What’s In Your Home Office?

I once met a freelance writer who had the home office of my dreams. She built it out of the mother-in-law suite above her garage. She installed internet, a separate phone line (plus fax line), a heater, and a built in desk. She had her own filing cabinet and was talking about putting in a mini-fridge.  

It is my understanding that she used her office about once a month, when the mood struck.

Compare that to my own home office, complete with laptop computer on top of the dining room table right next to a stack of all of the paperwork and tax documents that I have collected since the beginning of this venture.  

I use my “office” for several hours every day, when my mood strikes me to be doing just about anything but.

In her blog about our original business plan, Lorna mentioned that I felt pretty strongly about having a storefront office outside of my home. While I am aware that that all but defeats the purpose of being a WAHM, my main reason behind this request is to have a space—an organized space—that is separate from the place where my family eats. 

The rest of my home “office” is spread out through my house. I have a printer with fax and scanning capabilities on a computer cart underneath our family’s PC, but I rarely ever use that computer. I bought folders to organize Berry-Brewer Agency’s paperwork and formal documents, but I have yet to use them or to find a place to store them once I’ve done my organizing. I have a few books on freelance writing and running a business lying around on my bookshelves (or on the aforementioned dining room table). 

According to the tax books I have consulted, in order to count your home office as a deduction on your return, you have to have individual spaces for all of your deductible items. For example, if you buy books for business purposes, they must be kept in a different bookcase (or even just on a shelf) separate from the rest of your personal books in order to be legitimate. If you have a filing cabinet, either the entire thing or one specific drawer must be used for business purposes alone.

I would love nothing more than to have a space dedicated for my things and my work—a place where I can go, shut the door, and really focus on my writing. Unfortunately, that contradicts the entire reason I’m working from home in the first place: to watch my daughter. I get the feeling I might be termed an “unfit mother” if I just stick her in front of the television so that I can run away, lock myself in, and concentrate on something else.

Somewhere, there is a very fine line between having a workspace in your home and having a living space among all your work. I just need to find it. Maybe it’s under all that paperwork.