subject: How I Made My Perfect Garden Studio - Story of a Home-Worker [print this page] How I Made My Perfect Garden Studio - Story of a Home-Worker
I have worked for myself for most of my career and have grown used to the domestic scenes around me. I like working from home because I enjoy the flexitime opportunity. Being relaxed in my own space allows me to easily be creative without having to scramble for deadlines. In better weather it means I can take my work outside and enjoy an al fresco garden studio.
That's great on a fresh spring day like today but can't be done in rain or freezing cold! I wondered how I could approach the tranquility of my garden as a working garden studio every day, regardless of the weather or time of year. Like artist Robert Lyndsey or writer Philip Pullman I had two options. The first, to work from a room with a clear open outlook of the garden. This was imperfect as in winter, I knew from experience I would be heating the whole house to get my room warm. Second, to build a studio in the garden.
This idea seemed ideal for me, for working from home. I sketched a structure from which I could work, more insulated than any shed and conveniently removed from the clutter of domesticity. Recently, I had to accept clients and host meetings and I quickly realised that a separate building in my garden would allow clients direct access, no longer requiring a rapid tidy up of my house before hand.
My husband, technical designer and carpenter, became interested about the project. With his contacts, the building was priced at the cost of materials only. With the odd day's help from family and friends, the studio was soon standing proudly at the end of our garden path. We clad it in western red cedar, left over from a previous job and fitted old upvc windows and a solid timber door, which cost us nothing. They were worked into the design and freed our garage space of much of the hoard of materials my husband had accumulated.
I had researched planning permission with the council so I could plan the size, height and position of my studio to negate the need for intervention. I used a wall mounted storage heater which was more than effective in winter and found that summer months were more comfortable inside the studio than in the garden as the studio's insulation kept it cool inside.
Within days of moving in and using my new garden office, neighbours began to admire and enquire about it. Within a month, my husband had more studios to price in the local area. He has been designing garden studios exclusively since that first build and I have been working alongside helping him and his business. With a truly bespoke range of experience and a professional aspiration to satisfy every customer, we are delighted at the added value our studios give to properties and to family life.
