Kate, at Electric Venom, has gone all out and has a new in-home office. I love it.

Pictures at the link. I would have got the coffee maker before the paint but we all have our priorities. This looks like it could win one of those “home office” contests. I don’t dare show you mine.

A comment from long-time reader Lloyd on another post begins this discussion:

Now that I can reach my office email from home and my home email from the office, the distinction is becoming a blur. (I don’t sleep well in either place –grin)

Maybe home workers need to do as President Reagan did– strictly divide the workplace from the residential rooms and always wear a suit in the office area.

With very little effort, I could have performed most of the tasks in my last position from home. We had VPN’s available and in use. The server was the site of the accounting software. Most of my data arrive via e-mail.

The two owners of the company took steps to ensure that they were reachable 24/7 by using Blackberrys and wireless connections for their laptops. Why couldn’t these same steps, for use outside of business hours, be used during business hours?

The military is doing it. The Predator UAV drones are being flown, remotely, from the United States. The Air Force pilots who fly them go home after a mission, open a beer and watch cable.

Aside from those businesses whose customers walk off the street such as fast food, or those who need a show room like a carpet store, a lot of businesses could think about changing to work at home. You’d still need a small space for face-to-face meetings, and the support equipment like the network server, but you could make thousands of square feet of office rental disappear.

Can you work at home, though? I have trouble, between the four cats and the lovely wife. I’d have to suggest that the lack of human contact is also a problem. I think we need, as people, some social interaction in person to maintain our personalities and emotional equilibrium.

I’d like to try a combination approach. Two days at home and three in the office. Four at home and one in the office. An employer with the tech resources would be wise to consider if there would be reduced back office costs for such a program. Cuts in your admin costs run right to your bottom line.