David Kay: Garden Office Legend at Edinburgh Fringe

Looking for shed-based comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe this year? You're in luck. The highly regarded David Kay who says he "needed a place to write the show so built this garden office as a place he could go and write 'Garden Office Legend' and some scone based comedy too." See him at The Stand from August 8 to August 14. Tickets here.

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Sunday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, contemporary living spaces offering premium quality, bespoke buildings without the hefty price tag

Why is a garden office better than extending?

So why should you buy a garden office or garden room? If you need any more persuasion than a quick tour of the Shedworking site, Waltons has put together a handy 10 pointer.:

1. No planning permission required – provided you remain within permitted development guidelines.
2. Quick and easy to install – a professional installation team will deliver and build your garden room in days, rather than months. 
3. Less disruptive – you won’t have to live in a noisy and dusty building site. 
4. Versatile space – so much more than just a home office, your fully double-glazed, insulated garden room can double as a gym, occasional guest room, games room, craft space, music studio or a quiet retreat.
5. Cost-effective – an insulated garden room costs far less than a loft conversion or extension.  
6. Adds value to your home – many buyers actively seek dedicated offices or home gyms.
7. Unique focal feature – adds style and drama to your outside space.
8. Improves work-life balance – used as an office, garden rooms help to physically separate work from family life. 
9. Cheaper to keep warm – heating just one workspace through the winter months is far cheaper than running your home’s entire central heating system.
10. Sustainable – wood-framed garden rooms made from FSC certified timber are more sustainable than UPVC conservatories or traditional block-built structures.
    

Other guides worth looking at on their site include their ultimate guide to buying an insulated garden room, and how to create the best garden room office.

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Welcome to your new teak garden room from Moonalabs. Unparalleled quality at an affordable price.

Garden office wifi

No apologies for returning to this very popular subject which constantly raises its head online and which we cover regularly here on Shedworking. Here's the latest entirely understandable query and some of the best answers.

We had exactly this problem (but over more than 10m), and put the booster in the house at the nearest point to the garden office – virtually midway between the router and the office PC. But BUT! – this was on the advice (and trial & error) of BT engineer who was excellent. https://t.co/GkBFgg9OfD

— Sean McSweeney 💙 (@Seanimsatso) August 5, 2022

You could check out directional repeaters if you're only interested in the signal in your garden office. These are much better for longer ranges since they broadcast in a beam rather than in all directions. Hope this helps! 🙂

— Nicholas Bissell (@nickbiss39) August 5, 2022

You could check out directional repeaters if you're only interested in the signal in your garden office. These are much better for longer ranges since they broadcast in a beam rather than in all directions. Hope this helps! 🙂

— Nicholas Bissell (@nickbiss39) August 5, 2022

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

 

Acoustic garden room with porch

This acoustic studio was designed and built by Garden Spaces for use as an acoustic studio measuring 3m x 4.8m x 2.5m (external dimensions). Features include an unusually-shaped back wall (see diagram, bottom), an acoustic vent installed to allow ventilation, acoustic glazing and minimal opening for better performance, and an acoustic porch.

"This is our solution to provide excellent acoustic performance when required," explains company director Roger Hedges. "We incorporate an external glass door and an internal solid acoustic door with drop seals and acoustic traps/seals around the door frame. This can offer a noise reduction in excess of 60 dB with both doors closed." Indeed the client agrees and commented: "The room looks great and the soundproofing is really impressive."

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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.

Garden offices at Sandringham Gate development show home

 

We've looked at the growing number of housing developers who are incorporating garden offices into their schemes several times before on Shedworking, particularly Bellway and Ashberry. To that growing list we can now add Outside In Garden Rooms which has been working with Mactaggart & Mickel Homes to instal one of their Uno Max Garden Rooms (pictured above) in the company's show home in the Sandringham Gate development in Newton Mearns, Glasgow. 
 
"We came to the project very much at the drawing board stage," says Outside In's Director Mel Russell. "and worked really closely with all the stakeholders. We arrived on site ahead of the show home completion and worked with the landscapers to ensure the positioning was just right. The on-site team was amazing to work with and the end result came together beautifully! So pleased to have been a part of the project and to have added to what is a stunning home."

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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.

Outdoor string lights

It's that time of year when it's nice to be outside in the evenings, whether you're in your garden office or just relaxing on the patio. One way to enhance your enjoyment is by using lights and Yorkshire-based Lights4fun asked us if we'd like to roadtest some of their outdoor string lights and then provide an honest review. We went for the '200 Warm White LED Outdoor Battery Fairy Lights On Clear Cable' and found it a big success. Easy to set up and install, it works perfectly without any fuss, and certainly illuminates the trees on the side of our garden, all for £25. There are plenty of other options - if you're interested, click the link above to have a look.

How to improve your working day

A very nice review of my Rooms of Their Own book combined with some thoughts about making the most of your work space and time by artist Ana Vila (who depicts one of her favourite spots above) in her latest The Sketch Club newsletter. Here's a snippet:

Set up your own routine and stick to it. Be disciplined with your creative practice.

First, know yourself: are you a morning person or an evening person? Most writers from the book start early in the morning and work until the afternoon. They set up their most convenient and productive schedule and follow it with iron discipline.

Some of them set up daily definite goals for each writing session, such as the number of words or pages (this brings the enormous task of writing a book down to manageable outcomes). Some others perform little rituals that help them get into the mood for writing, or review the notes they took the day before.

[Stephen] King is aiming for conditions conducive to what he describes as ‘creative sleep’, with the repetitive element as a kind of rite which prepares you for the ceremony of writing in the same way that your routine of going to bed helps you get ready for sleep.

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