Monty Don's Christmas writing shed

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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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.

Le festival des cabanes

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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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.

Win a copy of Rooms of Their Own with Malvern Garden Buildings

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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Monday posts are sponsored by Tiny House Cabins. Beautiful cabins for all year round... oozing character!

 

Glasshouse and greenhouse 2023 predictions

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

Wintry garden offices

SMART is among the various garden office companies getting into the festive spirit. Here's their showroom above, decorated and ready for Christmas. Visitors can enjoy a free hot drink while they look around (9am to 5pm during the week, 10am - 3pm on Saturday, but please book an appointment first). SMART is also running a Christmas competition for SMART garden room owners - the most impressively decorated wins a luxury hamper! For more details see their Facebook page or contact them via the link above.

Below is writer Nicole Kennedy's garden office.

And here is writer Lucy Strange's view from her writing shed.

 

 

Please do send us pictures of your frosty, wintry, and seasonal garden offices.

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

Frosty shedworking

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

Garden Office with store room

Here's the latest garden office build from Garden Spaces which comes with thermowood cladding and has a rather unusual shape so the dimensions are not for square build. It's a touch over 4m x 6.4m x 2.5m, with space for a store room as well as office space. Foundations are ground screw piles and the laminate flooring is smoked oak.

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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.