Lindsay Lohan: House arrest has its upside

(CBS/AP) - For Lindsay Lohan, being confined to her 3,000-square-foot home in Venice Beach, Calif., has its benefits.

The 24-year-old actress says that since she's been placed under house arrest, she's caught up on movies and TV shows, stayed out of the public eye and, most important, had time to finish decorating her house and patio.

"I probably wouldn't have done it had I not been home," Lohan says in an interview in Life & Style magazine, on newsstands Friday.

Pictures: Lindsay LohanPictures: Lohan in court

Lohan isserving house arrest on a 120-day jail sentence for violating her probation in a 2007 drunken driving case by taking a necklace without permission from a jewelry store in January. She began serving her sentence last month, and is expected to serve about 35 days.

In the interview, Lohan says that while not ideal, she treasures these moments alone in her home.

"There are so many things you can do," she says. "It's a nice way to just be reading scripts and focusing on what I'm going to do next."

And in between script reading, decorating and TV watching, she even managed to shoot a commercial at her house for Beezid.com, an Internet penny auction website. According to TMZ, Lohan was offered $25,000 to film the 15-second spot, but turned it down. The revised amount was not disclosed.

Lohan also tells Life & Style that she's eager to resume doing things that she had taken for granted, like walking in the neighborhood, going shopping or dining out. Her recent request to leave her home to attend her brother's 16th birthday party was denied, she says, which "bummed her out."

She addresses criticism that she got off easy with house arrest by saying it's a common punishment. She says it's a better alternative to a 12-by-8-foot jail cell at the Lynwood facility.

"It's a scary place and a place that I don't wish on anyone," she says.

Lohan says she's even ready to get started on the community service portion of her sentence.

"This may come as a shock, but I mean it: I want to start my community service," she says. "I want to finish that so I can work in August and September."