Friday Finery: Arctic Cabins

This week's Finery - an Arctic Cabins special - is a visual reminder that while it's a bit grey and cold and drizzley outside, the sun will return.

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information

 

Tricky garden office build

A nice garden room by Cosy Garden Rooms in an East London terraced house but especially notable since it had no side or rear access and consequently a number of other garden office suppliers had declined to have a go at the build. What Cosy did was to take out a window on the first floor, and then bring all the materials over the kitchen roof extension, taking care not to whack the roof lanterns in place. They then built the whole thing on site. 

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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master, bespoke garden rooms and offices designed, manufactured and installed throughout the UK

Warwick Buildings Show Centre

Strongly recommended when shopping for a garden office is to try before you buy. Warwick Buildings has both an excellent online tour gizmo on its website so you can have a look at what's on offer from the comfort of your armchair, as well as an actual bricks and mortar show centre with 21 buildings to be enjoyed and details of construction materials and finishes.

The physical site on Nightingale Lane at Long Itchington in Warwickshire is by appointment during normal working hours (Saturday,  mornings only), though drop-ins are also welcomed. Dogs on leads are also welcome. The outdoor buildings are also viewable outside these hours too when the site is shut.

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Wednesday posts are sponsored by Booths Garden Studios, the UK's No.1 supplier of zero maintenance and portable garden studios

 

Aldi brings back its Work From Home Essentials range

 

Items from Aldi's Work From Home Essentials range starting from 95p will be in stores from February 8. 
 
Highlights of the range which targets shedworkers and other homeworkers include:

• keyboard and mouse (£24.99) available in beige, black and grey
• bamboo desk storage (£4.99) including desk caddy, in tray, magazine holder, and storage box, each £4.99
• whiteboard, chalkboard, or corkboard (£3.99 each) with appropriate pens 99p each
• glasses cleaning wipes (95p)
• home office pillow (£9.99)
• design socket cube (£9.99) or living wall charger (£8.99), plus two-way cable free socket (£5.99) 
• wireless headphones (£12.99)
• 3-in-1 wireless charger (£12.99)

Friday Finery: e-snug

This week's finery is the rather fetching e-snug from My Garden Studio with its attractive rounded roofing and ability to fit into smaller spaces. 

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information

 

Microshifting and shedworking

 

A new report from recruitment consultancy Robert Walters of 2,000 people reveals some interesting trends for hybrid shedworkers and other people who work from home. 

Its figures indicated that a third of managers have some kind of informal flexible working agreements with employees which may not be their company's stated policy. On the other hand, three quarters are dissatisfied with their company’s public flexible working strategy.

Which is where 'microshifters' come in. These are people chopping up their working time so that they get the same amount of work done but this way is a better fit for their personal circumstances e.g. starting earlier, finishing later, and spreading breaks throughout the day.

The Robert Walters research shows that just under two thirds of workers want a microshifting policy to be adopted where they work, and interestingly 4 out of 10 add that it would in fact encourage them to spend more days in the office very week. 

Just over half of employers questioned said they expected staff to be present in the office for three or more days per week, but a third said they would be happy to experiment with microshifting and more than 40% thought microshifting could improve engagement levels.

“Microshifting is a more transparent version of the unofficial flexible working arrangements that already exist in many UK organisations," said Lucy Bisset, Director of Robert Walters North. "For managers and senior leaders, the question is whether it should be governed by trust and outcomes or quietly negotiated between colleagues. While fears of microshifting fuelling disengagement are justified, the reality is that rigid working patterns are already pushing professionals to seek workarounds."

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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master, bespoke garden rooms and offices designed, manufactured and installed throughout the UK

 

Arctic Cabin garden office

An interesting view from the inside of an Arctic Cabins used as a garden office for a therapy and counselling business, showing off the intriguing ceiling, internaal structure, and marvellous window.

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Wednesday posts are sponsored by Booths Garden Studios, the UK's No.1 supplier of zero maintenance and portable garden studios