an unrealistic fantasy. We also don't work from the kitchen table. That's a recipe for failure. What we do need is a personal space that not only inspires us to work, but also enhances productivity and lifestyle while applying the principles of ergonomics. The author gives so many practical tips that any reader's ideal home office is lurking somewhere within the book's pages.

How to buy a chair. Feng Shui for the Home Office. Working with children in the house. How to pull storage out of the air. Which American cities are most conducive to telecommuting. The list goes on.

If you run a business from home, this book is a must. If you telecommute or run a telecommuting program for your company, this book gives you the facts, the figures and the studies necessary to make any corporate program work.

Read it from cover to cover. Leave it on your desk and wander through it, pulling ideas out at random. It has an extensive resource guide and planning sheets to get you going when you are finally ready to make your ideal office happen.

I give this book to some of my clients who are setting up home offices. As a home office design consultant myself, I find it a necessary tool for shattering the home office image the media has created and getting the creative juices flowing.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most practical book about home offices., July 16, 1999

By A Customer

I am now planning to work at home so I wanted to read the books on the home office to see where to start. I liked the title, because it includes the word "practical" which is exactly what I was looking for. The book has a no-nonsense approach to planning a home office. I especially appreciated all the comments from regular folk who work at home, all the problems they had and the solutions they found. The book covers how to work at home, how to overcome isolation, how to find inexpensive furniture--I looked up a furniture liquidator in my town as the author suggested, and will buy my desk and chair from there at half the price I expected to pay elsewhere! I didn't even know these stores existed so I'm grateful for the book's advice.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great tool for the home office revolution!, July 16, 1999

By A Customer

We are witnessing the next revolution in the workplace - the transition of work from the office to the home. Zelinsky's book offers practical advise that can help ease the transition of a new telecommuter, or improve the productivity of a seasoned home office worker.

Beyond simply advising on furniture and technology solutions, Practical Home Office Solutions addresses the psychological issues that telecommuters and home-based entrepreneurs deal with on a daily basis.

I would highly recommend for anyone who spends some part of their day working from the home.