If you work from home, chances are you either work in a spare bedroom or the dining room. However, when you decide to plan a proper home office you do need to take a few things into account. Firstly, how much space you have and this will dictate what and how much furniture and equipment you can have without being cramped. Secondly, will you be hosting meetings with clients or business associates in your home office? And, thirdly, your office is your professional work space and it needs to be comfortable and professional in look and feel.

So, the plan to get your spare room turned into your business hub, how are you going to achieve this with as little disruption as possible? By careful planning that's how. First of all, if it is at all possible, empty the room of all furniture and measure it carefully. Take notes of everything and draw a plan of the room showing where the door and windows are, where the electrical sockets are and where the phone socket is - that is if you have one in that room, if not you will have to fit one. Carefully consider what furniture you absolutely must have, i.e. computer desk, filing cabinet, desk and so on. Once you know what you need and how much space you have, you can then start looking at potential office furniture for your new office. Think about the colours and the styles that are out there, you may want a traditional looking office or you may want something a bit more contemporary, you can be sure that there is the right suite for you if you take time to look. Buy the best quality you can afford as it will last longer and give a good solid feel.

If you are planning to host meetings, you need to make sure that there is room for your guests to sit comfortably. It may be that you do not have enough room to have more than one or two visitors at a time, but that is ok because if you need to host a larger meeting, there are meeting rooms available for hire or you could meet at a local hotel. Chairs need to be functional and comfortable for your visitors, so choose these with care. You also need to be aware of how much space they will take whilst not in use.

Your office is essentially your shop window, so it must look and feel like a proper office. There should already be a dedicated business phone line installed and if your work involves a lot of internet work, you will also need broadband. It is very important that you are comfortable in your office, if you are not, you will not want to spend time in it and not much work will get done - not good! So, do spend a bit of time thinking about what you want the overall look to be. Try to visualise colour schemes and furniture patterns and then you can choose the right set for you.