With the recent changes in the economy and having a home so close to where my office already was, I recently decided that with some do-it-myself renovations and the right look, I could easily implement a home office that was suitable for clients and coworkers to see. It would be just as accessible as my original office, but far less money!

On top of all that, I could tackle household chores and spend time with my family during my downtime; in my old office, no use running home to load the dishwasher or the washing machine. Noise reduction, accessibility, and professionalism were the three obstacles/goals that I had for the big move; and so, my project began.

First of all, I scoped out a space in my home that would be a viable option. Somewhere that the rest of the inhabitants could easily avoid when they were feeling a little noisy, but somewhere that was easily accessible from the front drive and street parking.

Next, I came up with a few simple solutions for how to make it more of an “office.” I positioned the desk so that the door to the rest of my home was behind me, closer to me than where clients and coworkers would be sitting.

Finally, I got a reliable and fast home network installed-voila!-a home office was born. I even joked with guests that I would be able to whip up some cookies for them while we discussed upcoming projects-something that was impossible in my old office space.

I had the whole family trained on “office hours,” and created a pretty foolproof system for them to text or instant message me with questions or things they needed when I was in a meeting, unless of course there was an emergency.

Think that’s all the noise I would have to put up with in my new home office? Nope. But I’m a solution-oriented person. First of all, there was my neighbor’s dog, who received brand new toys to play with in their yard.

Next up, there was the barrage of washing machine noise that interrupted my meetings. It just so happened the “perfect location” I picked happened to be very near the laundry room, and happened right around the time my washer and dryer started to speak up.

The final piece of the puzzle-washing machine pads or “Silent Feet” under the machine that absorb the washing machine noise and vibration. Now I can switch over my whites during a conference call and the group will be none the wiser.

You know when you find that one little glitch in your lovely plans for an afternoon? That avoidable blip that just messes things up? At one time I probably would have launched into a story about lost reservations or spilled beverages; today, it’s washing machine vibration.

I must admit, of all the household chores that I complain about, I secretly love doing laundry. There’s something so methodical about the process, and it’s not so time consuming that you can’t get anything done mid-cycle. But then when you’d like to just forget everything else on your list, you’ve got a big basket of warm, clean-smelling laundry to fold.

Maybe it’s me-but that sounds downright calming to me. But, like I said before, one little hitch in the problem: washing machine vibration. If my washing machine is feeling especially active one laundry-filled Saturday afternoon, the entire event might be ruined.

It’s a testament to how much technology has infiltrated my life-but on more than one occasion I’ve gone to mute the washer, only to find myself cursing at the rattling machine, knowing full well no one could hear me over the racket.

You can also see how washing machine vibration and noise could start to interfere with my light sleeping little one come naptime.

I’m all for the gentle hum of the dishwasher or the soft boom of the dryer, but with the washing machine, vibrations and shaking lose that white noise feeling. On top of all of that, having a sensitive sleeper and a noisy washing machine have really gotten in the way of my laundry habit! Now I have to find little chunks of time around my day when I can sneak some laundry in, if you can believe it.

“So why is she telling us about all this if she hasn’t found a solution?!” you might ask. Well, I did find a solution. I propped the machine up with rugs and towels in different folded formations, even jammed my lightly used yoga mat underneath to see if that would calm the beast.

All of these “solutions” were shaky, at best, and also downright “shaky” – I was worried that the machine might tip or shift on such unstable support. And, as you know, this isn’t acceptable when you’ve got someone shorter than the machine strolling around your house.

And so, my friends, I finally found a set of silent feet – little rubber shoes that are completely stable and somehow manage to absorb all that sound and movement into their little rubber soles. I’m not sure how it works, but that’s something I can ponder over laundry… Which I can now do whenever I want!