Family vs. Home Business Boundaries, Anyone?

[Alison] This morning I got up at 8 am with 7000 things to get done today, work on selling my Philly rehab (AARGH!), check on my tax refund, pay bills, place classified ads online for my businesses, follow up on selling domain names, clean the apartment, get all the papers filed, make 100 calls out to sellers, write for the blog...Also, with the Lehman bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch being taken over by Bank of America, and AIG being bailed out by the government (Sherba's blog was practically prophetic, huh?), I am stressed about losing more clients and maybe having EVEN LESS freelance work.

Our apartment is around 600 square feet, five rooms, and the wires for the TV, computer and filing system are all in the same room. My husband has a studio downtown in Union Square where he paints and meets with clients. So today, he decided to visit with me, talk on the phone, watch TV, make lunch because he did not have meetings and finally left at 4 pm. I got a few e-mails done, a few classifieds placed, some domain name work done and a quick blog, maybe 1/100th of all my tasks.

Other times, I have gently mentioned to D that THIS apartment is where I work and I can't easily do it with him here. The result of that tactic was that he slammed around, leaped into his clothes without a shower, said, "Well, if you don't want me here, I'll just go to the studio. And, by the way, I'll probably stay downtown tonight and work," and left without a kiss. (Stick in the knife and twist so I feel like a bad wife.)

So, here's the question, is there any graceful way to claim the importance of my work, when I run my businesses from home? How do I make clear that I love my husband dearly and really enjoy spending time with him BUT, when I have work to do, I NEED to get it done? How do I establish professional and personal boundaries when home is my workspace? How do I keep the peace with my family? No answers, just questions...