Monday, October 31, 2011

Glass shedworking in Finland


One of those idyllic shedlike atmospheres, this is the prototype of an expandable modular garden shed design available from Kekkila which combines space for working/relaxing in the glass-walled front section with a handy storage area at the rear. Designed in Finnish pine by Helsinki architect Ville Hara and designer Linda Bergroth, this is Linda's own little summer house-shed with additional solar panels and wooden floor, and can also of course be used as a greenhouse. The Associaton of Finnish garden product retailers chose the shed as the best product of the year 2010.





Via dezeen where there are more photos. Photos: Arsi Ikäheimonen
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Backyard Home Offices: A state of the industry (video)



Ignite Phoenix describes itself as "an information exchange for fostering and inspiring Phoenix’s creative community", a series of talks on a wide variety of subjects about which the speakers feel very passionately. We were delighted to give Steven Gilbert some help and advice for the talk he gave on Friday to hundreds of people on the subject of Shedworking which you can see above (after the talk, Steve also waved the Shedworking book in front of people's faces for which we're very grateful).
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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Revolving garden shed (video)


Why is nobody making these nowadays? Surely they'd sell really well.
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Calling homeworkers in Torbay and Wolverhampton

Friends of Shedworking, homeworking experts Work Hubs (a kind of first cousin to shedworking) are looking for help with two research projects. They have been asked by Torbay Development Agency to find out how important home-based businesses are to the Torbay economy and so have set up an easy-to-take online survey (click here and then click on 'Torbay Survey')

They don't just want to find out what home-based businesses do but also what they want and need. So they have included questions on ideas that might (or might not) appeal to you to help you grow your business from home and included questions about planning rules, tax, business support and business/creative networks. In particular, they are testing potential demand for 'workhubs' and live/work property.

They have also been asked by The Haven Charity to test interest in new ways to support women in Wolverhampton who work from home: the self-employed, professionals, freelancers and those with their own companies. The Haven is planning to develop a new 'workhub' building in the city centre to support women's enterprise. One of the elements of the proposal is the creation of a number of live/work units in the building: properties that combine workspace and home.
For more information on live/work here is an easy to download guide.

Again, they have set up an easy-to-take online survey (as before, anonymity and data protection is guaranteed). To take the survey, visit their specialist live/work website www.liveworkhomes.co.uk and click on WOLVERHAMPTON SURVEY.
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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Shedworking AGM...


The marvellous annual Workplace Trends conference was held last week on the theme of 'Property is a People Business' and looked at office environments and how we could improve them in the future. There was a big buzz about it on Twitter and naturally we stuck our shedlike oar into the debate a little. We also rather liked this impromptu cartoon (copyright Workplace Trends 2011) by Nigel Oseland of Workplace Unlimited
...
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

INSITU: fully fitted garden offices


Roy Boone and Graham Thomas (both ex of Garden Spaces) have formed a new company, INSITU Garden Office, specialising in “fully fitted” garden offices. Roy argues that many people considering taking up shedworking fail to consider how they will accommodate furniture into their new office (and indeed where to buy it from and how much it will cost).

"This was brought home to me on a site survey earlier this year," says Roy, "when an enquirer/client requested a price for a 15 sq metre studio for use as an office which he thought would be suitable for his requirements. Having discussed it with him and taken an inventory of his existing furniture and storage requirements, it soon became evident that he would have to changes his way of working radically, archive/off-site a lot of his filing/documentation and working samples or increase the size of the studio itself. Without performing this impromptu consultation exercise he would most certainly have purchased the wrong size of studio for his needs."

So INSITU now provide a free office interiors consultation and space planning service complete with 2D & 3D rendered images to help clients visualise their new shed office environment and to ensure they are supplied with the correct size of studio to best suit their needs. They will then specify, supply and install the requisite furniture and storage systems from leading Italian manufacturer Quadrifoglio's extensive contemporary furniture ranges (and install any data, AV/IT and telecoms required).

To launch this new product range they are offering FREE furniture from Quadrifoglio for a limited period. Pictured top is an example of a 3D furniture layout for a three person garden room office, based on theior 29 Square Metre Studio 7x3R. This particular model would qualify for free furniture to the value of £4,400 delivered, built and fully installed while our furniture promotion is in place, and stocks are still available.
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Monday, October 24, 2011

More dads turning towards shedworking


More and more dads are taking the opportunity to shedwork and work from home generally to help or solely look after the children, claims a new study by PeoplePerHour.com. According to their stats, there are now 4.3 million freelancers in the U.K, an increase of 28% since 2007 - an estimated 2.4 million (56%) began freelancing within the last two years. Their findings include:

* 36% of survey respondents cited wanting to be their own boss/doing what they loved as their main reason for turning to freelancing

* 67% cite technology/faster Internet access as the main factor enabling their transition

* 90% admit a better work/life balance from freelancing

* The average freelancer saves 8.6 hours per week on commuting: 60% of respondents spend these saved hours for both extra work and extra leisure.

Graham set-up 6 Hats Media as a freelance marketing and business development consultant back in July 2009 and said.
“I wanted to spend more time with my wife and three children, having been part of the senior management team at Ebay for 5 years, 4 years at Yahoo and Kelkoo and consulting for various media agencies on large and small scale projects for blue-chip clients such as Kodak and Epson.

“I got tired of working from 6am to 11pm most nights when I was travelling backwards and forwards to London on the train and tube every day and working most weekends on something that had to be done or was always urgent. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of my children’s school activities (school plays, sports days) and so wanted to spend more time with them before it was too late."
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The shed with the chandelier



Artist Tracy McAlister Mackay works from her garden office in Cyprus which she calls 'The shed with the chandelier' for fairly obvious reasons and describes as "an international hub of inspiration and creativity" (it was also one of the International Sheds of the Year 2011). At the moment Tracy is concentrating on commissions for corporate and domestic interiors as well as exhibitions.




You can find more details about her shed build here and Tracy also tweets regularly about working from her garden office at @shedwithchand.


when your heart is heavy wheres the best place to be? the shed with the chandelier...keeping creative best thing to doWed Oct 19 08:13:09 via web
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Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Stockroom/La réserve


A lovely little shedlike atmosphere by artist/landscape architect Francoise Maire and designer Véronique Maire called 'The Stockroom'. It's an artwork built largely out of salvaged glass bottles and wood with the intriguing concept that it can be built by those watching it. More details at 'Petites Machines à Habiter' a marvellous competition where il s’agissait pour les concepteurs intéressés (architectes, paysagistes, designers...) de concevoir un prototype de cabane de jardin réalisable par le plus grand nombre en auto-construction.

Via medesignmag

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Saturday, October 22, 2011

How to visualise a garden office in your garden


A nice little, free, added extra from the folk at 3rdspace: if you're not sure how your garden office would fit into your garden, just email them a photo of your garden and what size, features, etc, you'd like in your shed, and they'll put together a visualisation of what it will look like for you.

Friday, October 21, 2011

New shed twinning project

A marvellous new scheme plans to link Men's Sheds projects in Ireland (where they're just getting off the ground) and Australia (where they've been around for a while). Acccording to the Irish Men’s Sheds Association, they have recently been contacted by various Australian Men’s Sheds looking to find partner sheds in Ireland and to support the development of Men’s Sheds over here. Here's what they say: "So this is a call out to the Men’s Shed in Ireland to answer their call. If your shed or your group who are planning to set up a shed in your community would like to become partners with a well established Australian Shed please contact us here at IMSA at info@menssheds.ie and we will put you in contact with a partner shed."
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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Bloot tuinpaviljoen

A lovely garden office in the Netherlands from Bloot (click for more images) which can also be used as guest accommodation. Interestingly, the wooden exterior is left untreated to encourage it to merge with the garden greenery.



Via designboom
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

inShedulous: UPDATED

A step-by-step photo diary by Andrew Holmes of his garden office build which he's called 'inShedulous'. See the rest here and follow Andrew on Twitter where he's also tweeting the build. Here's what he says:
"I've been working from home for a number of years, moving from a cupboard in the bedroom (no elbow room), to the conservatory (too hot, too cold, too bright, too noisy, and I'm too messy), finally to the garage (no longer welcome - it's my wife's escape room).  Following the current trajectory seems to send me outside, and with my old friend Tom's (Fred the shed) encouragement, and with the blessing of Mrs H, the plan is to construct a shed which I can clutter up, without her having to look at it (the clutter, not the shed).

"Looked at a couple of different shed suppliers, and then ran the idea past my carpenter brother.  The original plan was to put an 8'x6' shed into the corner of the garden, and move the old tin shed around to make some space. But, after visiting an 8'x6' shed and imagining the junk I had to fill it with, the total outlay seemed huge compared to the gain. So, we looked again. In the end we decided that it would be better to fill the space on that side of the garden, so the shed is to be 16' along the back, with a depth of 8', and the front will be 12' long. The odd shaped left hand side will be used for storage, and the right hand side will be my space.

"Design and construction were handled by PlaygroundToys (part of Sawtry Cabinets) where my brother works. There are a few more days' worth of work to go before it's finished.  Recently we've added insulation to the office side in the roof, floor and walls. Electricity has been brought in via armoured cable (pig to work with), and network via outdoor grade cat5e.  Next up; plasterboard for walls, wiring in sockets, painting, fitting glass to the door (I smashed the first unit), and finding something warm for the floor.  Hopefully by the end of half term I'll no longer be cluttering up the house."

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Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

How to make a cheese shed


By the awardwinning The Cheese Shed.
Via Shedblog
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Monday, October 17, 2011

Victorian Bathing Hut for sale

Jeff Bird is a self-employed craftsman with a boat-building background and has recently concentrated his attention on garden buildings: his latest project is this Victorian Bathing Hut which he is now selling. "The goal in building this Victorian Bathing Hut," he says, "was to create an interesting and usable space for someone to use as a spare room, a reading room, a garden retreat, a personal studio, a work space or a study."


The frame and chassis are mainly constructed of treated timber from renewable source forests. It's all insulated and double glazed while the interior is fitted out in nautical style with lots of varnished mahogany, brass fittings and nautical artefacts. Inside, the sofa converts into two bunk beds, there is a desk and chair plus a locker and trunk for storage, as well as a wood burning stove. It comes with curtains, cushions and mattresses plus a complete 240 volt mains electrical system and wiring installed, with sockets and lighting. Do nip along and take a look at the other specs here.
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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Coach Radio Podcast Studio Tour

Coach Radio Podcast Studio Tour from Justin Lukasavige on Vimeo.

A marvellous video tour around the garden office of Justin Lukasavige who says he "coaches people to do business better by using the power of their personal stories" - as well as a speaker and trainer, he hosts four online radio shows each week from his Coach Radio studio. In the video above, Justin does a wonderful job of telling his shedworking story but you can also get lots more details and photos at his site here (essentiallly, he converted an old storage shed into a very pleasant working studio for audio and video recording).
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Friday, October 14, 2011

Shedworking in The Times

A brief, though still welcome, mention for this site in a piece by Janice Turner in The Times's Bricks & Mortar supplement today. Turner talks about her delight in becoming a shedworker and the build which was done by Podspace (an example pictured above, not Turner's). Well worth buying a copy though the article is behind a paywall. Here's a snippet:
"I love locking the door knowing that this is the one room that will still be tidy when I return and where my pen will not be pinched... I love the light and the sense of being outside offered by the huge windows."
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Lean Agency: shedworkers


Andy White, runs his company Lean Agency, specialists in advertising and creative marketing communications, from his garden office El Shed in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire. "I thought you might like to see the results of the inspiration I gained from your book," he told Shedworking. "Thank you for such a thorough and enlightening book, working from a shed has changed my life. I also wanted to say a special thank you for pages 145/146 which have saved me an arm and a leg in tax!"



Lean is the perfect example of shedworking in the 21st century, operating a virtual network across the country using teams of marketing specialists to provide a local service on a national scale rather than being based in one place. "'El Shed' is much more than just a garden office," he writes on readersheds.co.uk. "It's an escape from the hustle and bustle of central London and daily commute. It's an oasis of peace and calm that swaps the blare of traffic horns for the chitter chatter of birds. It's a creative space that relaxes, inspires and invigorates. By day, 'el Shed' is the nerve centre and mission control of my advertising business. Light, airy and welcoming, it's a space that makes working a joy and relaxing easy. By night, it transforms to a luxurious home cinema, chill-out space, bar and entertainment area complete with mood lighting and surround sound hi-fi. At weekends it's a summerhouse and extra living space that works all year round, come rain or shine."

He continues:
"When the lease on my central London office came up for renewal I had the choice of either signing up for a huge increase in rent and overheads, or taking the plunge and moving my business to a different location. After months of searching, I realised the answer was on my doorstep. Or to be more precise, at the bottom of my garden. Running my business from home presented the perfect solution. Not only would it allow us to control costs and offer clients better value for money, but also save me up to 4 hours a day spent commuting."

Impressively, Andy designed and built the garden office himself (with lots of help from friends and family and even clients). You can see his entry on readersheds.co.uk where there are lots of photos of the build and a full description of how he did it.


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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Ros Clarke: shedworker


Ros Clarke describes herself as "a writer, a student, a church worker, a crafter, a blogger, a twitterer, a lazy gardener, an appalling housekeeper" and she does it all (well, some of it) from her new garden office, a shepherd's hut from The Old Post Office Farm Shepherd's Huts.

Ros also actually lives in a shed (indeed her domain name is theoldshed.me), a 16th century sheep hut on her parents' farm in Staffordshire which they converted for her. "The Shed that I live in is lovely, but tiny," she says. She had been working on a 90cm dining table but the clutter was taking over, hence the need for the move to shedworking. "It will have plenty of room for my desk and my bookshelves and No Distractions. The window will look out over the farm."
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

King Pavilion: shedworking in the woods


The lovely octagonal King Pavilion was designed and built by Seattle-based Bosworth Hoedemaker as a garden office, music room and retreat with a window bench circling the space. The 14ft windows offer marvellous views of the surrounding hillside and there is also a small hall and cellar as well as the main room. The height of the central chandelier (see bottom photo) can be adjusted.



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Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.