Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Denise Ward: shedworking toastmaster


St Albans-based Toastmaster Denise Ward is a very happy shedworker as she explains in this guest post:
"I like the fact that my shed feels like home away from home, especially on the Saturday mornings when my daughter and I go down there and watch BBC iplayer while we wait for dearest hubby to bring us eggs with soldiers and orange juice. It’s the nearest we get to a hotel with room service.

"I love shedworking because it allows me the space to think and be creative and it’s my space that people only enter when invited. I can keep it as tidy or untidy as I wish and leave confidential papers in it. It is also good to separate my work from home so when I go there I switch off from home and when I leave I can get on with home life. It makes me more focused. I found that with studying and also having to keep a lot of paperwork as a Toastmaster I needed more room. My husband and daughter are very good at conversation and this can sometimes interrupt my flow.

"We employed Karl and his team to make the room. The features that make this special are that it has a bed so I can sleep there or put up guests there. It is good quality timber framed with plasterboard wall and double glazing.

"I had toyed with idea of having a shepherd's hut or buying a home office from a garden centre. But the more I looked into it I realised that I would still need to factor in transport, electricity, insulation and the hard standing to put it on. One of the largest issues for us was that any site would be needed to be built in situ and that access was a bit of an issue as large trucks would not be able to get into our drive. The job cost £7,000 and was completed very neatly. We had the foresight to have lighting that is movement sensitive. We had to alter these because they kept getting triggered by the deer and foxes in the garden.

"My only regret is that we did not have the garden path altered to take this new room into account. In summer it is not a problem but when I go to the room in the snow and in the rain, I have problems with the grass parts I have walk on. I am waiting for a garden designer to plan my garden at present. I think with all these things one should make a considered plan so that the job is not a rush. I changed my mind so many times and then came up with ideal plan for me."
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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.

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