House Rules: The home office

Working in pyjamas, coffee exactly how you like it, no pressure to get involved in staff- bonding sessions, a commuting time of approximately 30 seconds, plus Judge Judy on telly whenever you feel in the need of a break . . . the benefits of working from home are obvious.

So too are the downsides. You're never far away from a To Do list, the computer is always lurking in the corner of your eye, your papers spread across the floor, and Judge Judy is always on telly waiting to distract you.

A lifestyle choice, as well as a decision that can be thrust on us, working from home suits some, though others do like gathering at the water cooler. The commute, if it’s not too hellish, can be a good separator between work and home. That separation is an important thing.

Where do you set up? Ikea has a vast array of home office furniture, from the stuff that looks straight out of a chrome and glass docklands edifice, to friendlier pieces such as the curvy red Nipen / Hissmon desk with antique-style legs that costs €135 and shouldn’t take longer than a coffee break to erect.

Trawl antique shops and auction rooms for a secretary or roll-top desk. Elegant in any room, the drop flap lets you hide all your undone tasks at the end of the day. These work only with laptops, which have made working from home a joy.

The real secret of working from home is to unplug the laptop from its nest in your secretary desk, and transplant it and yourself back to bed, with a range of pillows and a laptop tray. From Ikea to Dunnes and from Etsy to Argos, there’s a range of laptop trays in the field. Or try the padded ones from Stow Green (stowgreen.co.uk) and via its Ebay shop from €20.

Now that you’re ensconced, the only issue is where to hold meetings without giving the wrong impression.