Video: 'Coworking' stations popping up around Seattle

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SEATTLE - These days there are an estimated 21 million Americans who work from home. While there are some definite perks with working from home, sometimes it can be tough going-it alone.

Some new Seattle businesses are filling the void between work and home. They're called "coworking" stations. Several of them are popping up around Seattle and around the world. And the spaces are giving the word co-worker a whole new meaning.

Freelance writer Charles Redell thought he was embarking on a dream when he traded an office job to work from home.

"And I started doing that and I quickly realized it was awful," said Redell.

He loved the freedom of working at home, but for him it was a little too free.

"At the end of the day I was still in my pajamas or I'd just gotten out of them and I didn't feel productive," said Redell.

It's a common void being filled by the rapidly growing industry of co-working spaces. Office Nomads on Seattle's Capitol Hill provides everything from computers to coffee. But it turns out, the spaces provide much more than that.

"We're not just providing printers and desks and conference rooms, we're providing the community aspect, the social interacting with people," said Jacob Sayles, Office Nomads.

"The worker who's been working at home for three years and has a stronger relationship with their cat than they do with anybody else in their lives and they walk in here and they get it and they go, 'Oh thank goodness,'" said Susan Evans, Office Nomads.

Redell enjoys the feeling of having co-workers even though none of them are working for the same people. And this simple equation has his brain flowing again.

"The first day that I came into work I went home and told my wife that I feel like a productive member of society again," said Redell.

If you want to check out Office Nomads, they give you a trial day for free. There are more than half a dozen coworking stations that have popped up around the Puget Sound area. Most charge daily and monthly rates.