Right furniture, equipment makes the room

Yes, your new home needs an office with enough outlets and the proper wiring for electricity and communication.

But the right furniture and equipment can make work easier, too.

• Did you always dream of a ladder for the bookcases in your home office or library?

It isn't tipped in brass or made of mahogany, but the ladder in IKEA's Stockholm line is only priced at $99.

It can lean on the five-shelf bookcase for $300.

• Herman Miller is very famous for its much-copied and frequently honored Aeron chair.

But if you want something a little different, the company suggests the swag leg group -- furniture that George Nelson designed in the 1950s.

The desk with white laminate or a walnut veneer top works well with today's compact electronics. One of the colored cubbyholes is just the right size for a laptop.

The chair -- made of recyclable polypropylene -- has a separate seat and back that flex with the sitter and prevents heat buildup. Shells come in white, gray or black.

• Maybe you don't have an office yet. Or your work space has to share with the television room, the sitting area of your master bedroom, the second-floor loft or maybe you've commandeered the living room.

Your spouse won't complain too much if you can tuck your work inside Staples' Mission pop-up table.

It opens to a comfortable work height for your laptop and offers some storage space inside. The table is on sale for $172.

Sauder makes a collection of Mission office furniture.

• Let's say you don't really need an office, but your home needs a family communications center.

Hook up to the Internet, charge your phones or other electronics, sort mail and store stuff.

That's what Sligh, the office furniture folks, have to offer.

The centers run 42, 44, 47 or 61 inches wide in different finishes. The suggested retail price starts at about $3,000.

Furniture stores that carry Sligh include Toms-Price, Honquest and Plunkett.

-- Deborah Donovan