WARMING UP WORK SPACE STARTS WITH PERSONAL TOUCH.

Byline: Marla Paul Chicago Tribune

These days you probably spend almost as much time in your office as your home. So doesn't it make sense to make your office more homey?

With a few carefully chosen accessories, you can create a nurturing, personalized space that will soothe your psyche amid beeping faxes and jangling phones.

Or, if you toil at home, the same touches can warm up a utilitarian ``extra-bedroom'' work space. From a stylish pocket watch clock to tension-busting toys, here are inexpensive items that will metamorphose your work space from mundane to marvelous. And you don't have to leave your sofa - once you do get home from work - to buy them. They're all available from these catalogs:

The Mind's Eye: Every office needs a few good toys. They are great stress relievers; just seeing them on your desk makes you feel less serious. Forget Gameboy. These terrific retro-toys - like vintage tin windups ($12.95 to $19.95), an Original Slinky ($10.95) and spark-breathing robots (three for $12.95) - are fun and look good. Martian twins ($17.95), two squishy aliens whose ears and eyes pop out when you squeeze them, could be lifesavers on a bad day. [phone].

Exposures: You know that photo of you on the sailboat looking relaxed and happy? Frame it. Then put it on your desk or hang it on the wall. Ditto pictures of friends and loved ones. When the going gets tough, they'll offer some visual support and perspective. Choose a classy frame that makes a statement. This catalog offers a wide selection of frame styles ($20 and up), from Italian marquetry to elaborate gold-leaf gilding as well as unique ways to display your photos, such as hanging picture rods. You can even put your favorite photo on a custom mouse pad for $15.95. [phone].

Holdeverything: Letter organizers, file cabinets and ``in and out'' trays don't have to be basic and boring. This company offers rattan desktop and file organizers (from $7 for a pencil cup to $99 for legal-size file basket) as well as attractive desks and bookshelves (from $45 to $179) in a variety of wood tones. [phone].

Pottery Barn: More interesting wood office and desk accessories with a simple, rustic feeling. Nice touches are a bronze-finish pocket watch clock ($29), a whirling steel Copernicus globe ($35) and the pine and iron trestle desk and shelves ($199 to $399). [phone].

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Warm up your walls with museum reproductions of famous paintings ($16 to $30 unframed) or wall or framed desk calendars ($10.95 to $24.95). [phone].

Calyx & Corolla: If you don't have a green thumb, choose a stunning dried flower arrangement (from $43 and up) for your desk. Otherwise consider one of the charming bonsai plants in rosemary, plum, gardenia or bougainvillea ($36 to $39). [phone].

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Photo: Decorating touches such as bonsai trees can make an office or home work space more personal.