Thursday, March 28, 2024

Steel garden office

As we often remind potential shedworkers looking around for a garden office, while wood is by some distance the most popular build material, other build materials are available. Among them are the steel offerings from Portable Space who have recently launched a new model, the Como. It's fully insulated with double-glazed opening windows and doors made from high-quality galvanised stee.

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 Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and   
 studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional
 buildings.

 

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Garden prosecco bar

Garden offices are obviously excellent places to work, but all work and no play... Here's an example of an Arctic Cabins BBQ Hut put to less studious but more jolly use. The company says they've noticed increasing numbers of customers mentioning that they have plans to use their build as a gin/cocktail/prosecco santuary.

Among them is Laura from Retford in Nottinghamshire, mum of two primary school aged children, and who enjoys girls' nights out, who decided to recreate the bar experience of her pre-parenting days in her back garden. "I wanted a garden building," she said, "a log cabin, but a lot of the ones that I’ve looked at were just sheds. I didn’t want the girls feeling like we’d just put some chairs out in a shed. It feels like a safe place – I think this will be a sanctuary for us school mums!”

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Wednesday posts are sponsored by Booths Garden Studios, the UK's No.1 supplier of zero maintenance and portable garden studios

 

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Building a replica of Roald Dahl's writing shed

A fabulously-realised project by office design and build specialists K2 Space saw them build a replica of Roald Dahl's famous writing hut for the London office of the Roald Dahl Family Company which looks after the writer's literary and creative legacy. It comes complete with a thatched roof and vintage typewriter, and is used as a meeting space within the larger office area. Do enjoy the short video below which shows how it was all done:

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Ruth Janette Ruck's writing hut


I have been reading Ruth Janette Ruck's first rural memoir Place of Stones for a book I'm writing which comes out next year about Wales. Not only is it really interesting, flicking through one of the follow-ups to it, Along Came a Llama, I was intrigued to discover that this later book was largely written in what Ruck calls her 'Writing Hut' close to her home. Here's her description of it:

The hut had once been a henhouse but, with the perches and nest boxes removed and the wall lined with hardboard and the floor with linoleum, it made a good and peaceful retreat for me. It was screened from the cottage by a dry-stone wall and overhung by a huge ash tree. Round about, clumps of bracken were beginning to unfurl and foxgloves were pushing up their flower spikes.

She goes on to describe that this secluded spot gave her a particularly fine view when she left the door open, particularly of birds in the branches of the ash, one that reminded her of an oil painting.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Garden office crime never pays

A man has been sentenced to four months in prison after being caught by an off duty police officer in Winchester, according to Hampshire Police.

Paul David Wild, 41, of Hyde Gate, Winchester pleaded guilty to burglary other than dwelling and possession of a controlled Class B drug at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on March 18.

The officer had just finished a night shift and was making his way home when he saw two men running across the road in Hyde Street. Pulling over in his vehicle, he got out to see if anyone needed help, to be told that one of the men had just found the other stealing items from his garden office.

He presented himself as an off duty police officer and detained him before carrying out a search and finding a number of items which belonged to the victim, including a laptop, Bluetooth speakers and three skateboards. All the stolen property was returned to the victim.

Police Staff Investigator Michael Longmore, said: “Thanks to the victim and this officer, Wild was caught and put before the court in just over 24 hours after the burglary took place. Burglary is an invasive crime and can leave victims feeling insecure and vulnerable in their own homes. I hope the speed at which this has been resolved has brought some comfort to the victim."

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

 

 

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Printing studio log cabin

As our staff are also (very) amateur letterpress printers, we were delighted to come across this build by Garden Affairs for far more professional letterpress outfit Ptolmaic Press run by Phil McMullen from his Wiltshire base. It's a 5.5m x 3m log cabin, with windows and doors factory painted in Reseda Green but the building itself supplied unpainted as Phil wanted to do that paint job himself. Inside, there's space for a drying rack and the floor has been reinforced to hold the weight of his 1926 'Arab' Foolscap Folio press, made by Wades of Halifax.

Pictured below are his printing presses (the Shedworking staff were particularly delighted to see the Adana 8 x 5 at work as we also have one of those in the basement office) and workspace.


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 Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and   
 studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional
 buildings.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Garden studios site visits

Although you can get a feel for a garden office online, t's always good to take a look at them in person before you hand over your hard-earned money. Booths Garden Studios is among those suppliers which are happy to pass on details of customers who are happy to give you a quick tour of their Booths builds. Alternatively, or additionally, you can visit one of their three dedicated sites:

- the Booths Garden Studios factory 11 St Marks Rd, Corby, NN18 8AN

- the company's northern site at Megasheds, Windmill Garden Centre, Sealand Road, Chester CH5 2RH 

- and the southern site at Squires Garden Centre, Epsom Road, West Horsley, Leatherhead, KT24 6AR

Click the link above for various ways of contacting them to arrange a visit.

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Wednesday posts are sponsored by Booths Garden Studios, the UK's No.1 supplier of zero maintenance and portable garden studios