The Rise of the Garden Office

Garden offices have been trending in 2020, and it makes sense why! The rise of the garden office is something that Green Retreats realised early on, resulting in us creating the perfect solution to help make space at home for a professional and private workspace – a garden room as a garden office.

The Rise of The Garden Office

Since 2005.

The rise of the garden office as a home improvement and extra space solution has been apparent since around 2005. Forward-thinking employers and careers that allowed working from home back then were few and far between. Since that time more and more modern companies have been realising the benefits of allowing a more flexible working environment with the option to work from home.

The new normal in 2020…

Jump forward to 2020 when working from home became the new normal for many of us as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Working from home was necessary to help slow down the virus and save lives, but what has happened since is the growing realisation that working from home is a great thing – for companies and for employees. Companies that were behind the trend with scepticism about productivity and morale, instead favouring an old-fashioned office set up with archaic views of how a business should operate, have had their hand forced and eyes opened to the benefits of working from home. The future of how businesses operate will be forever changed by the 2020 pandemic, with many companies stating that full-time office work will no longer be part of their business.

Graph showing Google trend results for search interest for the term ‘Garden Office’

As you can see, the popularity and interest in garden offices grew substantially as a result of the UK lockdown measures and work from home movement.

What is a Garden Office?

A garden office is a garden room which has been internally fitted for the purpose of a home office. Garden rooms are completely detached from the main house, creating a completely private and professional space to work. At Green Retreats we use premium building materials to construct our garden rooms, making them as comfortable to use has a room inside your home. These buildings are weathertight and fully insulated using breathable insulation for a dry and comfortable environment. What’s more, we include heating as standard to keep you warm in the colder seasons.

The space issue

One major drawback to working from home is finding the space to work from. Problem solved if you have a home office room available to work from, but working from the dining room table or the sofa is not a professional solution. Even still, working from home in any location poses a burden on you and your household to keep quiet and not interfere with each other during the working day. Not ideal with kids being kids during a Zoom call…

Benefits of a garden office vs a home office:

• detached from the house for total privacy
• a quiet space to focus without the distractions of home
• a professional workspace with a dedicated purpose (not the corner of the spare room or perched on the dining room table)
• keep work and home life separate by being in a different location
• allow the rest of your household the freedom to relax at home

Other benefits

• insulated for year-round use
• built to the same high quality as a room in your house

Garden Office Ideas

We build your garden office as a blank space with only the essentials, ready to be fitted with your choice of furnishing to create the perfect home office. Here are some ideas that our previous customers have done to their garden offices once they have been fitted.

But first, coffee.

Add a kitchenette area with an optional sink so that you can keep tea and coffee on tap throughout the day. For any plumbing works, whilst we don’t take care of this ourselves we can liaise with your chosen plumber to make sure they are comfortable with the construction of the building.

Bathroom break.

Adding a toilet to your garden office is a practical addition that saves you time and distractions of going back into the house. Again for any plumbing work, we don’t carry this out ourselves but will happily speak with your plumber to discuss the construction of the building. What’s more, we do install partition walls and internal doors as an optional extra which can create the space for your office toilet.

Create a multi-purpose space.

Make the most of your new garden room space by making it multi-purpose. Some examples we’ve seen in the past are garden office and garden cinema combo or man cave and office in one!

Run your own business?

Running your home business from a garden office gives your company a professional edge over a space inside your home, especially if you meet with clients or colleagues. The picture above is the home business studio for Diva Fitness – a professional personal training businesses run from the practicality of a garden gym building.

Keeping your home and work life separate is the best way to maintain a professional working relationship. Wouldn’t it be ideal to not have to put the washing away or tiding the house every time you had a customer come by? And not seeing your family holiday photos on the wall is just another added bonus.

Find out more…

Contact us to discuss your garden office plans and we can show you how we can help create your perfect space.