“Yo ho, my boys,” said Fezziwig. “No more work to-night. Christmas Eve, Dick. Christmas, Ebenezer. Let’s have the shutters up,” cried old Fezziwig, with a sharp clap of his hands, “before a man can say Jack Robinson.”Shutters open again on January 3.
Historian and broadcaster Greg Jenner has been hard at work recently soundproofing his garden office. He's very kindly written an excellent thread about it on Twitter, complete with images, for anybody considering going down this route, particularly those who are podcasters. Greg's top tip:
Soundproofing is mostly about three things:
1) adding dense mass (acoustic plasterboard)
2) isolating internal walls from ext. walls, so sound energy dissipates in the between space - you wanna stop ‘Drum Effect’ (hence metal clips on the rafters)
3) sealing all air gaps
THREAD 🧵
— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) December 22, 2022
Since covid, I’ve been 100% broadcasting from my timber garden studio. It was great to keep working during lockdown, but flimsy timber buildings are SO NOISY when it rains/windy/car alarms/lawnmowers etc
It was stressing me out, so I decided to soundproof it pic.twitter.com/Shm3s5hIT9
Strong recommend.
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A few inspirational garden shed Christmas decoration ideas as we hurtle towards the 25th. Here's Neil's yuletided hut from Arctic Cabins. "We absolutely love seeing how our wonderful owners decorate their grill huts ready for Xmas," say the specialist BBQ cabin supplier, "and Neil hasn't disappointed! He's all prepped & ready to go...how inviting does it look!"
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We've talked about festive gingerbread sheds on Shedworking in previous years, but if you'd rather buy a kit than make one yourself there are a few possibilities still out there. Above is the quite compact kit from flying tiger which includes 150g of gingerbread, enough to build three sheds (you need to do the icing and decoration yourself, as well as the assembly of course). The gingerbread is made with sustainable palm oil.
Alternatively, you could head to Waitrose for one of their Gingerbread Chalet Kits (styled as a house kit in this image but also marketed as 'chalet' elsewhere). You get a gingerbread mix sachet, white royal icing sachet, red writing icing pen, and boiled sweets, plus a piping bag. All you need is some unsalted butter, water and honey/syrup if you want extra sweetness.
There's just time to get one sent from Honeywell Bakes too. They provide you with a template, piping bags, cake board, decorations, icing and all the dry ingredients to bake the gingerbread shed. All packaging is eco-friendly, and a percentage from every sale is donated to their charity partner, 1% For The Planet.
Finally, rather more fancily, is Eddingtons' 20 piece kit available from Selfridges, complete with nine cookie cutters, six icing bags, four nozzles, recipe and decoration instructions
An honourable mention to Nikki Wills who lives literarlly just round the corner from Shedworking HQ and runs the marvellous tikkido.com. This year, she has been reproducing some of the many pubs in St Albans in gingerbread format (see her instagram page), including the Shedworking staff's local, the White Hart Tap.
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More wintry writing sheds. Above, the garden office belonging to economist and author (The Future of the Professions and A World Without Work) Daniel Susskind (in which he is coming to the end of the last chapter in his forthcoming book). Below, the path to the writing shed - complete with fairy lights - belonging to historian and novelist Dr Deborah Harkness.
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A lovely shot by illustrator Johanna Maria Voss of her atmospheric, if chilly, garden studio in Hessen, Germany, earlier today.
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It's time for another in our semi-irregular Friday Finery series of posts. This week it's this newly completed studio/bar from Blue Forest. Features include a particularly fine curved walkway.
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An early Christmas present from gardener and broadcaster Monty Don to shedworkers everywhere, his writing shed with a yuletide touch. More on Monty Don's garden office on Shedworking here.
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It's the eighth outing for his marvellous festival in France, Le festival des cabanes (site available in English and German as well as French). Here's what they say about it:
The hut festival is a festival of architecture. It questions us about the relationship we have with nature. How do we settle there? What relationship do we have with our landscapes, with our environment? How do we find our rightful place? It seems that these questions are deeply topical. The hut festival as a new beginning, a way of looking to the future.Entrants build models in the early part of the year which are then judged by a professional panel, and the winners get to see their designs built in time for the summer for public admiration until November. There's plenty to enjoy on the site, including details and designs from previous years.
Thanks to the eagle-eyed Uncle Wilco from readersheds.com for spotting this.
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This competition to mark the many garden buildings featured in my book is taking place over at Malvern Garden Building's instagram page so head there for more details, but essentially they have a copy of Rooms of Their Own to give away to one lucky winner. The competition closes on 21st December. The winner will be announced on Malvern's stories and they’ll contact you directly from their account.
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We've talked recently about keeping more of an eye out on greenhouse-based shedworking so we thought we'd ask Lancashire-based Hartley Botanic what it expects will be the biggest glasshouse and greenhouse trends for 2023:
1. A RETURN TO A TRADITIONAL AESTHETIC
Last year, they reported a trend in customers choosing to powder coat their greenhouses in modern shades of black and manganese graphite to make dramatic, contemporary statements - they were increasingly looking for minimalist structures. For 2023, Hartley Botanic is predicting that customers will be returning to more classic colours and designs when it comes to styles, with the majority of people choosing a traditional aesthetic. It is also predicting that customers will opt for more traditional, classic colours such as olive leaf and forest green, and white may be making a comeback.
2. DESIGNER GARDENS, DESIGNER GREENHOUSES
Over the last few years there has been a renewed focus and investment by homeowners in their outdoor spaces and this is now extending into greenhouse and glasshouse purchases. Increasingly, customers are choosing them as grand centrepieces to complete beautifully designed garden spaces and are also taking the customisation of their greenhouses to the next level, adding in unique features and customising them with highly personal touches. Tom Barry, CEO of Hartley Botanic, said: “There is an uplift in demand for increasingly grand and personal gardens spaces. Customers are getting even more creative about how they use and enjoy their greenhouses and they are being planned into large scale landscaping projects. The appetite to upgrade our gardens shows no sign of slowing down.”
3. GREENHOUSES FOR WELLBEING & RELAXATION
A theme Hartley Botanic referenced in its 2022 RHS tradestands as we reported earlier in the year, 2023 will be all about using them for wellbeing and relaxation. In 2023, Hartley Botanic expects to see more customers curating the interiors of their greenhouse spaces so they function as havens of calm and relaxation. This will include investing more time and energy into how they are organised and what accessories are selected, or left out. At Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton Park RHS shows, Hartley Botanic demonstrated this with structures which were paired back in terms of furniture and featured design elements carefully curated to exude order and tranquility, rather than clutter.
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Garden office workers are waking up to probably the coldest morning of the year. Here's Richard Lee from shepherd's hut specialist Plankbridge's own home office. "Moon-lit frosty morning at my traditional shepherd’s hut at home here in #Dorset Stove is lit, this #workfromhome idea definitely has its appeal," he writes. And below is Moray Swan's garden office. "This is the way to work when you’re snowed in!" he writes. "Loving the new garden office. #TheCube."
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