If anything good came out of these past few years, then it must be the fact that the whole situation across the world showed us that a lot of jobs can be done just as, if not even more effectively from home. Besides that, we’ve been avoiding going out to crowded places and just generally staying at home. Well, with many of us becoming more and more comfortable being at home for longer periods of time, it is common to think about maximizing the potential of your home. Sometimes you might need an additional space for your work, or maybe for storage. Regardless, the solution can’t always be to extend your home or repurpose an existing room. So, what is it then?
It might come surprising to many of you but a garden outbuilding can be the perfect answer to this question. What is a garden outbuilding? Basically, it is a shed that is not connected to your home. It is totally separate from your home, with the only connection being the garden space. With that in mind, you probably already have a few ideas of where such an addition can be useful, but you’re also thinking about the cost of building an outbuilding. It really depends on the size, type and purpose of outbuilding but in general, it will always be cheaper than a home extension. Now, let’s see what you can use a garden outbuilding for.
1. Home Office
If you’ve just recently started to work from home, or if you’ve been doing it for a while, you’ve had situations where it has been difficult to remain productive because there’s always someone doing something around you. Create your own space, dedicated solely to your business and you will be much more productive while working, you will still be at home, and when you’re not working, you will have a layer of isolation between home living and work.
2. Living Room
You already have a living room inside your home, why would you ever need one in a shed, in the garden? Well, why not? A garden outbuilding can give you a wonderful outdoor living space that will have some way to protect you from the elements if the weather is not desirable. It can become your first choice of space for lounging during the spring and summer, but it can also be used in winter and fall.
3. Guest House
Not all of us have the luxury of being able to afford the space to build dedicated guest quarters in our homes. But if you have a large enough garden, you can put an outbuilding that can be used as a separate guest room with all of the facilities that you want to provide to your guests to make them feel at home.
4. Arts & Crafts Space
For some, that’s what the garage is for, for others, not having a dedicated space for practicing art, crafting or hobbies is a limitation that makes their life miserable. You probably guessed it by now, but you can build such a space in your garden that will remain separate from your home. It won’t take up any of your home’s rooms, but will provide you with a comfortable space to practice your hobbies and develop your artistic skills.
5. Sauna
Using a garden outbuilding for storage is one of the most popular choices but we’re not going to put it on this list because, well, it is pretty much what a garden shed does. But a sauna, that’s on a whole different level. At least in the US. The Finnish people have got that figured out long ago and it is difficult to find a home without one. That has to be a great idea.
