Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Julia Quinn/Cheeky Lemur: shedworker

Julia Quinn runs her jewellery-making business Cheeky Lemur in a frankly fantastic garden office in France having relocated from England earlier in the year. It was designed and built by her husband Marcus and as the top photo shows, it's really rather special. Both Julia and Marcus have nicely written blogs which are well worth reading - Marcus details the build of the shed office in some detail and plenty of photos on his. Here's a snippet from Julia's:
As I'm working in my workshop, I can enjoy the view of my miniature garden set out in front of me, I can almost smell the swaying sunflowers in the garden next door which is a sight to behold. OK, they are around the corner, but I can imagine them. There were a couple of them in a vase in my studio until yesterday, when a child of mine...who will remain nameless, knocked the vase off the top of the desk and emptied a couple of pints of water into the paper slot in the back of the new printer. Still waiting for the thing to dry out before I dare switch it on to suss out the damage.


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Saint-Gobain: low energy playhouse/garden office

This marvellous building was designed by C. F. Møller Architects for Saint-Gobain to be a sustainable playhouse or general purpose garden building. It's 4.5m x 3m, has 'intelligent' window glazing, solar panels and 40cm thick walls with specially efficicent glass wool insulation, and the window panes are designed differently according to which way they face: it's the kind of design you would associate with a cutting edge, eco-friendly house (apparently it can be heated using a few candles). It can certainly be used for shedworking since it was set up for the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference last year where it was used as a radio studio by NOVA FM.
Via Judit Bellostes


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Tiny garden office on wheels

This a lovely idea for the mobile shedworker - it's a handbuilt 5' x 6', two wheel trailer, with front and back porches, tin roof and completely insulated (there's a door at the back and a fake door in the front). It's on sale currently on ebay and here's what the owner says he built it to "take to shows and print photos out of it so I wired it with 110 outlets that you use a on-board extension cord that is in a box under the back. You plug it in and it powers the plugs on the inside. A switch on the inside turns on a 110 volt light." I think there'd be a definite market for this kind of product in the UK (this one was built in Texas).
Via Alex at Tiny House Talk and Kent at Tiny House Blog: I like their description of it as a 'hobby house'.


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Monday, August 30, 2010

Cocoon: chillout shedworking

From Estonia comes what manufacturers Cubist Outdoor Residences call 'the ultimate private oasis'. The company specialises in rather luxurious spas, but this building is aimed at individuals as much as commercial ventures with the smallest size starting at 6x6m, optional extras including flatscreen TVs and fridges, and exteriors of thermowood, Trespa or stone: there's a 3D tour to give you some idea before you buy. You'd probably want to keep the blinds down for working on sunny days.
Via Born Rich where there are lots more photos. Thanks to the fine hommes at urbanbike for the alert


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The danger of fire

A terribly sad story in the Watford Observer by Chris Hewett covers a fire at the garden studio of Bushey artist Heather Highman: a neighbour's bonfire spread to a tree in her garden and then onto her garden office which burnt down, taking with it 40 years of her work. Heather says she need professional help to deal with the loss. Here's a snippet:
“I could see the flames from the fire next door and the next thing I knew the whole of my back garden was ablaze," she said. "I had a mature garden and it caught very quickly. It was actually terrifying – I thought it might come towards the house.”
What kind of fire precautions do you take in your garden office? Please leave details in the comments section below.


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100% salvaged car parts shed

Construction by Karl Wanaselja. Photographs by Leger Wanaselja Architecture.
Thanks to Lloyd Alter for the alert


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

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Solar Powered Wifi Range Extender

Potentially very useful if your garden office is some distance from your home, the SiFi Solar Powered Wireless Range Extender improves your signal strength to improve its range using a 30 watt solar panel which was designed and tested in Scotland. Available from Green Stamp where there are more details about how it works.


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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Glass garden office

The glass office is a new design from Decorated Shed which, as the name suggests, features a lot of glass: window sliding doors on the front lead round to glass windows from top to bottom the whole way round. There is also a sloping green sedum roof and the option for a wall on one side. Other new designs from the company - which has recently redesigned its website - include a version of the glass garden office but with glass solely at the front, a flat-topped garden office and another with a curved roof with a nod to the shepherd's hut look.


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Friday, August 27, 2010

Fred Dingemans of d.m.h. watches: shedworker

Fred Dingemans makes watches. Really nice ones. As Hodinkee comments in a fascinating article, his Dingemans Mechanische Horloges company - which is based in a garden office shed at his home in the Netherlands, pictured above - makes unique handcrafted watches, "a throwback to days long since defeated by an age of electronics and mass production". There's a considerable waiting list for his work (not least because he only makes one a month) which is all undertaken in his tool shed using tools which date back several decades including a 1947 lathe.
Thanks to Robert Morrison for the alert


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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Shed Fest - a literary festival in a shed

This is a fabulous idea from publisher Mike Manson in Bristol. He describe it as the UK's premier shed-based literary festival but (and I'd have to check with John 'Shedman' Davis to be absolutely sure) I'm guessing it might actually be the first of its kind. Here's how he describes it:
The shed is small, space is limited and so is time. You are allocated five minutes to read or perform a poem(s), a short story or extract from a larger piece. Indeed, anything you want. The shed is yours! This is an evening for the Bristol writing community to perform their work in a supportive and fun environment.
Shed Fest runs on September 11.
UPDATE: All places at the festival have already gone



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Therapeutic underwater garden office




The Tranquil garden office is a remarkable design by Jordan Ridgley which he says is designed to give the user the feeling of being in their own therapeutic underwater bubble. He explains: "This is done by trying to create a user experience every time the product is used. The use of the textured glass gives the user the sense of walking through water like the bottom of a waterfall. The interior is also styled like coral to help give the user the sense of being underwater." Jordan has also designed the garden office below which makes great use of glass and has a rather attractive curved roof.


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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Vote garden office in The Selby Contest

For those of you not familiar with The Selby, the site's owner Todd Selby describes it as offering "an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist's eye for detail" (it's hard to describe it pithily but it's well worth a browse). Now Mr Selby has launched The Selby Contest to find inspiring living spaces and Marty Butler from Austin, Texas, has been in touch with Shedworking since his entry, The Art Shed, is a garden office or as he puts it "a modern screened-in backyard studio". So please do nip along and vote for Marty and help to put shedworking even more on the map.


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Asunder garden shed

Continuing this week's theme of all-purpose garden offices, here's the asunder garden shed by industrial designer Ben Carter who says his design offers the capacity to securely store all the items conventional sheds can, with better accessibility. "The light, open design discourages accumulation of cobwebs whilst providing an unconfined shelter, " he points out. "The asunder features a bike shelter, broom closet, shelving, tool storage, and seating area. The sturdy treated timbre frame allows the user to personalise and alter the shed to individual needs."


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

Launch of Irish Men's Sheds Forum

Shedworking was delighted to hear from John Evoy at the Adult and Community Education Service in Co. Wexford that, inspired by the fabulously sucessful Australian Men's Sheds Association(pictured above), the Irish Mens Shed's Forum will be launched at a conference in Co. Wexford on October 1 by Minister for State Sean Connick and Professor Barry Golding from the University of Ballarat in Australia. Those of you who have been following our stories on this remarkable organisation will know that it aims to provide a safe, friendly and welcoming environment for men to meet and socialise, often working on projects in the company of other men and at their own pace.

John says that the Irish Men's Shed Forum aims to promote these concepts and will act as an information hub to support the fledgling Men's Shed movement in Ireland. For more information email mensheds@gmail.com. We hope that this marvellous news will encourage the establishment of similar projects in other countries and will be reporting back on the launch in October.


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

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Go on holiday, return to a new garden office

Freelance wine journalist John Stimpfig went on a camping holiday for a few days and when he'd returned to his Oxfordshire home, Cotsmill Garden Offices had installe a great new shedworking atmosphere up and running for him. It was a bespoke 2.5m x 4m building from their Contemporary range with a single door, fully fronted glass and two opening side windows finished in stained Scandinavian softwood. John says: "Now that the office is in situ, I am absolutely thrilled with it. The finish and end result is excellent and it sits beautifully within our garden." Incidentally, Cotsmill now offer uPVC windows and doors (including sliding doors for the first time) as well as their standard timber offering.


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Fusion shed trend continues

As we commented earlier in the year, the trend towards an integrated garden office and traditional storage shed is gathering pace. Here's a nice example from Roomworks, a garden room with an attached uninsulated shed at the rear of the building to provide essential storage in this urban garden in The Park area of Nottingham. Clad in red cedar, it is impossible to see where the room finishes and the shed starts and because the store does not require insulation or the same kind of internal finishes this provides a very cost effective solution.


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Tuesday posts are sponsored by The Home Office Company, manufacturers of unique garden rooms since 1998. Now in 10 exciting new colours. Click here for more details.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Heather Bestel - shedworking tip of the month

This month, Shedworking's Calm Editor Heather Bestel recommends 'Take the kids to work day':
Remember one of the major benefits of shedworking is having more time with the family. Now that the summer holidays are in full swing, taking the kids to work may be a realistic option. Let’s look at some pros and cons:

Enjoy the flexibility - Cancelled meeting? No problem! Gives you more time to play hide and seek with the kids. They are only young once, so relish your time together.

Be spontaneous - Impromptu picnics in the garden make for a very relaxed ‘lunch-hour’

Co-operation - The ease of organising play dates gives you some much needed work time.

Set Boundaries - Just be careful not to leave the shed office unattended. A client of mine’s son answered his business line with “Hello, daddy’s not here, he’s gone to have a poo!” Luckily it was his accountant.
More stressbusting advice from Heather at her site here.


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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Tamara Drewe: sheds on screen


The film of Posy Simmonds's marvellous book Tamara Drewe was screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and as those of you who have read it will know, a garden office plays a key part in the film, owned by writer Nicholas Hardiment (played by Roger Allam - the film also stars Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper and Tamsin Grieg). Shedworking was honoured to help with some of the research for Hardiment's garden office about which Production Designer Alan Macdonald commented: "I felt that Nicholas Hardiment’s shed had to be the one place where he was able to express his personality. And ultimately it’s the embodiment of the mind of a fifteen‐year‐old boy, who’s never grown up. He’s a man who’s never grown up, a mummy’s boy.” Look out for it in a cinema near you.


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Saturday, August 21, 2010

Atelier stand at Grand Designs in October

Atelier Garden Studios is going to have a stand at the Grand Designs Live NEC, Birmingham, October 8 – 10, in the Grand Gardens section stand number G410. Pictured above is their stand design featuring their C21 model. Who else is going?


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Friday, August 20, 2010

What is shedworking?

Regular readers will of course know all about shedworking but for those of you who are coming new to this site or to the concept, here I am talking a bit about what shedworking entails.


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the flat-packed, man-portable garden storage, garden workshop and garden office solutions
Friday posts are sponsored by Extraspace, the flat-packed, man-portable expandable garden building experts. Click here for more details

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Trend 15 and Trend 45 Log Cabin

Scandinavian Log Cabins Direct have several garden office possibilities among their models. At the smaller end of the scale is the Trend 15, above, 5m X 3m and built from pine logs sourced from sustainable forests in the far north of Sweden. It doesn't need a concrete slab foundation but sits on concrete posts embedded in the ground. Alternatively, take a look at the much large Trend 45, below, 9m x 5m, which has nice high corner windows.


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Thursday posts are sponsored by Atelier garden studios which are sustainable, stylish, flexible, functional and future proofed

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Temple: shedworking and then some...

There are home offices and then there are home offices. Here is Rookery Barns's bespoke design for a client called Temple. It bears comparison to many of their other substantial oak barn-style buildings but on a rather more spectacular scale: so as well as a first floor home office, it also takes in a large games and childrens’ room with its own bathroom, a double garage, log store, and workshop. Features include a rather fabulous vaulted ceiling and oak king post trusses to create an attractive and airy living space.


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