Partner Post

Ah, the elusive dream of working from home. No more commuting, no more “business casual,” no more overpriced lunches scarfed down in ten minutes standing up. Along with this comes the freedom to make your own schedule, wake up when you want, work in your pajamas if you feel like it, and travel at any time as long as you have your laptop.

The Ins and Outs of Working From Home
Like all dreams, this one too can be subject to that unfortunate phenomenon called reality. Working from home is not all peace, freedom and joy. It has its challenges too. The challenge is finding the remedy to a common virtual commuter woe.

Let’s start with the problem. Or shall I say, the opportunity?
One of the most common of the virtual commuter’s woes is answering this recurring question: Am I still at work, or am I home from work? Does “home from work” even exist anymore?

I work from home, so I know it’s easy to feel like I’ve never really left the office. Nothing like ending the workday in bed with your laptop. You’re officially not home from work unless you are practically unconscious. Gone is the separation between “at work” and “home from work.” That sigh of relief accompanies walking through the door and kicking your shoes off after a long day of incessant deliverables. It’s easy to feel like you are always at work because, in a sense, you are.

This lifestyle choice has its perks for sure. Like the freedom to create your own daily experiences, and be in control of your own environment. Virtual commuters shake their heads at the cubicle’s suffocating beige and are willing to tread uphill both ways in the snow to work in a more appealing, suitable, and healthy space.

Ideal Workspaces
But what makes a workspace serene, healthy, and inspiring? True, indoor plants increase air quality and well-being, as do color, sound, and light. What would your ideal color palette be for your workspace?

I would paint a scenario where I could be both inside and out at the same time. Office buildings are boxes with a constant churn of recycled air and unnatural lighting. Fresh air, sunlight, and plant life are important for happiness and health. I want my workspace to reflect that.

Now we come to the opportunity.

I’ve observed a particularly wonderful trend in garden architecture these days. It’s the emergence of highly functional and beautifully designed outdoor structures––reinterpretations of the old garden shed as artful and flexible “outdoor-indoor-outdoor” living spaces. These sheds aren’t used to store rusty shovels, old hoses, and bags of fertilizer. Instead, they are artist studios, movie rooms, guest bedrooms, meditation quarters, and yes, you guessed it—workspaces.

Studio Shed is this concept at its very finest.

Born six years ago out of co-founder and Olympic mountain bike racer Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski’s need for a place to store his mountain bikes, Studio Shed has grown up outside. An engineer and aficionado of modern design, Horgan-Kobelski’s quest for a contemporary and functional structure turned up either ho-hum barn-style sheds or very upscale and costly prefab units. What began out of a need for a simple mountain bike storage solution, evolved into an innovative full-service design-build company for contemporary backyard sheds—and home offices.

To Do or Not to DIY
Why not have it our way, all the way? Using Studio Shed’s online Configurator, a 3D interactive design interface, you can fully customize your modern and intelligent shed in six steps without ever leaving your desk–or at least never having to do so. About eight weeks later, your personally designed shed arrives as a flat-packed kit ready for installation. You can assemble the shed yourself in a day or opt for premium installation if you’re not handy and that’s not your thing. Presto.

These babies are high touch and high tech. Made in Colorado of green and sustainable materials, the sheds are also fully wired for power and Internet.

For the home worker, the shed transforms the backyard into a seamless part of the work-from-home experience, an integral element within the landscape, and a breath of fresh air.

So picture this: You wake up to the sound of songbirds, make the necessary quantity of espresso shots, slip on your sandals (or go barefoot because who cares), and head to the backyard to “go to work.” You walk past flowers and smell the scent of basil, some of which you might pick for use in that day’s lunch. That simple transition from being at home to being at work is a far, gorgeous, cry from barking talk radio and air conditioners blasting in your face as you drive, stop, and start on the freeway.

Although serene, clean and inspiring, my home office is just off my kitchen, so I need to close the door to leave work behind. But I would love a workspace in the garden to better separate my work and home life while simultaneously synthesizing my indoor and outdoor experiences.

That fusion of natural elements from the outside with the inside world creates the opportunity for positive productivity, health, calm, and dare I say—happiness.

All photos via Studio Shed.