Functional home office requires work space

Dear Readers: You might be part of the latest work trend! Judging from the letters and e-mails I receive, more and more people are working from home. If a home office is in your future, will you have the space? It might be easier than you think to get set up. Here are some hints to help you set up a functional home-office space!
Look around for nooks and crannies that could serve as an office area if you don't have a separate room to use, and make sure the space is away from distractions.
All you would need is a space for a fold-up, built-in desk so that you can confine work and cover it when you want to protect it from curious children or pets. A closet can be ideal, either walk-in or standard size -- both can be transformed into a work space by adding a custom-sized desktop, shelves to fit and electrical plugs. Two filing cabinets and a smooth piece of wood can quickly become a desk.
Or, you can easily hide an office area in the corner of a room with a three-panel screen.
If your dining room isn't in the mainstream of traffic and you seldom use it, then the dining-room table can be a great work space.
Wherever you find the space, make sure it is bright, cheery and organized! Heloise
Dear Heloise: When staying at a hotel or motel, check the telephone rates for both local and long-distance calls before using the phone. There can be substantial charges for either.
Thanks for your wonderful column -- we enjoy it very much. Mary Jo Dee, Emily, Minn.
Dear Heloise: I'm a 56-year-old college teacher, and you'd be proud of the times your hints make it into the classroom: "OK, class, here's your trick from Heloise today ..."
Seriously, your notes about cleaning the clothes dryer are needed and excellent. After all is done, reverse your vacuum cleaner to "blow," put the hose end in the lint-trap opening, stuff a cleaning towel around the opening to avoid blow-back and blow out the dryer-vent hose. It will remove lint that's hiding in the hose. Keep the ideas coming -- we teachers need them! Chuck Sheffield, via e-mail
Dear Heloise: I took an old foam picnic cooler, filled it with newspaper and put it over some pipes entering our house. I cut out some foam so that it was snug over the pipes and then put something heavy on it to keep it from blowing away! Marge, via e-mail
Dear Heloise: I have a hint that I use and would like to share. When I get the perfumed ads in a magazine or a company's statement, I open them up and put them between my garbage can and the liner. Voil & aacute;, a free deodorizer. Marlene, Lowell, Ark.
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate