As property experts attest, investing in a good garden room is sure to add value to your home, just as any addition which increases space would. If the intention is to use the space as an office, it saves having to sacrifice an existing room in the house for that purpose and, depending on the quality of the design and build, a garden room is a cost-effective way to improve the value of your home by anything from between five and fifteen per cent. When it comes to selling, it may also attract more buyers, especially as increasing numbers of people now work from home.
But compelling financial reasons aside, a good garden room can be a thing of great joy, connecting you to the outdoors and nature, while also offering a separate space from the main house in which to work. On the other hand, not everyone choses to use their new-found space for working: it could equally double as place to entertain or simply as a sanctuary in which to relax.
The cost of a garden room, however, can feel prohibitive. But whilst fully bespoke garden rooms can be very expensive, those on a budget should not be put off; there are many excellent options for off-the-peg studios that can be customised to suit your needs and budget. Here are a few of the best.
Dunster House
Click on the family-run Dunster House’s website and you will find a dizzying array of possibilities for your garden room – all of which come in at the lower end of the price spectrum. Owner Alexander Murphy says, ‘Our product is always the best specified in the market yet amongst the lowest priced. It’s this simple philosophy that has allowed us to become the biggest in our industry and as our buying power has increased our product/price ratio has only improved. Unlike the vast majority of our competitors, we are the designers / manufacturers / suppliers so you’re buying direct and not paying extra for a middleman.’ We like the look of the Terminator Pent Log Cabin, which comes in at £6,479.99. Paint it in lovely earthy hues, and you have a simply designed and useful new room for significantly less than £10k. Explore the full range here.
Garden Street
The Cheshire-based Garden Street launched in 2008 and brings together almost anything you could ever want from your garden, from greenhouses to tools and equipment. It does a strong line in self-assembly garden cabins and offices, too. The Palmako Paris Cabin, which costs £5,380, is made from Nordic Spruce and would add an extra 13.6sqm to your home. Explore the full range here.
Malvern Garden Buildings
If you want to create a garden structure, Malvern Garden Buildings covers every possibility from Breeze Houses to garden offices to woodland lodges. There are showrooms across the country, from Devon to Staffordshire, at which you can peruse the rooms on offer, including the lovely Kew Collection, which draws inspiration from the Royal Botanic Gardens and the heavenly Bloomsbury, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s original ‘she-shed’ at Monk’s House. At the inexpensive end of the range, we like the simplicity of the Barn Style Studio, £5,970, and the flexible space of the Arley Garden Studio (£3,780). Explore the full range here.
Polhus
The Swedish have form when it comes to simple, effective and aesthetic household solutions that are assembled at home. Polhus, whose HQ is in Malmo, was founded in 2001 and specialises in wooden houses, from saunas to garden rooms to playhouses. We like the absolute simplicity of the Garden Room Julian (£4,290), as well as the contemporary, light-filled Garden Office Hjalmar (NOW £7,910). Explore the full range here.
Tiger Sheds
Tiger Sheds is a vast operation run from a central four-acre manufacturing unit in Leeds, its scale enabling it to keep costs as low as possible and, in most cases, offer free delivery. It has a selection of log cabins available to buy, all in a variety of sizes. We’d go for The Optima (from £5,222.39), whose three sets of doors ensure it is bright and breezy. Paint it cream, grey or a soft sage green and grow beautiful plants around it and it’s bound to look enchanting. Explore the full range here.
Tuin
This Dutch company supplies everything and anything you could possibly need in your garden. It also happens to be the foremost supplier of log cabins in Europe. We like the Meaghan Log Cabin (£5,791.18) which, as 4.5m X 4.5m, makes an ideal garden working space – or a wonderful nook to retreat to to read in on hot summer’s days. Explore the full range here.
By Nancy Alsop
May 2022
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