Benefits of Getting a Home Office in the Garden

I have been working from as a self-employed copywriter and blogger for around seven years now, so when the pandemic hit, working from home was something that I was already used to. Homeschooling was a completely different topic, but I digress… Now that my other half has been working from home for the best part of a year now too, and who knows how long he will be, we have decided to create a proper office space in our garden and have a cabin built. It will be so good to close the door on work, and not have to have a desk in one of the bedrooms or have to work from the dining room table. Hoping there will also be space in there fora cheeky Peleton bike, but we shall see.

Recently we have been looking into suppliers and seeing what would need to be done. Of course, part of the garden will need to be dug out and levelled up, and then we’ll need to call on a domestic concrete supplier to fill the space. It is a proper structure, so needs to have good foundations, which is where the concrete comes in. From there the building can commence.

Although because of waiting lists we won’t be having the garden office built for quite a few months yet, I am really excited for it. It has been something we have discussed for a while, but now feels like the right time to get on with it! If you are tempted to get one done yourself, then here are some of the benefits.

Adds value to the home

One of the most appealing things, other than the fact that you have a separate working space, is that it will add value to the home. There are costs upfront to having something like this built, of course, but it won’t be like getting a new car where the value goes down as soon as you start to use it. It takes up hardly any of our lawn space, so that isn’t compromised, and when the time comes to moving from where we are now, it is an extra reception room, essentially. Even if it isn’t an office, it could be used as a gym, a bar, a playroom, TV room, or a storage space; the options are endless which really helps it to add value to the cost of your home.

The stats behind it show that it can add between 5% and 7% of the property price, to your property.

Work and life balance

As someone who has worked from home for a while, I know just how tempting it can be to log-on quickly once the children are in bed or just check an email. It can be hard to walk away when the computer is right there. When you’re out of the home at work, you don’t have the option to just log-on as you don’t have the means. Having a garden office will help to create a better work life balance (I am hoping!) so that once work is done, the door can be closed and work can be left behind.

Productivity

Another benefit is that it will help us to be much more productive when working. It can be designed and styled with productivity in mind, helping the working day to be much more efficient. When I’m working from the dining room table I have to move when the kids want lunch and as it is somewhere that people can move in and out of during the day, it means work is broken up a little, hindering how productive I can be.

Saves Money

Although it costs money to get a garden shed built in the first place, when you think about commuting costs, it will help to save money. My husband had to go into London (zone 1) from Surrey (zone 6) five days a week, so had an annual train ticket for that. This is quite a significant amount, and if he will continue to work from home, the garden office will work out to the same cost as his season tickets in just a few years. So long term, it is a great way to save money.