Layoffs due to the recession have created a trend of consultants, self employed, part-timers and other home-office workers who must use their liveable space as their work area. For this ultimate test of work-life balance, here are a few essentials to make the job easier.

Coffee Break

Time in and grab a cup of capuccino black cube made fresh by the cup with the Keurig Office Pro Preparing System. Decide upon 27 varieties of pre-packaged single-serving K-Cups of assorted espressos, teas, and hot hot chocolate to meet up with family and guests. You don’t have to brew a whole pot when you’re working solitary, and though the K-Cups may seem a bit expensive compared to coffee by the pound, but they are actually economical because you don’t waste coffee by making more than you want since the majority of makers need you to make at least two glasses to get the right taste. Plus you can find the K-Cups reasonably priced at discounters like Costco and Bed Bath and Beyond. The equipment is easy to operate and doesn’t require much cleaning, so you can focus on work. $129. 00. Bed Bath & Beyond.

Ready Headset Go

With the Sennheiser OfficeRunner Wireless Headset, you can stroll through the house, put in lots of washing even get the paper from the entrance, all while taking a business call. This uber headset features impressive high-definition sound quality and allows users to talk on the phone as much as 400 feet away from the phone’s base station, and the noise-canceling mic cuts most background clatter, perfect for home-office multi-tasking. The stylish headset weighs in at merely. 80 oz ., so you barely know it’s there, and the black cube charging station base looks attractive as it is non-cumbersome on a smaller desk.

The set can be coupled with an optional phone lifter that hooks up to the desk phone and allows the user to remotely lift the telephone phone off the cradle so that an newly arriving call can be answered when the user is away from the desk. One downside is that it requires a corded phone, the sort with a ugly power cord that attaches into the phone, therefore it is not best with cord-free mobile phones. Set up is reasonably simple, once you get all the parts out of the elaborate packaging, and if you have any difficulties, the nice folks at 1-800-headsets will with patience talk you through it. $299. 97. headsets. com/officerunner.

Good Connection

The Uniden D1688-2, that provides the best of both industrys with a corded phone base and two cord-free phone companions — expandable to 12. It features DECT 6. 0 technology for clear, interference-free talk; digital answering system; large, lit display; and a keypad and full duplex speaker phone on the base, perfect for small office. $79. 99. Staples, Target, and shops nationwide.

Hook, Line and Ringer

Separate work and home with the 6. 0 DECT VTech DS6151 two-line phone system with a handy switch pad and speakerphone on the base and phone, along with hold and silence buttons. The digital answering system features selectable ring tones and a dedicated post office box for each line and remote access to get messages when you are out. Expandable to up to 12 mobile phones. $79. 97. vtechphones. com.

Wheeling and Dealing

Talk and drive safely and easily with the SuperTooth Buddy, the perfect partner for making calls on the road. This user-friendly, hands-free Wireless bluetooth speakerphone videos onto your sun visor and attaches two phones at the same time, providing hassle-free talk time in the vehicle. An auto-connect feature reconnects to your phone automatically every time you enter the automobile. Best with all Bluetooth-enabled phones, and 20 hours of talk time. In-car charger and handy UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS cable included; can also be charged from a PC via the UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS. $59. Department, specialty and mobile phone stores or http: //www. SuperTooth. net

Free-Range Mouse

Get a hand up on repetitive stress injuries with the Smartfish Whirl Mini Notebook Laser Mouse. Touted as the world’s preferred notebook mouse, this 2. 4MHz wireless peripheral adapts to the motion of your hand movements using patented anti-gravity comfort-pivot technology. Normally it takes a month or more to get accustomed to it, but when mastered the Whirl Mini, it feels as though a natural off shoot of your arm so you feel your hand is sailing on air. It also comes in an array of colors and is MACINTOSH PERSONAL COMPUTER and PC compatible. Because its wireless that means less wires and clutter on your desk, and its portability makes it easy to take along to work in the kitchen, the kitchen, Starbucks or wherever you roll for a change in scenery $49. 97. getsmartfish. com.

Expert Up Your Sleeve

Working from home doesn’t mean you always stay put. When you take your work on the road, cart it in vogue and safety with the Acme Made Smart Laptop Sleeve, a fine and durable ultra-slender sleeve with closed-cell foam padding for heavy-duty protection. It comes in fashionable patterns and features ballistic nylon and premium tricot lining, along with a handy completely removable nylon shoulder band. $39. 99-$44. 99. acmemade. com.

Can you Hear Me Now?

Hear and grow heard with the stylish Savi Office, the headset solution to bring together your calls via a single desktop location. With superior audio performance, you can answer both PC or deskphone calls with one-button control on the ultra-lightweight and comfortable wireless headset. It works together with most home and commercial phone systems and can roam up to 350 feet from the base and lasts for about nine hours without a charge. A noise-cancelling mic and digital signal processing technology makes it easy on the ears for the user and callers. $379. 97. Plantronics. com.

Sky’s the Limit

Give up the old ball and archipelago of a wired hard drive and free up space on your computer with fog up processing by SugarSync. You can distribute all those family photos, videos, music and other content that blockages your pc with a secure 5GB free online be the cause of anytime, anywhere access anywhere you have an Internet connection. If you need more space, you can get 30GB to 500GB for $4. 99 to $39. 99 per month. Sugarsync. com.

Off the Hook

When flexibility is paramount and desk space are at reasonably limited, the6. 0 DECT VTech DS6321-3 is a compact phone and digital answering system with a small foot print but packed with powerful features to meet your home office needs. The phone’s capacity to make and answer calls for both your landline or over to four Bluetooth-capable cell phones is an clever convenience, so you don’t have to juggle multiple mobile phones or miss calls searching for your mobile. The machine can also pair the phone with a Wireless bluetooth headset and conference between all the three mobile phones, which all have a hands-free speaker and silence and hold buttons. $99. 97. vtechphones. com.