How to create a home office that will make work fun

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Q: I just got a big promotion and am now bringing work home every night. I've been working at my kitchen table but would like a more permanent spot. What do you suggest?A: The best way to celebrate your promotion is to liberate yourself from your ad-hoc kitchen office. You need a workspace that gives you more elbowroom, ample storage, superb lighting and peace and quiet. But most of all, if you're like me, you need an office that is as far away from the fridge as possible. Let's face it: It's impossible to concentrate when the leftover chocolate cake is whispering your name.To create an awesome home office, look at your living spaces through new eyes. I have no doubt that you have an underutilized room, nook or area that will lend itself perfectly to work. You just have to use your creativity and imagination to see it.That's how Dan and I both came up with the offices we use at home. For years, the sun porch off my bedroom was a dumping ground for things I didn't know where else to put. I knew the room had great potential, but it wasn't until I envisioned it as my long-lost home office that I got really excited about sprucing it up.Since I already work long hours at my stores, I knew my home office had to be really appealing if I was going to get myself in there. So I picked a fresh color for the walls and brought in wonderful furniture and scads of killer artwork. Now I don't mind going in there to tackle a stack of work.Dan's always on the prowl for a place to read, so he decided to turn our second-floor landing into a study. We warmed up this lofty spot by bringing in a secretary and bookcase, and a sink-in-comfortable chair and ottoman. Now Dan can crash in the armchair and read or work on his laptop at the secretary.If you have a formal living room that you never use, why not make it into a cozy study? That's exactly what my friends Mike and Jo did. After living abroad for years, they returned home and were able to see their house with new eyes. As a result, they changed their formal dining room into a living room and made their formal living room into a study.We had fun transforming the tired, stuffy room into Mike's dream office, covering the walls in a deep green and the windows in men's-wear curtain panels. We brought in a desk Mike bought when he lived in England, added a few leather chairs and presto, this never-used room became Mike's favorite place in the house.Another great location for a home office might be in an unused corner of your master bedroom. Even though my friend Lisa, a freelance artist, has a full-fledged office in her home, she couldn't resist setting up a darling antique desk in her large master suite. When my friend Cindy redid the master in her historic cottage, she turned the adjoining children's nursery into an office.Once you find the spot to set up shop, don't scrimp on the decorating. Vow to make your home office every bit as beautiful as the showplace rooms in your home. Paint the walls a color that makes you smile. Select furniture you adore. Bring in textiles that are so yummy, you have to touch them every time you pass by. And, don't forget the artwork -- your secret weapon when it comes to making a functional room feel fun and full of life. With a sensational home office like this, chances are you'll be inspired to even greater brilliance and win yourself another promotion! Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three successful home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and the author of several best-selling books on home decorating. Write to Mary Carol at nellhills(at)mail.lvnworth.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)