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It was insightful of Pat that almost exactly one year before the publisher at DK called her, one of the high priorities on her 2002 New Year's resolution list was to remodel part of the house into an office within a year.

Pat Welsh in her bountiful garden

"The remodel came about as a result of a talk a speaker gave at my garden club on the subject of feng shui," says Pat. "I was always negative on the subject of feng shui. I never believed in it. I pooh-poohed it. But this speaker said such good things about correct placement to make your space more comfortable that I decided to hire her to help make my garden more friendly, organize my home and give me some ideas for a better work space."

The speaker was Kathleen McCandless, a feng shui expert who had done some consultation work for Loews Coronado Hotel.

"Well, I thought if she's good enough for Loews Hotel, she's good enough for me," says Pat, laughingly.

McCandless took one look at the two small rooms that had been side-by-side offices for Pat and her husband and suggested she take out the wall to make a large one-person office.

"I had thought of it before, but never done it. My son-in-law, Peter Filnac, owner of Filnac Construction, brought me a contractor, Dean Johnson."

McCandless made sure there was plenty of storage space included in the office remodel and helped arrange items appropriately. There's lots of cupboard space for office supplies behind the desk and in a closet by the room's entrance. A lazy Susan was installed in one of the cupboards for easy access to everyday materials.