Thursday, January 31, 2013

Sportskabin


Matt James in the February issue of Real Homes magazine singled out a Sportskabin from Garden2office as an example of a project to add space and value to your home. Here's what he said in general about shedworking:
"From just a few thousand pounds you can have an insulated outdoor room with telephone, electricity and double-glazing, which should add value to your house and can double up as a guest room. Before you buy one, get the go ahead from your local planning department. Consider where to position it: south-facing rooms get very hot in summer; north-facing buildings won’t suffer from glare. Ideally, pick a model that blends into your garden’s surroundings."
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Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The World's Finest Sheds


I've written a piece about sheds and shedworking for the Winter issue of the excellent "part App, part magazine, all inspiration" title intoGardens (which they've titled The World's Finest Sheds), the brainchild of lots of famous gardening folk including longtime friend of Shedworking, James Alexander-Sinclair. If you've not come across it before, this is how they describe it: "We have video, we have audio, snappy writing and beautiful photographs. We have gardens from around the world, plants to drool over and buy, fruit and vegetables to order, practical help and a bit of cookery: all in the most splendid detail." If you like gardens, you will definitely like it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Bird shedworking



Screenwriter Adam Brown has not only sent in a lovely photo of his writing den but another of the bird box version of the shed that his father-in-law made for him this Christmas.  The bird box can be seen hanging next to the bigger shed in the main garden photo. Should there be a birdshed category in the 2013 Shed of the Year competition?
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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

Monday, January 28, 2013

First shedworking Vine?

Vine is the new kid on the Twitter block, giving users the chance to record very short snippets of video in a loop. We think this is the first shedworkingesque one (which happily also features bookshelves) but if you know of others, please let us know. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Arctic Cabins at Alnwick Gardens (video)

The Duchess of Northumberland gives the Arctic Cabins folk a large pat on the back for their work with her at her awardwinning gardens. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

The Queen Emma Galleon


Modelled on HMS Victory and HMS Warrior with a top deck, rigging and naturally the Union Flag (plus the Skull and Cross Bones...) and owned by Clare Kapma. It also has a hammock. Lots more photos at readersheds.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------
Saturday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Welsh Men's Sheds Association launches

Following the succes of similar schemes in Australia and more recently Ireland as reported here on Shedworking, The Welsh Men's Sheds Association has launched in Carmarthen with branches expected soon in Llanelli and Llandeilo with a series of seminars plannedaround Wales to promote the initiative in Swansea, Cardiff and Bangor. I still only have sketchy details but will let you know more information when I get hold of it, though there is some more at the snappily-titled Wales Alliance for Citizen Directed Support. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dunster House, the leading UK company for Log Cabins and Garden Offices sponsors Friday posts

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Shed restaurants


Zoe Williams in the Daily Telegraph takes a look at The Shed restaurant in London W8, ("It's teeny inside, with rough-and-ready furniture, and bits of tractor stuck on the walls") and then namechecks several other shed-named restaurants including The Coal Shed in Brighton [not actually a shed - Ed], The CowShed in Bristol [nor this] and The Potting Shed in Malmesbury ("Watering-cans by the bar and wheelbarrow lampshades") [more of a pub to be honest].
Thanks to Judy Heminsley for the eagle eyes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Importance of insulating your garden office



On the back of our recent posts of snowy sheds, Rachel Wichall from eDen Garden Rooms has been in touch on the important topic of insulation. Here's what she says:
"How can you tell if this garden office is well insulated? If you took a trip to this garden office in London you would find it warm and cosy, even with this week’s extreme temperatures. The office is heated by underfloor heating and is providing a comfortable ambient heat. However a warm room doesn’t tell you that the office is well insulated, even though it is a good indicator! The snow on the roof is the clue! A well insulated building, be that a garden office or a house, will be the building in the street with a full set of snow sitting on the roof. A well insulated roof means that the heat is staying in the building and keeping the room warm not the roof! Take a look at houses in your road and you will be able to work out which houses need to upgrade their insulation by simply looking at how much snow is sitting on their roof.

"eDEN Garden Rooms constructed this garden office (combined with shed storage) and insulate the floors, ceilings and walls – ensuring the building is enveloped in ultra efficient insulation. The roof is constructed using timbers engineered to withstand the weight of snow in extreme weather and features an EPDM rubber membrane. The rubber membrane has a 20 year guarantee and is an excellent material for ensuring that the roof is leak free and durable for many many years."
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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, January 22, 2013

Your photos of snowy sheds: part 2

@shedworking here's the icicles on my snowy shed!  on TwitpicPicking up where we left off yesterday and starting with submissions via Twitter, here's Co-Director of the UCL Centre for Digital Humanities Melissa Terras' shed, complete with icicles. Or as she put it: "It's my home office where I do much academicking." Below is the splendid Alaric Snell-Pym's wintry shed.

And here's Elaine Appelbee's Henley model.
I was able to help Graham Cook a little with his choice of Homestead Timber Buildings garden office. "Only just built in time for the snow so the interior is waiting to be dressed – with comfy chair, books, easel and ceramic hare!"

And here's Debbie Smail's.


This shed at the bottom of the garden of Anthony Eilers is where the "thinking" and "creating" is done for some of the best hampers in the UK.


Here’s a photo of Certified BodyTalk Practitioner Lynsay Brown's snowy commute to her therapy room at home in south east London.


This is local boy Simon Grover's snowy shed.


And one of a lovely selection from Garden Affairs.


Adding an international dimension is Karel de Lussanet's shed from Aerdenhout, Netherlands...


Finally, one of the classiest photos we've received this year from Sarah Waddell.

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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

Monday, January 21, 2013

Your photos of snowy sheds


Thank you for the excellent response to this morning's call for snowy sheds, garden offices and other shedlike atmospheres. Above is Andy's from Workshopshed.com while below is Nick Livingstone's.


Garden designer Jo Thompson has a three in one snowy shedorama.


Here's Uncle Wilco's from That Other Shed blog


And Maria's aka Cultured Llama.




And here's Paddy Hamilton's in Dungeness, above. Below is the shed-like-cabin-structure of The Brokedown Palace, used as a photo studio for their online shop and as a workspace too.


Finally, Steve Dibble's fabulous build.  In here he restores pianolas downstairs and upstairs doubles as office and art studio for his wife who paints portraits. More details at www.pianolacare.co.uk and
www.teresadibble.co.uk


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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Send in photos of your snowy shed please


Is there snow in, on or around your garden office or other shedlike atmosphere? Then send it in to us at shedworking@gmail.com and we'll add it to this post. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Shed Sunday


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Sunday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Saturday, January 19, 2013

The Caravan Drop In


This shepherd's hut from Plankbridge is used as a drop-in counselling service in St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, London and run by the CCPE (Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education) in partnership with St. James’s Church. It is open seven days a week and offers a free service to users though of course donations are kindly accepted.

Caravan Co-ordinator Zak Waterman said : "It is home, heart and hearth. There is something welcoming, warming and hospitable about it. We’re giving a message to all disenfranchised people that you’re worth it and you’re worth taking care of, and there’s a place for you here.”
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Saturday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Angela Harding: shedworker



Artist Angela Harding has a particularly beautiful shedworking setup, as she explains:
My studio looks out over the Rutland landscape, the main theme of my work is British birds combined with the British countryside.  I have always loved birds; even at primary school I carried round a small orange suitcase that contained my feather collection. This love and fascination with birds has stayed with me, I do not consider my self a twitcher, the interest I have with birds is for their form and the setting they inhabit. The paintings and prints I make are an attempt to capture a glimpse of the atmosphere they evoke. I work from small sketchbooks, noting down quick drawings of what I see while out walking. I then take these to the studio and enlarge them on canvas or develop them into prints. 
You can see more photos of it on her blog too as well as her work.

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Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Boulton & Paul revolving summerhouse

A think of beauty is a joy forever. More details and images at UKAA. Seen via readersheds.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Cocoon 1: working in a bubble


With full 360 degree views, according to its designers Micasa Lab the Cocoon 1
magically connects aesthetics and function. Its insularity provides protection and seclusion. At the same time, its translucency enables us to let our thoughts wander whilst simultaneously allowing us to join in with life "outside"
Indeed. There's more of this on their site if you like it.

Actually, Cocoon is being marketed as a piece of furniture rather than a shedlike atmosphere and you can add different modules for sleeping, cooking or storage. Special attachments mean that you can also hang it from the ceiling if you want to work inside or from a tree outside. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rdSpace modular garden rooms
Tuesday posts are sponsored by 3rdSpace modular garden rooms.
Customise | Configure | Extend | Relocate

Monday, January 14, 2013

Over 3m homeworkers potentially operating illegally, warns insurance giant

As the number of people who work from garden offices and home in general continues to rise, statistics from AXA Business Insurance suggest that the majority of homeworkers in the UK are, probably unknowingly, operating without the insurance cover they need and over half are potentially breaking the law in the process.

According to research from AXA, 16% of homeworkers employ one or more people yet only 3% have employer's liability insurance. Meanwhile just 14% of homeworkers surveyed say they have business car insurance yet 66% use their cars for business purposes. In both instances this would mean they are operating illegally.

And aside from the legal requirements of insuring yourself if you work at home, AXA is also warning people to be aware that they should inform their home contents provider if they are working from home or they could risk invalidating their policy. For the 10% of homeworkers who meet clients in their home, or the 30% who visit clients' premises, AXA advises that public liability insurance should be considered to protect against any accidents.

Meanwhile, only 8% have professional indemnity insurance to cover themselves for legal liability in the event of providing customers with poor advice. One in four homeworkers admitted they were putting their businesses at risk through neglecting their insurance needs as they would not know how to fund any shortcomings if they needed to make a claim and had insufficient cover.

Darrell Sansom, Managing Director of AXA Business Insurance, said: "The number of people working from home has grown by over 20% in the last ten years or so but our research shows that these people take a more relaxed view on insurance than those working from business premises. We appreciate that generally there is no intention to break the law and that insurance is possibly not top of the priority list for many people. However, it is absolutely vital that homeworkers check what they need to be covered for and, at the very least, meet legal requirements. We would also strongly recommend that people consider what other cover they need to protect what is, in many cases, their livelihoods." -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Shed Sunday



A Cartoonish, Funky Art Shed/Shack/Guest House by Derek 'Deek" Diedricksen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Friday, January 11, 2013

Unveiled: the stars of BBC's Shedtown's sheds


BBC Radio 4's comedy Shedtown is back so do nip along and listen on the iplayer thingy if you missed the first episode of the second series which was broadcast yesterday. The Radio Times has a great feature about the sheds owned by the stars of the show including Tony Pitts's and Maxine Peake's. Above is Stephen Mangan (who plays Jimmy) and here's a snippet from what he says about it:
My shed is so small it could comfortably double as my coffin. It’s so crammed with junk that I haven’t dared open it for three months in case I get buried under the avalanche of tat that will inevitably fall out. I’m sure there are unclassifiable creatures living in the bottom of it. I built it myself. Well – I assembled it from a flat pack. But it needed hammering, and painting, and roofing-felt pinning on.
Thanks to David Crawford for the alert. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dunster House, the leading UK company for Log Cabins and Garden Offices sponsors Friday posts