Build your own shepherd's hut garden office using a kit

If you've ever fancied building your own shepherd's hut to work in, Downland Shepherd Huts has just the thing for you, self-build kits.

The Woolley Shepherd Hut series comes in three versions from £4,825 for the basic package (including cast iron wheels, steel chassis, corrugated tin rooft sheets, SIP panels and roof timbers), up to £10,395 (with vintage apple crates, futon mattress, woodburning stove with hearth, single hardwood stable door, and exterior steps to hut).

Small businesses increasingly run from home and garden offices

Just over eight out of 10 of the UK’s small businesses - those with under 10 employees - now use their home as a workplace, according to research from Lloyds Bank Insurance.

Its Big Issues for Small Businesses report shows that just over half of all microbusinesses are run from home.

More than three quarters of these homeworkers have made significant changes to their property to make it 'work ready' -  the average cost of adapting homes for working life is £1,392, with the most popular change being a room-to-office conversion (carried out by 42 per cent).


While the living room is the most popular spot within the home to work (41 per cent said they worked here), closely followed by the dining room and kitchen, a whopping 13 per cent also went to work in their garden office or garage.

Being able to work from home is the main driver for almost half of those who have taken this work path, while three quarters say they simply enjoy working from home and feel it provides greater flexibility. Two thirds also argue that it makes better financial sense, while 57 per cent say it actually improves productivity.

Indeed, the main drawback according to more than a third of those questioned is working more than they would like and a similar figure admit they miss the sociable atmosphere of a traditional office. Around 36 per cent also say that their homes are messier since they started working from home.

Other worries include somebody in the family deleting/losing a document (17 per cent), while 10 per cent admit damaging a work device by spilling a drink on it.

Image courtesy Peterson Studios --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Garden office under construction

Almost finished! Our handmade oak framed building in Buckinghamshire will provide its owner with a tranquil office! pic.twitter.com/epVOagWgeq

— Little Thatched Co (@LittleThatched) November 20, 2014

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

David Morris MP becomes the Government’s amabassador for the self-employed

It's National Freelancers Day today which is an appropriate moment to announce the appointment of David Morris MP as the UK’s first "self-employed ambassador" whose job it will be to represent the interests of freelancers throughout the UK.

"As a self-employed businessman myself for nearly 30 years before I came into Parliament I know only too well how Government’s policy effects those who are self-employed," he said. "I believe our self-employed and small businessmen are the lifeblood for the economic recovery and believe that stripping back the burden of red tape and taxation will allow freelancers to flourish."

We've contacted David to ask for his views on shedworking and will report back when he gets back to us. ----------------------------------------------------

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

Shedworking designs at 2015 Chelsea Flower Show

The RHS has given an early sheds-up on the designs for the 2015 Chelsea Flower Show. Probably the most promising looking is from friend of Shedworking Jo Thompson who is putting together the M&G Garden called The Retreat, pictured above. It will feature a "sturdy double-storey oak-framed building" surrounded by Betula nigra, Acer japonica ‘Vitifolium’ and Robinia and a natural dipping pool.

Harry and David Rich's Cloudy Bay Garden also looks promising as it includes a moveable shack in the middle of the garden.

More updates on these and other designs as they emerge. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

How much value does a garden office add to your property?

This is probably in the top five of questions asked of the Shedworking staff. There are no hard and fast figures on this, but a new survey of independent estate agents about which home improvements provide most added value gives a few indications.

So while the figures from Move with Us estimate a parking space or an extra bedroom adds 10 per cent, they reckon a 'man cave' adds one per cent, as does a tree house, a Cobb outhouse and indeed a garden folly. When it comes to garden offices, they put the added value at more like five per cent, on a par with a cinema room or a new kitchen

Simon King, Director at Move with Us said: “More unusual home improvements are increasing in popularity. Home owners are ingeniously creating new spaces within the boundaries of their existing homes where they can live out their dreams. These include garden offices so they can work from home, workshops where they can carry out their passions, their own personal pubs and all sorts of other extraordinary structures. It’s truly an inspiring trend. It’s great to see home owners using skill, imagination and working within planning permission guidelines to create exciting new spaces which have the added bonus of boosting the value of their property.” 
Image: Garden Retreat
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Dylan Thomas's writing hut vs wind turbines

As many of you know, there are plans afoot to build a wind turbine smack in the middle of the view Dylan Thomas would have had from his writing shed. The latest update, as reported on Wales Online
is that a judicial review of the planners' decision to green light the scheme - which would see a 45m turbine across the estuary from the Boathouse -  has now been granted.

According to Wales Online, "Opponents say the turbine will blight a view that has attracted international tourists and Dylan fans for decades." A final decision will now be made in early 2015.

Photo: Stuart Logan (CC) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Shedworking meets pubworking

It's one of our favourite hobbyhorses here at Shedworking, that underused pub space should be marketed during the day to homeworkers. An excellent example of how this could work is featured in the Morning Advertiser which tells the story of an Enterprise Inns pub in Yorkshire that has installed three heated beach huts in a £250,000 investment plan. Well worth a browse. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Shoffice

I can remember the first time I came across the term 'shoffice' about seven years ago thinking it was a marvellous description of a shedworking structure. Louise Jones from Arctic Cabins is also a fan and sent in a recent example of a shoffice built and fitted for a customer in the back garden of a Victorian terraced house in London.

"As we manufacture all our cabins from scratch at our Derbyshire factory we are able to build all our buildings to exactly meet customer requirements," she says. "This year several customers have wanted an office and a shed so we have combined the two into The ShOffice. The ShOffice isn’t a shed or an office but a combination of both, a partitioned garden building. The back section is a shed, not insulated but with its own door and windows. The front is an insulated office with doubleglazed windows and doors and it is all kitted out with electrics and heating"

Orange shedworking

There was some concern about the colour. But the kids have a great place to practice their music. pic.twitter.com/yzgW5AHdZx

— OfficePOD (@officepod) November 5, 2014

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Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Photography studio

Quite a large shedworking space, designed by FT architects in Japan (who call it 'Light Shed') with a timber frame covered in sheets of translucent corrugated plastic. The 33sqm garden office, which also has a lavatory, is in the back garden of a photographer's house in Kanagawa, Japan.

Photos by Shigeo Ogawa
Via Dezeen

Building a bunkie

We're always keen to hear from readers who blog about their shedlike builds, so naturally it was a pleasure to hear from Devon-based Mark Lawrence of Salamander Stoves who is building his own 'bunkie' and chronicling it at Amazing Small Spaces. It's well worth a read, especially for an upcoming section on how to install stove.

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