Monday, August 31, 2015

Hand Drawn Creative Shedworking


Click here for a really nice simple, short, and scrollable appreciation of the joys of a garden office by Neal McCullough of Hand Drawn Creative. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Urban camping


Rob Sweer's design Upside Down You Turn Me for Amsterdam's Urban Campsite project is not strictly a garden office but does underline that microarchitecture doesn't have to be variations on a box.

 



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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, August 25, 2015

Break-out shedworking


A nice idea from Malcew, shedshaped 'furniture' inspired by treehouses which can be used separately or pushed together for group co-shedworking. The cushions can be moved according to the user's preference. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Monday, August 24, 2015

Michael Green's writing shed


Michael Green's Writing Shed from Documentary Shop on Vimeo.

A lovely nine minute video detailing the whys, wherefores and building of Australian journalist Michael Green's garden office. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Friday, August 07, 2015

Shedworking is on holiday


We've given the staff a few days off and they've all headed for the beach. See you in a bit.

Thursday, August 06, 2015

Walden Raft


WALDEN R A F T An installation by Elise Morin and Florent Albinet from EM on Vimeo.

As the father of Shedworking, Henry David 'Walden' Thoreau has a special place in all shedworkers' hearts. Here is an intriguing take on his work on Walden Pond where he build his cabin in 1845, a semi-transparent "dynamic and contemplative experience" artwork by Elise Morin and Florent Albinet which provides the public with a space for reflection.It's made from wood and acrylic glass.

Here's how the designers describe it...
"The esthetics of the structure which oppose the Romantic fusion of humanity into the environment are emphasized not only by the choice of transparency but also that of flotation. From the interior or the exterior, the material’s occasional transparency offers a ensemble of unique perspectives which dissolve the perception of “wilderness” and “tameness” underlying the fundamental misunderstanding placing us in opposition with Nature. Thus, one does not inhabit this cabin; it serves to induce a specific relationship to the territory surrounding it. “Walden Raft” is a non-space whose position is unceasingly readjusted. Neither public property, nor private, nor entirely outside the world, nor entirely interiorized, it is an intermediate space, a lookout post where one can see while accepting to be seen."

If you're in the Auvergne this summer, you can see it for yourself until September 27 at Lac de Gayme, Picherande.


Wednesday, August 05, 2015

How families help small businesses


Nearly two thirds of Britain’s microbusinesses rely on support from friends and family to run their business, new research has revealed. Friends and relatives put an average of six hours a week into helping these microbusinesses stay afloat, the latest Big Issues for Small Businesses report from Lloyds Bank Insurance claims.

Whilst four out of 10 microbusinesses pay their family and friends with an average salary of £14 per hour, just over half said this support is unpaid.

This support ranges from helping to make business decisions (40%), completing practical tasks (34%), running errands (29%), managing social media accounts (10%), and helping with childcare (8%). While partners are most likely to head up the family support economy (43% of businesses are helped by their other half) one in five (19%) also rely on their children, and almost three in ten (29%) use friends.

The benefit of this help lifeline is keenly felt by the nation’s microbusinesses, with the vast majority (84%) saying the contribution of friends or family has had a positive impact on their business. Aside from increasing revenue (13%), increasing productivity (25%), making the business more manageable (35%) and providing emotional support (30%), nearly a quarter (24%) feel the help of friends and family is crucial in keeping their business running.

One in 10 (10%) microbusiness say their business would not be able to go on without this support.

Damien McGarrigle, head of business insurance at Lloyds Bank Insurance, said: “Starting up and running a business can be all-consuming,  with  family and friends often rallying around small business owners to ensure they are successful. However, microbusiness owners cannot solely rely on personal contacts to ensure everything runs smoothly.

“Our research found that a third   of those polled experienced problems in the past year from technology failures to employee sickness which resulted in more than a quarter operating at reduced capacity, so it is vital for business owners to know their options and have the right insurance in place to safeguard their business.”

The report highlighted a knowledge gap when it comes to protecting their business, with a quarter (24%) of microbusiness unaware that having certain types of relevant insurance for their business is a legal necessity, for example having employer liability if the business employs staff. ----------------------------------------------------
Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

Underground garden office: Atelier Pam&Jenny





The idea of an underground shedworking location has always appealed to the Shedworking HQ staff so we were particularly taken by this lovely construction by Belgian architects L'Escaut for graphic designer Nathalie who lives in Uccle. Two thirds of the garden office are underground and there is also a pleasing 'English type' courtyard as well as roughly sawn oak ceiling and flooring elements which, they say, "wrap everything up into a warm cocoon". Here's what the designers say about it:
"Seen from the house, the workshop is not anything else than a small part of the garden that would have been extruded, with a green roof snatched from the ground grass. The plants constituting the latter were chosen precisely in this sense among some varieties of herbaceous and grasses to resemble as closely as possible to the prairie grass and thus reinforce this perception of nature. The roof whose level is uncommonly lower than eye level, becomes a true fifth façade, as the real function is also betrayed by the presence of a hidden glass opening among the grasses.
Photos: François Lichtlé -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Monday, August 03, 2015

Female shedworkers


There's been a lot written about this subject following a 'survey' recently by a DIY superstore that women are buying more sheds (a trend that we have been writing about here on Shedworking for years). There's a nice piece in the Telegraph, focusing on several women shedworkers including a particularly extensive gallery of writer Ali Harris's garden office. Here's a snippet:
“She-sheds are a response to the old cliché about sheds being a male bastion,” says Sally Coulthard, author of Shed Decor, the essential tome for shed and interior design enthusiasts. “Women are reclaiming the shed to spend time outside the house, to be able to separate work, family life and me time.” A corrugated iron structure, riddled with damp and a dingy colour scheme, will simply not do: today’s incarnation comes with all the fixtures and fittings, like a miniature house, with an emphasis on decor that wouldn’t look out of place in a glossy magazine.
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.