Win a $10,000 office make over

And as she talked further about all the office accessories she was going to buy online I gently reminded her that she was no longer working in corporate land.  She never skipped a beat –  merely responded “no, this is for the home office – you know that area off the dining room? I’ve converted it into a home office”   I don’t know whether I felt more embarrassed or jealous.

Working from home…

 

I also work from home (and to be honest I work at home too – a woman’s work is never done) but I never considered the little corner that I had cleared in the playroom to be an office.  As I got to giving it more thought I realised all of my girlfriends had offices – even those who didn’t work in the traditional corporate sense of the word.  There were the areas cordoned off to do scrapbooking or accounts or the household filing, there were the friends were still studying who had an area of their bedrooms set aside for textbooks and a computer, there were the friends that had “legitimate” offices as well but I didn’t consider them for some reason.

The very concept of an office has changed. It is no longer necessarily four walls of a cubicle with a swivel chair and a desk surrounded by strangers.  The office can be the kitchen table, a shed out the back or even a bit of the baby’s change table.  It may be the chair in your bedroom where you sit with your laptop or  a nook behind the couch or a media room where the kids play Wiii on weekends.

I was impressed that my friend, who had just had a baby, was giving thought to making her office a beautiful place to work.  I know myself that when I am surrounded by calm and order I work in a more calm and orderly fashion and I spend so much of my day at home but I never consider it “office” enough to give it the care and attention it deserves.

So I am setting out to restyle my office – to give it the makeover that it deserves and to cement my place as the CEO of my home and office . I‘ll I get files to put everything in its designated place – folders for colour coding, staplers and hole punches, a pin board for ideas (and the kids social arrangements) .  I will get shelving and a chair that supports my back and an ergonomically designed keyboard so that I can work and comment on Mamamia all day without ever getting cramps in my finger.

Is your office a corner of the kitchen  where your computer is plugged in or do you have a plush office with a rolodex ?  Either way OfficeMax are giving you the chance to win a $10K home/work office make-over.  And it is so easy – just click here to enter.  Do it, it is a FUN competition.  You wont be disappointed and when you are finished (the competition will take you 90 seconds)  browse around the OfficeMax website to see all the things you know you’ll love, want and need in your new office.