I know that home offices can unintentionally alienate guests oftentimes, especially if you're caught working during crunch time. With all those piles of papers and your mobile phone ringing endlessly, how do you welcome a guest who maybe just an old friend who'd like to say hi.

Good thing, there are some people who'd be more than willing to share their tips on how you can arrange your home office in such a way that it can still be guest-friendly.

The August issue of Country Living has ideas for combining guest quarters into a home office. Among the suggestions:

• Store sleek, high-tech office equipment in an armoire or computer cabinet. Shut the cabinet doors when guests come.

• Choose a soothing color scheme.

• Align large, comfy pillows along the back of a daybed, which takes up less space than a sleeper sofa. When guests arrive, slip shams over the throw pillows.

• Use two end tables instead of a coffee table. The smaller tables are easier to move out of the way at bedtime.

• Position a lamp where guests can use it to read in bed. Source

Or, simply have another room where you can entertain guests, right?