I just don't buy the "you won't be distracted in the office" argument. I work from home ~12 hours a week, and I find being in the office more distracting because people are constantly badgering me with questions. And I see plenty of other people wasting time talking around the proverbial water cooler.
Working from home requires discipline, especially when it comes to unplugging from work. When working from home, I try to provide a schedule of availability to my co-workers, so there's no expectation that I'm going to answer an email at 6:30 PM while I'm eating with my family. There are also days, however, that because of family schedules, that I work from, say, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and folks know they can contact me 'til that point.
I'm not sure why people asking questions in the office is considered a bad thing. Sure, if they are inane questions not related to stuff you or they are working on, then yes, that could get really annoying. But if people are asking questions that help them get work done or to clarify some aspect of something they are working on, isn't that kind of a good thing?
By working from home and avoiding distractions caused by other people's questions, it seems like you trading other people's productivity (you are making it harder for them to get answers to their questions) in order to boost your own.
I'm not saying that people asking work-related questions is a Bad Thing(TM)--I'm saying the assertion that you can easily get into a distraction-free groove in the office is not necessarily true. It might be true in the case of a small start-up, but I've never found it to be the case in my experience (and I've never worked in an office with more than 40 or 50 people).
At home, I can close to the door to our "office" and everyone knows that I am not to be disturbed. At the office, I'm in an open cube plan, so short of doing some sort of jwz-style camo netting, it's harder to convey "leave me alone."
I actually find the people in the cubicles around me to be much more distracting than anything I run into while working from home even when my kids (3 and 7) are home. When the kids are at school it's sooo much easier to focus at home then at the office. Unfortunately, for some reasons the higher ups at my workplace don't like to allow people to work from home regularly. :-(
Providing a schedule of availability is a great idea. I work in the office in the morning and at home in the afternoon. One of the things that was a struggle at first, and I received feedback on, was knowing when I was available. Providing a schedule is a great way to address that. How do you make it available and how often do you update it?
I typically send an email in the morning of the day I'm working remotely with my availability schedule. If my schedule is going to be fluid, I tell folks to look at my Skype status--if I'm online, that means I am available.
It's also advantageous to be able to simply forward your desk phone--when I'm available, my desk phone is forwarded to my mobile. When I'm finished working, the forward is deactivated (it also helps that only my direct manager has my mobile number, and he would likely only call if something had seriously blown up).
Working from home requires discipline, especially when it comes to unplugging from work. When working from home, I try to provide a schedule of availability to my co-workers, so there's no expectation that I'm going to answer an email at 6:30 PM while I'm eating with my family. There are also days, however, that because of family schedules, that I work from, say, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and folks know they can contact me 'til that point.