Friday Finery: Concave Room

This week's Finery is a Concave model build from Modern Garden Rooms with rather pleasant nearby swimming pool as well as nice blue sky.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

 

Garden room trends for 2026

An interesting post by Cabin Master looks at garden room trends for this year makes for intriguing reading. Their figures indicate:

* average sizes rising over the past year from 16.3m² to 17.5m² in floor space, with decking/verandas less common

* fully timber buildings falling in popularity from 7.7% of builds in 2023 to 3.1% in 2025 with hybrid finishes combining natural timber with composite Marley board cladding on the rise

* growing interest in home saunas and cabins 
 
* increasing statement glazing, installations of Cabin Master's largest size of doors growing 30% in 2025, and builds which used their largest window sizing rose 18% year on year - this marries with a drop in the average number of window units per build

* the rise in sliding doors, featuring in 58% of its garden room builds in 2023, increasing to 62% in 2024 and up to 64% in 2025 - at the same time there has been a slight decline in bifold doors

*************************************

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

 

Shedworkers and other homeworkers must be protected like any other employee says the HSE

Although more than a third of workers in Britain now work remotely or in hybrid arrangements, not all employers realise health and safety responsibilities apply equally at home as in the workplace according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Britain’s national workplace regulator is running a campaign to remind employers of the need to assess the risks for all home workers.  

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in January 2026, 38% of workers were working remotely or in some kind of hybrid arrangement (25% hybrid and 13% fully remotely).  

HSE is advising employers to pay particular attention to three areas - stress and mental health, the safe use of display screen equipment, and the working environment – including accidents, emergencies, and lone working. This is a legal duty, not optional guidance.  

“Working from home can deliver benefits to both employers and employees," said Barbara Hockey, from HSE Engagement and Policy Division, "but it’s important that employers understand their responsibilities.  

“The good news for bosses is you don’t need to physically visit someone’s home to fulfil your duties. Most of the time, the risks are low and the steps to manage them are straightforward and HSE provides free guidance to support you. Practically, this means managers keeping in regular contact with their teams, talking openly about workloads and training needs, and making sure people aren’t under pressure to work outside their normal working hours. 

“It also means having simple conversations about the physical environment by asking staff to visually check that their equipment is safe and not damaged, keeping work areas clear of trailing wires or obstructions, and making sure everyone knows what to do in an emergency."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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

 

Vinnie Jones's log cabin

Ex-footballer turned actor and television presenter Vinnie Jones is also the proud owner of an Arctic Cabins cabin. You can see it on the latest season of his Vinnie Jones in the Country on Discovery+ (pictured above and below).

It is one of the supplier's solar dome cabins beside Vinnie’s lake on his 2,000-acre West Sussex estate, built without the central barbecue unit as a lakeside retreat.
 
"What Vinnie needed was a cabin that blended into the surrounding natural environment and allowed for beautiful views from inside the cabin," said an Arctic Cabins spokesperson. "By choosing a solar dome cabin with an extension, it maximises the internal space of the cabin for a variety of uses. Additionally, to make the most of the beautiful views around the lake and maximise natural light, Vinnie chose to have larger windows looking out on the surrounding countryside."

You can see it featured in the episode below.

 

***********************************************

Monday's posts are sponsored by Smart Modular Buildings, the UK's best garden room company

Friday Finery: British Cabins and Hideaways

 

Holly Farrier's excellent book British Cabins and Hideaways published by Hoxton Mini Press is back in stock with a reworked cover. If you missed it first time round, this is a good time to get a copy of this fine guide to remote huts, cabins, bothies, and other shedlike atmospheres across the UK, all of which can be rented.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

British homeowners' proudest property element is their shed

According to an Emperor Paint study reported on in House Beautiful, of all the parts of their homes that they like, they are proudest of their garden shed (which I think is used in quite a wide sense to include garden offices, summerhouses, and the like) 

The same study showed that people in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Coventry were the keenest on their home working spaces. 

In second place was home office (which we're assuming is the kind in your home rather than a 30 second commute away in the back garden), the two shedlike atmospheres beating off competition from, in descending order, firepits, conservatoires, kitchen islands, outdoor kitchens, walk-in showers, breakfast bars, and playhouses.

Pic courtesy of Cabin Master

*************************************

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

 

Working from home could help reverse declining birth rates, indicates new study

Couples who work from their garden office or from home in general at least one day a week are having more children and planning larger families, says a new study of around 40 countries.

The research, co-authored by King’s College London academic Dr Cevat Giray Aksoy, indicates a strong link between remote work and birth rates. Researchers estimate lifetime fertility increases by an average of 0.32 children per woman when both partners work remotely for at least a day per week compared to the case where neither does.

The data also suggests that in the US, current remote work levels account for a meaningful share of births, about 8.1 per cent of US births in 2024 which equat4s to 291,000 babies. In England, findings imply that current work-from-home arrangements explain about 6.2 per cent of births in 2024, roughly 35,400.

Roughly 54 per cent of university-educated adult workers work from home at least one day a week.

The researchers attribute the findings to the flexibility that remote jobs offer, easing the time and co-ordination costs of combining paid employment with child-rearing. They also say that expanding remote work opportunities could offer an important oppportunity for nations struggling with shrinking/ageing populations. 

"The ability to work from home is quietly nudging birth rates up," said Dr Cevat Giray Aksoy. "Remote work will not reverse decades of demographic decline on its own. But in a world where conventional pro-natalist policies are expensive and often disappoint, flexibility over where we work is emerging as one of the most promising and cheapest ways to help people have the families they say they want."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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