Guest Author - Lisa Shea

Many people have a home office set up where they manage finances, keep track of home projects, do work for outside agencies and keep their lives organized. It can be very important to have this decorated and pleasant!

To begin with, look at the main furniture you have in the home office. Can you sand down the desk and give it a fresh coat of paint? How about new drawer pulls on the drawers you're using? Can you put a table runner across the top of the shelves or table to give it a pretty new look? If you do something fresh and new with the main furniture, you might be surprised how that one change really livens up the entire room.

Next, look at windows. Even something simple like draping a pretty fabric across a curtain rod can be quite lovely. Think about stained glass style designs with those plastic kits. They're very inexpensive and you can create them in any color theme you wish.

Get a vase or two for artificial flowers, or make some origami flowers up. You can rotate them each month with fresh colors, to go with each season! Add in some photos of family, friends and vacation trips.

Sometimes little things can be a lot of fun. Find a tape dispenser in the shape of a snail. Glue some eyes onto the stapler and turn it into a chomping monster. Put stickers around the edge of your monitor.

Even your computer desktop can join in the fun. Instead of having one big photo as your desktop background, create a JPG image which has a series of your favorite photos all stuck together. Change it out frequently to keep your interest engaged.

Above all, try to find an organizing system that works for you. If you have to deal with clutter and mess, it sends to sap your energy. By having your papers organized and easy to sort through, you not only save tons of time but also improve your mood!