What Could You Do With a Garden Studio?

Ever day-dreamed about what you’d do if you could add a spare room to your home? Well, there’s plenty of people who are turning their dreams into a reality by creating that spare room, in the garden. These are fully insulated spaces that can be installed in large or small gardens for use throughout the year. So, whether it’s a yoga studio, or a home office you need – a garden room could be the perfect solution.

Does a Garden Studio Need Planning Permission?

In the vast majority of cases, garden studios do not need Planning Permission as they are classed as outbuildings. Garden studios can be constructed under ‘Permitted Development Rights

• as long as they comply with the following:

• They are no more than 2.5m in height (eaves height).
• The building takes up less than 50% of area available.
• Your garden room is not placed in front of your home, facing the road.

Flats, tenements, apartments, or maisonettes don’t have Permitted Development Rights.

5 Ideas For Your Garden Studio

Garden rooms normally take around 5-10 days to install. Then you get to turn it into whatever kind of space you want. Just in case you don’t already know exactly what you’ll do with your new spare room, here are 5 suggestions for you:

1. Home Office

This isn’t the most creative of ideas, but it’s certainly one of the most popular uses for a garden room. Let’s look at the commute first of all; 30 seconds across the lawn certainly beats a packed train. You’ll have a separate space for working, so you can ‘go home’ at the end of the day, and you have the privacy of a room that can be locked up once you’re done.

2. A Den

Haven’t you always wanted a space where you could retreat from the world to listen to music, read or be creative in your own right? Garden rooms offer the perfect environment for a She Shed or Man Cave (or whatever you want to call it). Cosy in winter and open to the elements in the summer; it’s a perfect spot to be whoever you want to be.

3. A Micro-Pub

Don’t fancy driving home after a night out? Why not create a micro pub, gin palace, or beer garden just a few steps from your back door. Garden studios are insulated, so there’s no need to worry about the noise carrying, and there’s the opportunity in the summer to spill out onto the lawn with glasses of cold prosecco.

4. A Garden Gym

If exercising in public puts you off, a soundproofed home gym is the ideal alternative. You can shut out the world, play your music as loud as you like, and there’s no need to queue for equipment. This is a space that the whole family can use to stay on top of their exercise routine – so make gym fees a thing of the past and set up a gym you’ll want to wake up for.

5. Create a Multi-Purpose Space

Your garden room doesn’t have to be just one thing. Rather than giving it a fixed function, you may want to keep its identity loose. Add a partition to create a chill-out space, and a studio area for painting, crafting or meditation. Turn it into a dining room in the summer, and – in the winter – break out the popcorn for a family cinema space.

Amanda Price - Digital Content Executive and Researcher for Imagefix | After joining the Imagefix team, she brought to the business an expertise in social media, copywriting and blogging.