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OECO's Guide to Garden Offices

Have you ever thought about whether a garden office can add value to your home? Or have you ever wondered what the benefits a garden office can bring?

We've gathered the most popular questions around garden offices and have compiled our top tips, must-knows and all the information you can need.

In the last 18 months, people have been making use of space at their homes to work in. The pandemic has seen many creative home setups and home offices made. Some households have been lucky enough to have a spare room available to create a working environment.

However, not everyone has that extra space. Creating an extension in your home can be tricky, time-consuming and sometimes lead to further expenses down the line. So this is where garden offices have certainly increased in popularity and have been a staple for people's home working experiences.

We will go through each popular question that surrounds garden offices and include our top tips when looking to buy your very own garden office setup.

Contents:

  1. What is a garden office?
  2. Do garden offices add value?
  3. Are garden offices are a good investment?
  4. Why are garden offices so expensive?
  5. What are the benefits of having a garden office?
  6. What colour should I paint my garden office?
  7. How close can a garden office be to the house?
  8. Can you sleep in a garden office?
  9. Can you put a toilet in a garden office?

What is a Garden Office?

Let's start with the basics, a garden office is a separate building that is away from the house and in the garden. They're renowned for being modern, stylish and a luxury piece of construction to further extend household space.

A garden office is a versatile space that can serve a variety of different purposes to you and your household. A dedicated garden office detached from your house can be a great working solution.

Especially to consider one now. As the timing couldn't be better for a garden office. Since more people are working from home, the time for planning a dedicated workspace out in the garden would make the perfect setup.

Garden offices are usually misunderstood and usually compared with sheds and summer houses. However, garden rooms and garden offices are much bigger, compact with room insulation, double glazing, contains thicker, more durable and stronger rooftops, packed out with electrical packages throughout and many more features to mention.

You can take a look at our garden office range to seek more information.

Do garden offices add value

Do Garden Offices Add Value?

Having a garden office will certainly add value to your home. However, it all depends on the market and numerous other factors to consider.

A garden office will be a great selling point for potential buyers of your home. Factoring in property value, market conditions and buyer preferences will affect the price at the time of interest. Typically, a garden office will add 5% to the value of your home.

The good thing about garden offices is they're usually cheaper than a full-on extension and remain to be a perfect source for buyers. They're something that will pique someone's interest in your property.

Garden offices can also be a great solution for small business owners. This will provide them with a space to work privately, leading to higher productivity. Whilst also being close to home and close to the family.

The property market can be competitive, and a garden office provides that impressive home factor that will instantly give potential buyers that deciding edge. It's also recorded that houses with garden offices tend to intake more property viewings, giving out a higher chance to sell the property quicker.

Are Garden Offices a Good Investment?

While the effects of building a garden office differ, the answer is almost always yes. A well designed garden building adds utility to your day to day to life, quite apart from the return on investment you might get in terms of house price.

As many of us have started working from home, family life can get in the way of our work. A garden office then is a superb way to avoid the morning commute whilst also keeping out of earshot of anyone else in the house - a perfect way to keep your productivity up and your stress levels down.

Naturally, this will also increase the value of your house to anyone who also would like the opportunity to work from home or run their own business without taking on expensive office premises.

There is also the prospect of the office being repurposed by a new owner: there's nothing to stop an office becoming a gym, a summer room, or even a bar.

To make the most of your garden office in terms of value, it's important to talk it through with an experienced designer first - which is why we recommend giving us a call first.

Why are Garden Offices So Expensive?

The costs of garden offices can vary in price and down to the materials used and features included. Especially the size, garden offices will certainly rise in price the larger they are. One thing you want to be careful of is choosing cheap, poor quality building materials and the wrong contractor.

Garden rooms and offices are considered expensive because they offer so much for a household. The benefits of having your outdoor room are endless. With the extra floor space, you can transform the building into anything you want. A dedicated and professional home working office out in the garden away from the house is every homeowner and home office worker's dream.

Here at Oeco Garden Rooms, we have a range of garden offices that are a cost-effective way of creating a productive workspace.

We give you the freedom to configure your garden office to your requirements. You can choose the shape of the garden office, from cube, canopy, corner, canopy corner and concave. Select your style of classic, contemporary, composite and stone. Proceed with your sizing for your outdoor space. If you need assistance or further advice, get in touch with us today.

Benefits of Having a Garden Office

What are the Benefits of Having a Garden Office?

Creating space to work in can sometimes be chaotic and forever a battle in your home that you'll get sick of facing. Having your own dedicated garden office away from the house will grant you many benefits and will ultimately fix your space issue instantly.

A garden office is convenient and is a natural selling point if you were ever to consider selling your home. After all, who wouldn't want an extra room and separate building? This will add value to your property as mentioned earlier.

You can convert that room into temporary storage, convert it into your very own home gym or the most common, a garden office space. You have your freedom to be creative and best of all, it's private and your very own.

Instead of having your home office set up in the spare room or finding space in the kitchen, get the professional look. A garden office will most certainly look the part and can be perfect for hosting your meetings.

Another benefit of having your own garden office is it will save you time and money, with less commuting. Travelling every day can lead to being expensive. You'll also reduce your carbon footprint by travelling less.

Your garden office is the perfect setting to work from if you want flexible hours to meet your other commitments.

This concludes our article on the most popular garden office questions. We hope you found this article useful. If you would like to seek out more information on garden offices, get in touch with us today!

What Colour Should I Paint my Garden Office?

Colour schemes for garden rooms

Painting Outside

When buying a garden office from OECO Garden Rooms, there are a number of exterior options available, which when the garden office is constructed, form the outer walls.

These finishes include traditional Western Red Cedar, Thermowood, textured and rendered cement or split face stone slate. All of these finishes are treated for resistance against weathering, therefore able to keep their appearance whilst also being highly durable all year round.

Whilst this may be the case, there may be times where a garden office owner chooses to decorate the exterior of their office in order to coordinate with their personal preference or match other elements within the garden.

Our Western Red Cedar option is a popular selection amongst our customers. This unique red cedar is likely to last for 40 or even 50 years before any problems arise. It also doesn’t need any treatment with paint or varnish, meaning it’s acceptable left untouched and looks wonderful.

We advise leaving your garden office untreated as the appearance will change over the years offering a range of warm browns, pinks and reds.

Some people may worry about painting their garden office from the outside. There's a possibility it won't look like a professional building once you've finished and the overall maintenance required too. But that shouldn't put you off the task.

Of course, it's very much possible to achieve a fresh new look whilst keeping it looking professional. The wooden exteriors would indeed need to be primed prior to the application of exterior paint and could even require cleaning or sanding depending on the age of the garden office.

Water-based or oil-based paint is recommended with plenty of options available in DIY shops across the UK.

If you're still unsure or concerned before carrying out the task, then do some further research and watch some tutorials if needed to help.

Painting Inside

If you're looking to paint the inside of your garden office, of course, the process is much easier. Freshening up the paint is a good way to keep the working environment up to date, modern and trendy. Research suggests a change-up of colour can help improve moods and productivity.

It's said blue is good for the mind, stimulating the brain and leading to more productivity. Consider "West Coast by Benjamin Moore". Red will stimulate energy levels, try the "Radicchio, Farrow & Ball".

Green provides balance and calmness, consider "EasyCare Paint Garden Sage". Yellow stimulates emotion and is good for being creative, try "Little Greene Yellow Pink".

How Close Can a Garden Office be to the House?

If a garden room or office is 15m2 or less, then a 400mm gap will be carried out between the garden building and home. The gap will be 1 meter if the size of the garden office is any bigger.

The building must normally be installed in the rear of your garden and must not take up more than 50% of your total garden area.

If you're wondering about planning permission, you can check out our planning permission information regarding that. However, planning permission is usually not required for garden offices.

Can you sleep in a garden office?

The short answer is yes: after all you can sleep anywhere. If you want to use your garden office as a temporary guest room, let the kids use it for a sleepover, or as a place of refuge after an argument then there is nothing at all to stop you having a foldout bed or convertible sofa so the room can be used to get some shuteye.

What people normally mean though is: "can I use my garden office as a permanent bedroom?" and that is a different matter. It is perfectly possible, but you will have to make sure your office/bedroom complies with building regulations over and above the usual rules for building an outbuilding.

These essentially mean making sure that the building is safe and fit for purpose. We have been helping people with this for years, so get in touch today if you're planning to explore this and we can explain what you need to consider in full detail from a legal perspective.

It's worth bearing in mind that if you want to turn your outbuilding into a sleeping room that it needs to be more comfortable than just sticking a bed in. You need to consider insulation, draughts, heating for the winter, lighting and electrical points. The great news is that we've been doing this forever, so we can design a garden office that also meets all of these needs.

Finally, you need to consider the potential impact of an external bedroom on your council tax. If your office becomes a permanent extra bedroom, it can affect the value of your home and you could incur additional tax as a result. We are fully familiar with most regulations and can offer advice (call us now!) or you can get in touch with your local Citizens' Advice for guidance.

Can you put a toilet in a garden office?

A question we get asked - particularly when people are thinking about converting their garden office into a spare room is whether or not features like showers and toilets can be added into the building. The short is yes, but again you will have to consider the building regulations that govern connections to the water supply and sewage system.

There are also practical considerations: laying pipework into your outside office will also mean added disruption to the building process - and likely a deep trench being dug into your garden or through your driveway. This will also involve someone carrying out a survey of the grounds to make sure it is possible, and that the right locations are chosen. All of which means some extra expense.

Finally, installing a toilet in your garden office will also mean you'll need good ventilation and an extra interior wall and door, as well as a toilet itself and a basin for washing hands.

Again, we've had years of doing this, and can advise you properly, so give us a call and we'll help you to understand what's involved and help you plan and price out your project properly.

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