Space to work and create – Garden Studio in Chippenham

Last year Bethany and Joe invested in a standalone multipurpose garden studio to free up space in the house and provide a new dedicated area for homeworking and crafts. Garden Affairs caught up with them at her home in Chippenham to discuss how the garden studio has influenced their life one year after completing the installation.

Bethany’s hobby crafts were being done in the house and with Joe working from home, both the living room and bedroom were being occupied all day.

“Neither room had sufficient storage, this meant the bedroom was always taken up by the office setup, and the living room wasn’t very comfortable in the evening”.

Normally when households consider creating additional space, they look at building an extension. However, nowadays these can be expensive and very disruptive to home life. Moving home can be an option, but this presents a series of challenges and a whole load of stress. Bethany and Joe decided to create the additional space that their family needed, without incurring high costs and without too much disruption, by installing a standalone garden studio.

They visited Garden Affairs show site in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, to view the different styles and sizes of buildings. After discussing their needs and ideas, Garden Affairs were able to develop a garden studio design that met their exact requirements and budget.

“We worked with Garden Affairs to come up with the right design that would free up two rooms in the house and create a division between workspace and the day-to-day life with children in the house”.

For this solution to work, the garden studio would need to be comfortable all year round and have access to the internet, with enough space for Bethany to create and Joe to work from home at the same time.

The garden already had an under-utilised patio area, directly adjacent to the house that with a small amount of work could be prepared for the new garden studio. The patio would function as a perfect base foundation, and so the studio was designed to fit into the existing landscaping.

By removing the raised plant bed, the patio area could be extended to maximise space for the multi-purpose room, and Garden Affairs designed a garden studio to achieve exactly that.

The garden studio measured 2.5m in height to comply with permitted development rights, had full insulation for year-round use, and a full electrical package for lighting, heating, and internet. The internal space would be finished with painted walls, and an easy-to-clean laminate floor would make for a very comfortable working space.

The Linea range benefits from a sleek, modern design and durable larch timber cladding. With no roof overhang, the building can be positioned close to fences and walls and maximise every millimetre available.

Once the initial design had been created, the next step was to choose the best doors and windows and pick the colours that would work with the surrounding garden. After no time at all, the design was finalised, and the wheels were set in motion.

The installation was managed by Garden Affairs in-house team of carpenters and took just a few days to complete. The electrics were installed and connected the following week.

Double doors now open out onto the patio to create an indoor/outdoor space, and the new studio creates a separation in the garden between the well-kept lawn to the right and the practical bin storage on the left. The once-unused corner of the garden has transformed into a practical working space.

“We love it. The new space has freed up two rooms in the house and we can do our work in peace in a new dedicated area”.

A garden studio offers a versatile space that can adapt and change with your needs. It adds value to your home and can be installed in as little as eight weeks without any disruption to your home.