Brexit and garden offices

An interesting segment about the effect of Brexit on companies in the east of England on BBC Look East (you can watch it on the iPlayer today but it expires this evening) features workers from the Smart Garden Offices and Zedbox family, as well as its founder Charlie Dalton. Well worth a quick watch. It starts at the 14 minutes in stage. -------------------------------------------------------

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

Dog grooming salon

Garden2Office has recently finished its first dog grooming salon, from the company's Malmo range which includes Velux skylights and a galvanised steel roof. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Installing a garden office-summerhouse with limited access

One regular issue we field here at Shedworking HQ is about garden size, prospective shedworkers concerned that their garden is too small (possible, but there are some very small models out there) or that access to their garden is too tricky.

Here's an example of what can be done, a 5.3m x 3m garden office room with a 1.2m wide storage to the right-hand side and triple bi-fold doors from eDEN Garden Rooms in Richmond, as the company's Mia Walmsley explains:

"The entire garden within which this project was to be built already had a full artificial lawn laid, plus an existing shed on the garden room site. So, the very first job for the eDEN Garden Rooms team was to remove the shed, and cut back the artificial turf, retaining it for the customer and ensuring that it was protected and kept in tip-top condition throughout the site build.

"As the customer’s property was terraced, all materials and equipment needed to be bought through the house into the garden, where the full construction took place. eDEN’s flexible two-method build approach, and use of non-invasive screw pile foundations, means that even when there isn’t side access at a property, we can still carefully bring everything through the house and complete the project with minimal disruption."

Interestingly, because the garden room covers the full width of the garden and is tight to the boundaries, eDEN used concrete panels on the side and back which cannot be seen but are entirely maintenance-free and weatherproof. Cedar panelling was over-clad to the fence-line to make it look pleasing. ---------------------------------------------------------

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Garden offices can add more than £30,000 to the value of your property

It is possible to add more than £30,000 to the value of your home with a garden office or garden room, according to new research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and the HomeOwners Alliance (HOA).

Findings from a study into the projects which can add the most value to your home in the shortest space of time and in particular parts of the country indicate that building a rougly £7,000 priced garden room or outside playroom for the kids can add £35,611 to an averagely priced home in Surrey.

Elsewhere around the country, the (very specific) figures in Cambridgeshire were £29,168, in Dartmoor £34,858, in Dorset £23,856, and in London £9,683.

 "If you’re looking to move up the property ladder, it’s obviously in your best interests to increase the value of your home as much as possible," said Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB. "By investing in low cost, high return projects, not only will you make your home a more pleasant place to live, you’ll also be increasing its value significantly. Better still, these projects take no time at all so the hassle factor will be kept to an absolute minimum. As the weather starts to improve, now is the perfect time to commission the home improvement projects you’ve been putting off all winter."

Estate agent Simon Bradbury from Thomas Morris in Cambridgeshire added: "Our experience in the East of England, certainly in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Herefordshire, is that additional accommodation such as a garden room will certainly add the most amount of value."

The figures also suggested that installing decking and lighting in the back garden can also add considerble value, for example £8,946 to an averagely priced home in Dorset.

Image courtesy OECO Garden Rooms

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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

Birthday Shed

It's the Shedworking HQ's staff's birthday today so we're taking the day off and plan to consume something like this later. See you again tomorrow. -------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Sheds at Chelsea Flower Show 2018 preview

Garden designs for the 2018 Chelsea Flower Show are starting to appear well ahead of the show at the end of May. As usual, here is our early rundown of the ones which at the moment have the most shedlike structures (all subject to change of course).

So above is our favourite so far the O-Mo-Te-Na-Shi No NIWA -The Japanese Hospitality Garden designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara which features an octagonal Azumaya garden house covered by traditional roof tiles made of baked Japanese soil.

This is the Welcome to Yorkshire Garden inspired by the Yorkshire Dales which includes a stone bothy. Designed by Mark Gregory

Above, The Morgan Stanley Garden for the NSPCC with a bespoke cedar wood pavilion and pool. Designed by the everpresent Chris Beardshaw 

Here's The Lemon Tree Trust Garden designed byTom Massey

And here's the very promising The Seedlip Garden which has a marvellously-named 'pea pavilion'.
Design by Dr Catherine MacDonald 

Finally, The CHERUB HIV Garden: A Life Without Walls with an intriguing white pod. According to the organisers: "The path from the pod through the garden represents a move to a life of more freedom, as well as the obstacles encountered." Designed by Naomi Ferrett-Cohen ------------------------------------

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

Shedworking theme to Shed of the Year 2018

Entries for Shed of the Year 2018 are now open - for full details go to readersheds.co.uk and sign yours up now. Latest research by sponsors Cuprinol - based on past surveys for Shedworking - suggests shedworkers contribute just shy of £30 billion to the economy annually, while they also estimate that more than half of shedowners use their shed as a base for their hobbies. Here's what Shed Blog says about Sam Fender, pictured above:

Young musician Sam Fender laid down his first single in his garden shed and is now named as one of the top artists to watch out for in 2018 according to Radio X. Sam is on his way to stardom thanks to his shed-turned-music-studio.

The competition's founder Andrew Wilcox (Uncle Wilco) said: “We’ve always had a lot of hobbyists and workshops shed entries, but in the last few years there has been so many more start-ups and small businesses using their sheds to make a little extra money or start a new career."

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