David Hockney: early shed life

With a big new show at the Royal Academy and various new books about his life and work soaring up the bestseller list, David Hockney is much in demand. But not so well known is the part that sheds played in his early life. Here is Jackie Wullschlager writing in the FT: "He won a grammar school scholarship, a place at Bradford College of Art, then moved in 1959 to the Royal College of Art. Initially shy and broke in London – he lived in a garden shed with no water, taking baths in a sink in the college studio – he was quickly noticed as a draughtsman of genius.”
Thanks to Victoria Summerley for the alert.
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Thursday posts are sponsored by Atelier garden studios which are sustainable, stylish, flexible, functional and future proofed

Shoebox Dwelling

Design journalist Natalia Repolovsky describes her interesting and useful blog Shoebox Dwelling as "about simplicity, space-saving, efficiency and beauty of human thought behind the objects". Though not aimed specifically at the garden office market, it's well worth a long browse for all shedworkers and other homeworkers, particularly if you're after ideas about storage and bookshelves. "I have witnessed a lot of luxury and grandeur," she says, "but my true interest has always been in finding comfort, style and dignity in small spaces. This is what I knew best from living in big cities like Moscow and, later, New York. I am in infinite awe of designers who study ordinary human lives and use their skill and imagination to create better experiences. I believe that when we embrace our living space, no matter how big or small, and make it our own – we will not just dwell, but thrive!" You can follow her on Twitter too.
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Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

The Cabins: multiple mini garden offices

A marvellous design from Atelier Ichiku called The Cabins, these four mini sheds were built for a Japanese writer so that he could work in one (which features a desk and shelf), use another as a lavatory, the third as a prayer room and the final one as storage. Each cabin is 90cm wide with a porthole window but they each have various depths, as Architectural Review recounts (using lots more photos too).

Garden office in a shepherd's hut (video)

There could hardly be a better advertisement for working at home in a shepherd's hut than this lovely video from Plankbridge.
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Riverdale Stone: stone shedworking

Bedfordshire-based Riverdale Stone specialise in a wide range of both contempory and traditional stonework which includes garden offices, claiming that not only do their shedlike atmospheres need no exterior maintenance, they actually improve with age. Options include lavatory, shower, kitchen area and mezzanine sleeping area. All stone is sourced from within the UK and if you move house they even offer a stone-by-stone dismantling and rebuilding service. More information on the spec here including their special foundation system and freestanding dry stone walls.

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

Why charities should be shedworking

The marvellous Mary's Meals won the Garden Office category in the 2011 Shed of the Year competition and according to Helen Simmons at Third Sector, more charities should consider following their lead. Simmons's argument is that shedworking, and homeworking in general, "might save on more than tea bags". Here's a snippet:

"I have heard of a number of charities moving in the past six months towards operating in a 'virtual office', leapfrogging the hot desk concept and moving straight to comprehensive home working. By leaving only the very core processing functions in a small rented space, or by outsourcing them altogether, they are looking at the possibility of everyone else working permanently from home in the future - and thereby slashing one of their high fixed costs."

She points out that it might not suit all charities but that it's an option well worth considering. And we agree.
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Dunster House, the leading UK company for Log Cabins and Garden Offices sponsors Fridays posts

Men's Sheds: why they're taking off in the UK

The Men's Sheds movement is definitely taking off in the UK and so it seems fitting that Uncle Wilco at Shedblog should bag the first major interview with AGE UK about their role in helping to get the shedwagon rolling. Here's a snippet:

"What were your main concerns that got Age UK involved with Men sheds?

When you visit a day centre or a lunch club, you can see that often women outnumber men by about five to one. Men do not seem to want to engage with groups that, for many people, provide valuable social contact and activities.

On top of that, we know from research that men are reluctant to access healthcare or take up benefits and support that they are entitled to. So when we learned about the success of Men’s Sheds in Australia we set out to find funding to try some ideas ourselves to meet the specific needs of lonely and socially isolated older men. Age UK then began to pilot Men in Sheds in 2009."

The whole interview is well worth a read.
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Thursday posts are sponsored by Atelier garden studios which are sustainable, stylish, flexible, functional and future proofed