How to look after your log cabin garden office

Although most garden offices need little or no upkeep, it's still good to consider key bits of maintenance. Norwegian Log has a good checklist of what to do throughout the year (largely exterior rather than interior) and although log cabin providers offer different models, their words of wisdom are still very useful e.g. checking sealing twice a year, washing the outside annually, cleaning gutters regularly, etc. Here's a snippet, on drainage:

The soil around your log cabin should slope downwards to promote sufficient drainage away from your foundation. So make sure to regularly inspect the ground around your cabin. If the soil has compacted and there is a negative slope, you may need to add some fresh topsoil. You also need to ensure that the soil has not collected around the piers, and is preventing air flow, otherwise it could cause moisture, and if it comes into contact with the timber it can affect the laminated bean subframe.

Well worth a read.
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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Christmas decorations for your garden office

It's that time of the year when people like to decorate their garden offices and other shedlike atmospheres (and hopefully we'll get a bit of snow so we can run our annual snowy shed galleries). Many shedworkers add festive touches to their workplace such as fairy lights, wreaths, and sprigs of holly, but we'd also suggest that as well as a Christmas tree in your house, why not go for one in your garden office too? Shedworking has got its Christmas trees from the St Albans branch of Pines and Needles for the last half a dozen years (pictured above in an actual shoffice situation but they have stockists all round the country) and been very happy with the results and the cheerful service. As well as the usual sized trees, we have also bought smaller ones in the past which are ideal for smaller spaces or indeed desktops. As always, please send in your photos of your Christmas shed decor! --------------------------------------

Wednesday’s posts are sponsored by Norwegian Log Buildings  - Log cabins and garden buildings for a better quality of life. Click here for more details.

The Story of Tools

If you're looking for a nice present for the shedworker in your life (or to put on your own 'want' list) then maybe The Story of Tools by hole & corner magazine (published by Pavilion) would make a good choice as it examines the essential shed tool kit, its culture and beauty. There are three chapters – Wood and Stone; Earth, Metal and Glass; and Material, Cloth and Decoration – and it concentrates on 25 featured tools through the eyes of those whose craft and livelihood depend on them such as axes, drills, chisels, and shaping tools. Here's some of the publisher's description of it:

"This book seeks to explore our relationship with these most fundamental of objects – those that allow us to realise our potential as makers, problem solvers and doers. Many are rightfully considered as design icons, whilst others reveal the improvisational skills of their owners, tweaked and adjusted to suit specific jobs through trial-and-error."

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

Irregular shaped garden studio

An intriguing design by Brighton-based A Room in the Garden, run by Ivana Cavallo and Lukas Brzozowski, with especially unususal facia boards. It's in a beach-facing garden at Shoreham Beach in West Sussex. Here's what Ivana and Lukas say about it:

The most important visual aspect of the project was the outside finish. For us it was the first time we had used this type of material – cement particle boards – but it was the only material that would definitely survive many years in these seaside conditions. This little garden studio is right on the beach, meaning that storms can send thousands of litres of salty water at high speed across the surface, this does not end well for many building materials.

Although the owners are delighted with it, passersby on the beach are divided in their opinions. The Shedworking staff think it's marvellous.

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

Money off Haynes Shed Manual

You can currently save £6 off the price of the Haynes Shed Manual which I co-wrote with secrets-of-shedbuilding guru John Coupe. Described in the Centre for Alternative Technology's Christmas catalogue as "for the enthusiastic DIY-er and those considering taking on a project" and by, er, The Sunday Sport as "A thing of beauty". For details, click here. ---------------------------------------

Sunday posts are sponsored by eDEN Garden Rooms. Stunning, bespoke high quality garden rooms, to suit your unique space and style

Garden office club

An interesting idea this from SMART Garden Rooms, Offices & Studios, who have started their own rewards program which you automatically join if you buy one of their garden office buildings. There are various levels and rewards including:

• Friend OF SMART – if you agree to let prospective SMART buyers come and visit your building as a  showcase you receive a £100 Amazon voucher for up to six visits
• Recommend a Friend – £500 cashback on full payment of your friend’s building who inturn receives a £500 discount off their order
• Sponsorship/Promotion – if you grant SMART permission to run a case study on your business being run from a SMART building, they will promote your business  in the case study and through a link from our website to yours.

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Saturday posts are sponsored by iHUS Projects, specialists in the design and build of granny annexes for elderly and disabled care.

How to heat your garden office

As the temperature drops, so shedworkers on Twitter begin their annual mild complaints about cold garden offices (at least at the start of the day). Though decent insulation should pretty much keep your shed space decently heated, there are a variety of other options to consider. Garden Affairs has a good post on the subject, looking at electric convection heaters, oil-filled radiators, woodburners, underfloor heating and insulation. Here's what they say about green roofs:

"Our green roofs are deservedly popular not just to encourage wildlife, but also because the thick soil layer helps maintain a constant temperature in the room below. No heating solution will create a comfortable working environment without these basics in place, and with careful planning you might find that for most of the year, they create a warm enough environment that you only need extra heating for a few hours each day."

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