The Coolest Home Offices

Could you work in a stucco-and-wood-frame garage? Working a muted color palette and a floor plan that engages in some creative geometry, architect Philip Tusa transformed this storage area in upstate New York into a sophisticated library and home office. (Continued.)

Vertical bookshelves line the walls, and a diagonal staircase leads to a horizontal catwalk overhead. A white translucent pleated shade controls solar glare for the large work surface. The Hudson River Studio was built with a number of recycled materials.

What nature lover (or child-at-heart entrepreneur) wouldn't want to set up a home office in a treehouse? Sure, this elevated lair in Los Angeles is tiny—170 square feet in all—but it's efficiently designed, and the deep-oiled cedar siding and mahogany windows are lovely. (Continued.)

Rockefeller Partners Architects, Christopher Kempel, Rocky Rockefeller, and Brian Pera designed the Banyon Drive Treehouse, which sits 12-feet above the ground. And as for the tree, it is a sturdy pine.

Utilizing the foundation and walls from an existing sunroom, this budget-minded Nashville home office rises on angle-bracket shapes. Translucent siding floods the space with warm light during the day, and transmits passive heating while maintaining privacy. (Continued.)

In designing the Elkins Studio—part of a larger renovation project to the adjacent home—the architect, Ryan Thewes, was careful to create a design that would stand out, while also fitting comfortably in to the surrounding residential neighborhood.