As somebody who almost always have to deal with serious and prominent clients, sometimes I envy my friends who work in advertising. They freely decorate their offices with cartoon posters, teeny tiny robots and action figures on their desks, wear cartoon-character t-shirts and people stil take them seriously when it comes to work.

To some of us who aren't as lucky, as we are surrounded by bosses older than trees and snickers heard everytime we decide to go bold and wear red to the office, putting cartoon mugs on our desks would probably cause serious 'attitude' problem. We'll be left alone in our cubicles, wondering what's really wrong with that oh-so-cool Harry Potter screensaver that we were asked to replace it with the boring standard Windows XP thingie. Or worse, the company's logo. Eugh.

If you, like me, are trapped in a conservative office and having this exact problem, then I have some tried-tested and proven tips that might help you out. They helped me for sure. Here goes:

Start Small

Men, women, old or older, I know that the kid in you sometimes kicks and yells and wants to be seen more than anything in the world. The trick is how well-versed you are at the most essential thing: combining work and play. Remember that movie One Fine Day? The one where Michelle Pfeiffer just had to wear her son's dinosaur t-shirt under her blazer? That, my friends, is the classic example of starting small. Wearing a huge Tweety bird print on a tie could scream annoying show-off, even to fellow cartoon lovers. But sporting a classic leather Mickey Mouse watch whispers class to everybody in the office.

Be Selective

Right, now choose your office decorations wisely. Find your favorite cartoon character product that would just go with everything else in your conservative office. I own a bronze Tasmanian Devil paperweight to decorate my maple desk when I worked for this very formal PR agency. It went well with the decor and never once I get frowned upon displaying it. Or get that cute keychain, but not the whole wallet. Afterall, you would want to be reffered to... say as 'the lawyer who also has a playful side', not 'that person defending me who carries a Mickey Mouse briefcase'.

The Smaller, The Better

In the adult world, it's called monograms. Louis Vouitton, Gucci, all the it brands have at least one (if not all) monogrammed products. If you look closer, the cartoon world also has monograms. Check out your favorite online stores if you don't believe me.

Make Them Useful

Allright, it's getting harder to imagine a formal office without any personal touch (read: passion for toys and all kiddie stuff). Now this might be a crazy idea to throw, but carrying a buckload of files and papers to and fro in deadline times is a lot to handle. A classic red wagon should help you out. Just try not to stick too many stickers on it. And I bet people won't sneer if you get the tab at a lunch meeting by presenting your Hello Kitty credit card. See, the more use these cute stuff have, the more permissive people actually are.

Now I'd like to do some more kid-stuff window shopping, and I'll share more in upcoming posts! :)