With more people now eschewing the time-intensive commute and working from home, there’s an increased focus on creating the perfect domestic workspace. An emerging trend in the homeworking revolution is utilising unused outdoor space with a bright and airy garden office.
These can keep you productive, without all the distractions of working from the kitchen table in a busy house (if only because you’re no longer just 5m away from the fridge…). Insulated to keep you warm in the winter months and cool during the summer, a quality garden office can provide you with the perfect year-round workspace. And because it’s free from the usual clutter of domesticity, it can also be a professional environment where you’re proud to hose clients.
Graden offices and rooms have been a huge thing in Europe for a long time, many professionals preferring the natural light and pleasant surroundings to the stressful ‘florescent farmyard’ of the normal modern work environment.
As our lives become busier, the ‘live/work’ balance is more important than ever. Having a designated place as an office, where you can leave all the trappings of your professional life, will also free up space in your home. It’s vital for concentration and productivity, and for relaxation in the evenings, to keep a distinction between the two sides of your day. And the short walk to work, even though it’s just a few steps, will get you into the right mindset every morning.
There are also cost benefits as well. Building your own garden office will be far cheaper than renting space in an existing building, and more convenient than ‘hot-desking’. You’ll also be adding value to your own property. There’s a huge range of options on offer for garden rooms in Brighton, from a humble super-shed to an all-singing, all-dancing luxury annexe. Of course, your garden room doesn’t have to be foxed to a single purpose. It could have a variety of other uses during the weekends and evenings. From offering extra space at parties to a full cinema experience, the only real limit is your imagination.
It’s important to consult a professional before you dive straight into building a garden office on your property. They can advise you on feasibility, materials and sustainability.
There’s a host of things to consider, including decorating, wiring, lighting, internet access and heating. It’s also enormously helpful if you can get a company willing to manage the whole project from design to handover.
If you find the right contractor, they can even get your garden office designed, built and ready to use in just one week.
Your garden office can look almost as you want, from traditional-looking cabins to the latest hi-tech renderings, there are styles to suite every taste.
With the right insulation, it can be a cosy and thermo-efficient space – even on the coldest of days. You can even have it fitted with bi-fold doors, allowing you to open it right up on warm days to allow sunlight and fresh air to flood in. Because, if you’ve created a lovely work environment, it’s likely to become somewhere you’ll look forwards to going to every day. It can also be a space to be inspired. Having nature’s colours and patterns close at hand often triggers creativity.
If you wish to wave goodbye to the chaos of working the spare bedroom, then a swish and convenient garden office could be the way to go.
