As I drove through the Swiss countryside this afternoon, I noticed a number of homes that appeared to be split in two. One half quaint, beautifully painted, well tended. The other half composed of simple brown weathered planks. "An American's version of a dairy farm is quite different from a Swiss version," my sister-in-law explained. "Here, you can have just three cows and be a dairy farm, and many barns are simply attached to the homes!"

This got me thinking about mixed use homes, and different clever ways people have found to integrate their offices into their living space. My friends Moye and Doug, for example, originally attached his architecture office to their home with a short hallway. He tore down the hallway to create the necessity of "leaving home" to go to work. "If it's raining," he told me, "I want to get wet on my way to work."

His friend Scott, also an architect seeking office space, moved from his garage (the home office of choice for many) by converting the shuttered gas station next to his home into a delightful studio. It can be accessed both through his home and through a separate outdoor entrance. Many architects, in fact, work from their residences. They can be a source of inspiration for home office spaces.

[image via: dornob.com]

This Belgian home/architecture studio featured on the website dornob.com is stacked in a narrow 8 foot space. Each floor has its own purpose, with the working floor attached to the living floor, but completely separate.

[image via: Davidson Rafailidis]

The Berlin based Davidson Rafailidis also has a clever solution for a separate home office within the home...wooden framework supporting greenhouse-grade insulating bubble-wrap. You can make it any shape within your room, connect it to  doors and windows, and enter a separate world that handily divides home and work.

We'd love to see your clever home offices. You can email them to hello@growersandnomads.com

[main image: Justin Bookey]