Garden Office Design Guide: How to Create a Perfect Workspace

The practice of working from home has become a lot more commonplace in recent years. The pandemic made remote work a necessity for many. But after the pandemic ended, many people, and their employers, decided that working from home had many benefits.

As such, more people are now choosing to work from the comfort of their own homes. However, when there are children about or space is limited, it can be a challenge to find the perfect environment for work.

That’s where a garden office becomes incredibly useful.

A garden office provides you with a separate space to work away from the house, perhaps tucked away in the corner of the garden or with a beautiful view. You can enjoy peace, quiet and comfortable surroundings, and many believe that there’s no better way to work.

Don’t think a garden room is just a posh name for a shed. Garden rooms have come a long way in recent years, and now you can enjoy an environment that is far more suitable for working.

So, where do you begin? What do you need to decide when it comes to factors as important as the size, design and features of your office? This is where many people struggle.

Designing and building a garden room is a lot of fun, but there are several factors to consider. In this garden office design guide, we cover everything you need to know to get started.

Pre-Installation

Bespoke Room – Into the Garden Room

There are several important decisions to make at the design stage. It’s essential to get these right early on before you install the garden room because they will be far more difficult to change later on.

1. Office Size

The first thing you need to decide upon is the size of your office. Go out into your garden and consider where you want to install the building. If you know where it will go, think about what would be a suitable size.

If you have a large garden, you can choose the size you want, whether that’s a small corner office or a much larger office dominating the garden.

If you have a small garden, you may be more restricted in the size options. A larger room will take up more space and dominate your garden more, so keep this in mind.

2. Office Layout

Bespoke Room – Into the Garden Room

There are many garden room styles to choose from, but the majority of garden offices consist of a single rectangular or square space, which can range in size from very small to enormous.

But don’t feel limited by this simple layout. If you want something a bit different, another option is an L-shaped garden room.

These are perfect for positioning in the corner of your garden, and they essentially create two separate spaces within one, which you can use however you wish.

As you consider your garden office design plans, you might want a garden room with two or more rooms. You can then use one room for your office and the other room for any other purpose.

Fancy doing some yoga on your lunch break? A garden studio next to your office could be a great option.

Garden rooms consisting of two separate rooms can be separated by a wall with each room having its own separate door. You can also have a garden room consisting of one room, and then use design features and furniture to create separate spaces. We’ll discuss this more later on when we look at the final touches.

The important thing is to consider all this early on during the initial design stage. While many factors can be changed later on, you’ll need to stick with the size and layout you go with at the start, so make your decision carefully.

3. View and Illumination

When you start brainstorming garden office design ideas, think carefully about where you want the windows and doors to go.

Some garden rooms don’t offer much in the way of customisation, while with others you have complete freedom to decide. If you’re going the bespoke garden room route, this is an important consideration.

Part of the appeal of a garden office is the option to sit down and get to work while enjoying a view of your garden, so make the most of this.

Are you lucky enough to have a splendid view from your garden? If so, you might want to position your garden room to take advantage of it and make sure it has a large window looking over the view.

Alternatively, you could have a large folding door and enjoy the view when the door is closed or open. It might even lead to a veranda so you can enjoy sitting outdoors on fine days.

Don’t just think about the view, but consider the amount of light you want to enter. One of the great things about garden rooms is that they allow in lots of natural light.

Opt for plenty of windows if you can. After all, you can always install blinds or curtains to reduce the amount of light entering later on, but it will be much harder to add an extra window at a later date.

4. Materials

Bespoke Room – Into the Garden Room

The quality of the materials will have a huge impact on the overall quality and comfort of your space.

For example, the glass used in the windows and doors should be double glazing. This is an easy decision because it will help your office to stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, making working inside it more comfortable.

But also consider the materials used in the flooring and the overall construction. Does the building come with cladding on the outside? Does it have high-quality insulation in the walls and floors?

Make sure the garden room designer you choose can offer the very best materials that are made not only to be durable but to ensure greater comfort for you.

5. Electricity & Plumbing

You must also consider the electricity supply and whether you want plumbing included. This is carried out during the installation stage, so it’s something to think about early on.

Having electricity means you can plug in all of your devices, from computers to lamps, or even an AC unit for hot days.

Also, a high-quality garden office should be a space you can use throughout the year, not just for a few months in the summer. Making sure it’s warm in the winter should be a priority.

Electric heating is a simple and effective option for your garden office. Using an electric heater, a small space can be heated up quickly, as long as the room has good insulation.

Plumbing may or may not be a requirement for you. However, a sink or toilet can be useful if you don’t want to return regularly to your house, so it’s worth considering before your office is installed.

These are all worth thinking about early on so they can be fitted during the installation, rather than added in later on, which will be an additional expense.

Post-Installation

Bespoke Room – Into the Garden Room

After your garden office has been installed, there are several decisions you can make that will change the look and feel of your space.

6. Defining Your Workspace

All of the above factors are important to consider before your garden office is installed. But once it has been installed, the job’s not over. You now have a high-quality office to use, and this is where you can start considering the overall look and feel of the room.

One of the things you can do is define your workspace. This will depend to a certain extent on the overall design of your room, but let’s say you have a large space that you want to use for different purposes. You might not even need a lot of space to carry out your work.

• Use a blind to quickly separate one space from another without the need to create two entirely different rooms.
• Use a rug on the floor to determine a space for relaxing, or use furniture like a bookshelf or a sofa to separate the different areas.
• Set up a desk in one corner of the room and install some shelves above it to distinguish this space as your working space.
• Paint your work area one colour and the living area a different colour.

These are all options, so think about how you can best define your workspace.

7. Final Touches

Bespoke Room – Into the Garden Room

Once you have defined the workspace, you’re nearly ready. Now, it’s all about the final touches.

You have endless possibilities when it comes to garden office design, depending on your personal preferences. This is your space, so add finishing touches however you wish. Some garden office ideas to inspire you include the following:

• Paint the inside a calming and relaxing colour like light blue or green to help you focus.
• Fill the room with plants. Plants are very happy in garden rooms because of the amount of natural light they receive, and they help to create a pleasant atmosphere.
• Add some stylish blinds to the windows for privacy or to block direct sunlight.
• Choose items of furniture that reflect your personal style, like a sofa to relax on when you’re not working or bookshelves to fill with your favourite books.
• Think about lighting, too. You might want to work late into the night, and you could make use of different lights to create the ideal environment. This could include a combination of ambient lighting, task lighting and accent lighting.

The beauty of this stage is that you can keep on changing it up. Want to redecorate or change all the furniture? This is your space to change and refine as you please.

Enjoy Working from Your Garden

Hopefully, this garden office design guide has given you all the information you need to create your perfect garden office.

There is no better place to work than from your garden. Its convenience is unbeatable, and you now have more options than ever.

But make sure you create a place where you truly want to work, not just somewhere you have to put up with because there’s nowhere else to go.

Consider all the factors above to create your perfect working environment, from the overall design of the building to the illumination, features, amenities and interior design. This will allow you to create the perfect space for working from the comfort of your garden where you can be inspired by the surroundings.

Need inspiration for your new garden office? Get a quote from our garden room experts today!