Virginia Woolf's garden office in Rooms of Their Own

A genuinely iconic garden office, the place where novelist Virginia Woolf wrote, as illustrated by James Oses in my latest book Rooms of Their Own. Here's a snippet from her section in the book:

Woolf’s friend Lytton Strachey complained that she surrounded herself with ‘filth packets’ as she wrote, cigarette ends, pen nibs, and various bits of paper. Over her lifetime she also had several tables/desks at which she wrote, including one standing desk. Annie Liebovitz photographed the top of her table in the writing lodge for her book Pilgrimage and this clearly shows the surface is scarred with plenty of mug rings and spilt ink. 

Through the window Woolf had views towards the Sussex Downs and Mount Caburn. The lodge also had a brick seating area in front of it on which she and friends and family would sit and watch games of bowls on the lawn in front of it and the Sussex Downs as a backdrop. During the Battle of Britain in the second world war, the German planes flew low enough over their home that they could make out the swastikas. “Bombs shook the window of my lodge,” she wrote, another echo of A Room of One’s Own, which also discusses women living in dangerous surroundings. Virginia wrote mainly in the mornings and it was here that she produced Mrs Dalloway, The Waves, and Between the Acts. 

Leonard describes her walking out to work at the writing lodge “with the regularity of a stockbroker”. In a letter to her inspirational lover Vita Sackville-West, she describes this commute: “I wake filled with a tremulous yet steady rapture, carry my pitcher full of lucid and deep water across the garden.” And it another letter, to her friend Ethel Smyth, in September 1930 she writes: “[I] shall smell a red rose; shall gently surge across the lawn (I move as if I carried a basket of eggs on my head) light a cigarette, take my writing board on my knee; and let myself down, like a diver, very cautiously into the last sentence I wrote yesterday.” 

Leonard also points out that his wife maintained a strict schedule. “We should have felt it to be not merely wrong but unpleasant not to work every morning for seven days a week and for about eleven months of the year,” he wrote. “Every morning, therefore, at about 9.30 after breakfast, each of us, as if moved by a law of unquestioned nature, went off and worked until lunch at 1.” On warm days in the summer, she would also sleep there.

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Interior designers' own garden offices

A very interesting article on the Waltons blog focuses on the garden offices of professional interior designers Joanna Thornhill (pictured above) and Annie Golledge who both offer some top tips in terms of making the most of your shedlike space. Here's a snippet:

However, if you do have a large enough garden office, Joanna suggests that adding a ‘break out’ area is a good way to help to focus your thoughts and inspire you throughout the day. She says: “incorporate an area away from your desk to sit and take notes, brainstorm or simply sit and meditate for five minutes if you find the day getting on top of you.”

Joanna, who works from her own 3.5x2.5m garden log cabin, added a small sofa and coffee table to create a ‘breakout zone’ that overlooks her garden. Along with copious plants, swatches of bright fabrics and personal decorative accessories, her workplace feels like a fun extension of her home.

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Ruby’s Teeny Tiny House

A splendid small build by Mark Burton from Tiny House UK and Custom Built Surrey. The proud owner is six-year-old Ruby and her mother Charley explains why this is the perfect space for her:

My daughter Ruby has autism and since she was a toddler she has often sought to escape from any noise and intensity that might surround her, to the small and secluded spaces where she is able to hide away and take refuge. After years of making herself comfortable behind chairs and sofas, or under duvets, she finally has a beautiful, safe and quiet space to call her own. 

Her Teeny Tiny House, designed and crafted by Tiny House Cabins is the perfect sanctuary for Ruby. Here she can hide away from the day to day noises, in quiet and contentment. The windows and door allow me to see into her own little world from the outside, whilst she enjoys her down time from the rest of the world.

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Victorian travelling photographer’s studio up for auction

This marvellous mobile garden office used as a photographic studio and well over 100 years old is coming up for auction next month on August 5 at Charterhouse Auctions in Sherborne, Dorset.

The studio has been located on the Dorset coast at Swanage for many years and most recently in a field near Wareham. It was commissioned by the father and son photographers John and Walter Pouncy from Dorchester. They and subsequent professional photographers took innumerable photos in the studio of seaside holidaymakers visiting Swanage. It has previously had some restoration work done but needs additional conservation work.

It's expected to make £8,000-£12,000. 

Pictured below is a more recent shot of it in use as a photographer's studio, and below being pulled by horses further back in time.

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Why Commute garden office scoops gold medal at RHS Tatton Flower Show

Large congratulations to garden designer Pip Probert, one of the stars of the BBC series Your Garden Made Perfect, who has won a coveted Gold Medal at RHS Tatton Flower Show for her garden called 'Why Commute?'. The design has a suburban setting with the garden office and its additional storage area as the central elements. Features include a sedum roof and the building is separated from the out of sight house using a metal pergola and a raised planter. Here's what Pip says about it: 

"With more people now working from home, beautiful spaces that can be used to both work in and spend time with the family are key. Cercis are positioned to the left of the plot, chosen for their airy canopy and to give a good shape and coverage towards the boundary. Hydrangeas with their large, colourful leaves are positioned at the front face to add interest and allow surrounding plants to stand out."

And here's a video of the garden office at the show with Mariachi band Beato Burrito performing outside, as often happens to shedworkers.

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A post shared by Pip Probert (@pipprobertgardendesigner)

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How to personalise your garden office

Even if you're not hugely interested in interior decoration or architecture, you'll almost certainly still want to make your garden office as personally comfortable as possible according to your own particular wants. eDEN Garden Rooms has a good article about some things to think about when planning just this. It looks at dimensions/layout, glazing, external finish, air conditioning, and more. Here's a snippet about partition walls/extra rooms:

You may have a garden room in mind for a very specific use, such as for work, or it may be intended as more of a multi-functional space. Many customers also have storage in mind, particularly when a garden room is replacing an old shed, so an integrated shed store is a hugely popular feature to create an aesthetically-pleasing storage solution, with just a keyhole in the cedar cladding giving away its hidden location.

 

UK Men's Sheds Association looking for new chair

One of the best jobs in the world of sheds could be yours. The Board of Trustees of the UK Men's Sheds Association is looking for a new chair to lead the organisation and help set its vision and strategic direction including partnering with other organisations to promote its aimes. More details and how to apply here, but here's a snippet about the state of play:

UKMSA’s mission is to enable access to a Shed for every man who wants it. We have ambitious plans to support this development of hundreds more Sheds over the next 3-5 years. Earlier this year we launched the Charter for Wellbeing in Craft and DIY at the Palace of Westminster and it has been a fantastic platform on which to further partnerships across both the industry and healthcare spaces. This is, in short, an exciting time for UKMSA but also the circumstances of the economy and pandemic have set even greater need on the work we do. We are taking this challenge to heart and embracing the opportunity... As an increasingly influential voice in the arena of men’s health and wellbeing, UKMSA is championing the growth of ‘Shedding’ across the UK and partnering with a range of organisations to promote and support its aims.

Closing date for applications is August 31.

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