More and more companies these days are employing a hybrid or fully-remote work culture, meaning increasing numbers of British homeowners are in need of a home office. Interestingly, on Dojo's list of the ‘best cities for remote workers,’ York comes in at number five—which suggests that there’s an impactful connection between proximity to nature and wellbeing at work. With the 7 garden office ideas discussed in this guide to designing a great garden office, we’ll be exploring the intimate nature between your work-life balance and the great outdoors.
Contents:
- What is a garden office? Exploring the benefits of working ‘outdoors’
- Why design a garden office of your own?
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Garden office layout ideas: 7 key considerations when designing your dream garden workspace
- 1) Where to situate your garden office
- 2) What type of office you want to build
- 3) The layout of your office, including additional features
- 4) Whether to make your garden office dual-purpose
- 5) Where to put the windows
- 6) How to decorate your garden office exterior
- 7) How to decorate your garden office interior
- Conclusion: Moving onto next steps, decorating the interior
What is a garden office? Exploring the benefits of working ‘outdoors’
A garden office is exactly what it sounds like: a dedicated space in your garden for working. Of course, whilst we’ve hinted at the benefits of working outdoors, we don’t mean working open air…
Instead, garden offices are self-contained buildings—typically consisting of a single room, much like a summer house—designed to facilitate working from home in an office-like environment.
But why design a garden office in the first place? Why not just use a spare room, or work from the kitchen table? Let’s take a look at some key benefits to working in your garden which simply can’t be replicated indoors.
- A garden office separates work and leisure: For the legions of us working from home in the wake of the Covid years, and for those of us who always have been, separating your work and home life can be a challenge. Building a garden office gives you a place to lock up and leave at the end of the day, helping you to foster a healthier work-life balance.
- Being near nature is good for the soul: Studies show that spending time outdoors, in nature, is good for both our physical and mental health. If we’ve got to spend most of our weekdays working, why not situate ourselves within the natural surrounds of our own back garden?
- An outdoor office can raise the value of your home: According to a study by HomeOwners Alliance, building a ‘garden room’ or office in your garden can add as much as £36,000 to the market value of an English countryside home. Other similar claims suggest a 5-10% rise in total home value with the addition of a garden office.
- Your home was never designed to be an office, but a garden office is: Sure you can turn that spare room into an office, or work at the dining room table, but these are makeshift solutions to a situation that isn’t going away. So long as hybrid or remote work remains a part of your life, you owe it to yourself to invest in a proper home office setup.
Why design a garden office of your own?
Once you’ve decided to build an office in the garden, the next question is: design it yourself or go for a pre-designed package? There are benefits to both, of course, and there are some cracking Yorkshire-based companies like Yorkshire Garden Studios and Yorkshire Garden Rooms to choose from, if you’re going down the pre-designed route.
However, designing your own garden office—one tailored to your space, your needs, the light your garden receives and more—ensures that the end product is not just suitable as an outdoor office, but is specifically suitable as your outdoor office.
Garden office layout ideas: 7 key considerations when designing your dream garden workspace
When it comes to designing the perfect garden room for your working needs, we’ve got you covered. Here are 7 of the best and most important garden office ideas and considerations to get your creative juices flowing. For more inspiration on designing home extensions, check out our other blog.
1) Where to situate your garden office
Deciding where to build your garden office is the first major consideration you’ll have to make, and will be informed by a variety of factors:
- How much space you have to play with
- Where in your garden gets plenty of natural light
- What the ground conditions are like
- Easy access to the main house
- Proximity to the main house for WiFi signal strength and phone line connections
- Planning permission requirements in your council area
Whilst it might not always be possible to find a spot in your garden which meets all of the above, with some careful planning, you should be able to settle on a location for your garden office which is both practical and pleasing to the eye.
2) What type of office you want to build
Depending on what type of work you do, your garden office could look exceedingly different to your neighbour’s.
For example, if you’re a personal trainer or yoga instructor, you’ll likely want to build a garden room which functions primarily as a gym, with only a small amount of space (if any) dedicated to traditional office equipment like a desk and computer.
Alternatively, visual artists might want to build a studio in the garden, whilst an accountant, lawyer, director or member of an administrative team would probably go for a more traditional office-style layout.
It’s worth taking time to reflect on not only the traditional workspaces demanded by your line of work, but also their restrictions. By designing your own unique office space, you can adapt traditional layouts and features to improve your professional experience.
3) The layout of your office, including additional features
This outdoor office idea is closely connected to the last, in that depending on your profession, working requirements and personal taste, the layout of your office can take many different shapes.
And because you’re typically limited to one square or rectangular room, the decisions you make about where to situate storage, a built-in desk, shelving, seating and the like are all the more important. If you need to host regular in-person team meetings at your garden office, for example, you’ll need a space and furniture plenty enough to accommodate others.
You should also consider any optional extras you’d like to add to your garden office layout. For example, will your office need its own toilet, sink (for painting, for example), or underfloor heating? All these extras will impact both the budget of the build and its layout, so consider them carefully.
4) Whether to make your garden office dual-purpose
Some folks in England with garden rooms, offices and summer houses like to ensure that their fancy new builds can serve out-of-hours purposes as well. For example, you might want to design an outdoor office, which can turn into a bar once the working day’s over, or which has an adaptable space for relaxation and entertainment on weekends, such as the ability to open onto a BBQ patio area, or a sofa, TV and sound system in the corner.
5) Where to put the windows
Knowing how to effectively light your new office will be key, not only to your productivity—especially during those long winter nights—but also to your wellbeing. In addition to some well-situated interior lighting, we’d highly recommend that you spend your time considering where the best place for the windows will be.
Typically, south-facing windows receive the most natural light throughout the day. Since we’re north of the equator here in the UK, positioning windows in a garden office’s south wall points them closest toward the sun.
Of course, it may be that in the spot you’ve chosen to situate your office there are tall, bushy trees blocking the sun to the south. In a situation like this, you might want to choose another wall. Moreover, if you work best in the morning, then a west-facing window will capture the sunrise, whilst night-owls and artists might prefer an easterly window for sunset’s rainbow of colours.
6) How to decorate your garden office exterior
Let’s not forget that an outdoor office is still a feature of your home and garden. Whilst it’s important to get the office design and décor right, it’s equally important that you decorate its exterior to match your home’s aesthetic—you want the office to blend into your home and garden, not stick out like a sore thumb.
There are lots of options for decorating a garden office exterior, though thankfully, most tend to look quite lovely from the outset: natural wood timber and glass giving the next-level shed an unmistakable charm. To take your office’s exterior design up a level, however, here’s a wee list of recommendations:
- Add some potted trees and other plans to the decking of your new office to help it blend into the green hues of your garden.
- Create a stone pathway from house to garden office using natural stone paving slabs and stepping stones set into the grass.
- String up fairly lights or solar panel lighting to help give the professional space a hint of the playful and moody come nighttime.
- Pop up a bird feeder or two to attract local songbirds and migratory birds to your office—their colourful, spritely presence will surely help stave off those Monday blues!
7) How to decorate your garden office interior
Last but not least, let’s talk briefly about decorating the interior of your office. There’s a good chance you’ll be spending most of your week in that office—especially if you work a fully-remote 9-to-5. As such, it’s important to decorate it not solely for practicality and productivity, but also to create a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere.
Since your new outdoor office will most likely be built from natural hardwoods, think about what colours might naturally complement the oak and other woods used. Similarly, since your office is a single, relatively small room, it’s worth considering how you might arrange furniture and use decoration to make that room feel bigger.
Conclusion: Moving on to next steps, designing the interior
Much like a puppy, your new garden office is not just for Christmas, it’s for life. Whether you’re five years off retirement or fifty, the design of your outdoor office, gym or studio will have a lasting impact on not only your capacity to work from home, but also your productivity, creativity, enjoyment at work and your work-life balance.
We hope the ideas we’ve discussed for designing yourself a unique garden office have got you inspired. Of course, designing the layout, placement and exterior of your new home workspace is but the first step. As we hinted at with idea #7, the fun really begins when it comes time to decorate the interior.
Continue your journey towards building the garden office of your dreams with our complete guide to small garden office interior design, today.
