You're considering swapping the sociability and resources of the office for the convenience of working at home. Calculating how much money and time are wasted commuting in the overall context of one's life is a sobering revelation. At home, you roll out of bed and walk a few feet into your office. Dress like a slob (or not at all), and bathe every other day. Choose when you want to see people.

Convinced? Then it's time to think about what your new work space will look like. As a rule, budgetary and time constraints mean building out a piece at a time. But a random approach can lead to duplicated or unused equipment and an impractical workspace. The devil is in the details. For instance, if you're constantly on the phone, a wireless headset can set you free. There's nothing wrong with doing a load of laundry while you're smoozing the company's biggest customer.

Planning and thought given to the three pillars of the home office pays off in dollars, productivity and satisfaction. Those pillars are space and furniture; computer and related technology; and communications.

Space and furniture: Common sense will serve you well in mapping out and furnishing your space. A separate area away from the kids and home traffic corridors is a must. Eventually, your kids will find you so teaching them respect for work time is just as important.

``If it's not a separate room with a door that can be closed,'' says Peter Coffee, a PC Week technical analyst who has worked out of his home in Los Angeles for 10 years. ``it's not a home office unless it's only used when the kids are in bed.''

Above my garage, and with its owned locked entrance, my home office is ideal. Even if you live in an apartment, the same rules apply, only on a smaller scale.

Carve out as big a space as you can afford in square feet and dollars. Airiness and light count a lot. My home office for weekends and evenings (I still trudge to the office every day) has many windows and a light-showering cupola. It's nice to love the room on days you don't feel the same way about work.

As for furnishing options, the ideal work surface, according to Home Office Computing magazine, is a matte finish of a neutral color, ``neither shiny black or white or light-absorbing wood finish.'' Coffee likes two desk-size flat surfaces so clutter doesn't accumulate on the floor. He also uses stackable milk crate-type storage so he can always see what's inside. That, of course, is a matter of taste, the open look isn't for everyone.

In small spaces, an L-shaped desk with lots of shelves works well, says HOC editor-in-chief Eric Grevstad. Bush Furniture and Studio RTA offer well-built affordable workstations. I just bought the kids two inexpensive Bush workstations and for the money, I was impressed with the ruggedness and design. Ideal for even smaller spaces still are dual-purpose equipment from companies like Chameleon Adaptive or Sligh. They sell desks that covert into coffee tables and trunks.

If you want to splurge, Herman Miller and Knoll are options. I chose the road less traveled, building my own desk and bookcase into a window gable, using oak-laminated plywood and clear pine.

Helpful hints:

- Don't skimp on the chair. It's your back.

- Don't put a TV in your office.

- Locate your office as far away from the fridge as possible. Many home office workers report eating more working at home than in the company office.

- If you can afford it, a good FM radio helps productivity.

- Wall clocks lend to the business atmosphere and help create time zone awareness.

- Don't freeze and don't swelter.

Communications: Communication is vital. The services you put in place are more important than the PC you choose for they represent one of the home office's highest recurring costs.

Many home workers simply assume an extra phone line is needed. However, if your call volume is low, one line is sufficient. A service known as distinctive ring optimizes a single line by automatically routing calls to different devices, such as the Fax machine, modem, answering machine, or phone. Bell Atlantic offers it as Identa-Ring, which requires a $50 piece of hardware and costs a $3.15 a month.

Two lines are worthwhile if the home and business usage conflict. Basic service with optional touch tone and call waiting costs about $26 a month. Bell Atlantic's rivals such as RCN promise the same service for 5 percent less.

Note I did not put the prefix tele- in front of communications. That's due to the increasing power of cable for Internet access, which provides e-mail and Web surfing. Many home businesses have their own Web site, which also demands a fast, dependable connection to the Internet.

A dial-up modem, the least expensive Internet access option, is slow and occasionally undependable. At $40 a month, cable is expensive, but I would not give up the convenience (like a TV channel, it's always on) and instantly appearing Web pages for anything. When cable experiences one of its infrequent outages, getting a MediaOne technician on the phone can be challenging. During a recent e-mail crash, I gave up twice after two half-hour waits. Fortunately, the e-mail problem straightened out on its own.

While telephony over the Internet is improving, it's still a novelty. Using my cable connection, an inexpensive 3Com video phone, and Microsoft NetMeeting, I've been interviewed by TV newscasters in San Francisco from my Massachusetts home. If you call the same people repeatedly, Internet calls are worth a shot because you can't beat the price. It's as free as Web surfing. But quality can be uneven and calls require considerable set-up.

A new option is Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, technology from the phone companies and Internet service providers. Speedy at 640K to 7.1 Megabits per second and expensive at $60 to $180 a month, Bell Atlantic is offering InfoSpeed DSL in Washington and Pittsburgh with plans to bring it to Boston next year.

Helpful hints:

- Use the phone company's voicemail instead of a home answering machine. You sound more professional.

- Beware of two lines working from the same jack. They can interfere with each other.

- Use a phone provider with a points bonus system like Sprint. You'll earn a free airline ticket in no time.

Computer and companions: Choosing a computer is among the easiest decisions. Any PC from Dell, Gateway 2000, or Micron will do the job. Complete home systems at Dell with 333 megahertz Pentium processors or better range in price from $1,400 to $2,500. If you're more adventurous, a no-name Pentium PC can be picked up for as little as $600.

The minimum features should be a Pentium or equivalent AMD or Cyrix processor, 64 megabytes of memory, six gigabytes of hard disk storage, a modem, backup storage and power, and a 17-inch high-quality monitor with, for instance, a Sony Trinitron tube. If you're in and out a lot, a notebook, usually costing between $2,000 and $3,000, could be the answer. My favorites are the Toshiba Portege and the IBM ThinkPad.

Hands down, Dell has the best support and direct buying Web site. Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM make great PCs, but sell only through retailers. Buying direct often means better support and lower cost. Since you are your own IT department, make sure you get seven day, 24-hour assistance. The direct PC maker will provide support for the hardware, but a third party such as Intel's AnswerExpress can help you with 200 popular applications and things like virus protection and online backup.

Usually, basic software such as Microsoft's Office 97 Small Business Edition or Home Essentials 98 comes with the PC.

There's a wide variety of inexpensive scanners, printers, and fax machines. One of my favorites is Cardscan, which scans business cards into a digital Rolodex. HOC likes space saving multifunction machines that print, scan, fax, and copy, but when one function breaks, your entire machine could be out of service. A $300 InkJet printer -- the Hewlett-Packard 722C for example -- is ideal for low to medium volume print jobs. Recommendations and product comparisons can be found at www.pcmag.com and www.computershopper.com.

Helpful hints:

- A second PC will prove an invaluable back up.

- If you are technically inclined, consider the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Windows. Linux is known for stability and efficiency.

This touches on many things the home office workers should be thinking about. There is also a deluge of magazines disecting available home office products. Other sources of information are Web sites like www.smalloffice.com/web and www.workingsolo.com, which examine every aspect of the topic in copious detail. Sifting through it all should help build the perfect home office.

John Dodge is editor of PC Week and vice president of news for Ziff-Davis, Inc. He welcomes e-mail at [email protected].