I’ve worked from home for nine years now. That means lunch with the kids almost every day, water cooler talk with my hot wife, afternoon delights, no traffic, more leisure, greater flexibility. Way more pluses than minuses. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

At the same time, Lindsey and I get in each other’s hair on occasion. I have to announce an important conference call to the whole house to remind the kids not to run down my wing. Understandably, Lindsey doesn’t like being told how and when she can use her house during the much more demanding job of raising kids.

If and when we ever get a basement, I’d probably move my study down there. But my dream has been to install an external home office, perhaps one with a guest house attached, so I can “walk to work” every morning and give my family a little extra buffer and myself a little more privacy and focus.

Pictured above is a 10 x 14 Tuff Shed. Pretty sweet looking and two feet wider than my current home office. Excluding landscaping and the concrete slab, it’s pictured at around $4500. I’d have to run electrical and Cat 5 cable, of course. And spend a little to finish the carpentry inside. But it would be about 5 times cheaper than this tiny office pod. And I imagine more affordable than a custom external guest house.

Either way, I’m not the only one who’s had the idea of converting a tough shed into an external home office. I found the below on Flickr. A little rough around the edges, but I could see it working for my needs.

Do you know anyone with an external home office?