The pleasure of a shepherd’s hut office in your garden
Imagine having your own place to focus and to create. A place that is free from distraction and gives you control over the way you work.
A garden office offers lots of benefits. Like embracing the best bits of homeworking, without the possible downsides. In an era where striving for work-life balance can sometimes feel out of reach, a shepherd’s hut office could transform your working day and your leisure time too. How about hut desking?
Working from home. Not so easy?
There are big benefits to homeworking. There are books and websites dedicated to it, one of the pioneers being Alex Johnson and his popular Shedworking blog. The commute is so easy, and there’s unlikely to be a queue for the kitchen. Yet without a designated office there are downsides, where the lines between business and leisure get blurred. Work time, leisure time and family time can be an awkward blend.
Without an office it can be hard to enter ‘work mode’ at the start of the day or properly exit ‘work mode’ at the end of it. This can lead to low productivity and stress and a feeling that you’re never really unplugged from your work, yet somehow never fully engaged either.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
A space that works, a space for work
More focus, more productivity and more freedom. Delineation of space can benefit all areas of your life. A garden shepherd’s hut office makes it possible to work from home while having a space where you can focus exclusively on your professional responsibilities – without distraction. Instead of setting up on your dining room table, you can walk into your own office with a sense of purpose. Maybe it is a controlled area in the midst of busy family life. And when you lock the office door, the traditional shepherd’s hut stable door, on Friday afternoon, everything is there ready for you first thing on Monday morning.
It’s not just your work life that stands to gain. When you are free to separate off designated time and space for your work, it’s easier to enjoy your leisure time. Downtime becomes something to enjoy, rather than keeping you away from work. And no more distractions from work emails while you’re trying to sort supper. In short: when you can switch off from work, you can switch on to something else.
Working out: taking the inside, outside
Delineation of space isn’t the only way your professional life could benefit from taking your work outside. Time and again research has indicated that getting closer to nature is associated with decreased stress, more creativity, reduced attention fatigue and increased happiness.
A Plankbridge shepherd’s hut puts you front of stage for taking in more of nature. With your choice of large windows, glass walls or skylights, you can enjoy plenty of natural light and attractive views of the outside world.
From the outside to the inside
Of course, what matters too is the inside of your shepherd’s hut. It’s all about creating an environment that you feel comfortable in. Somewhere that motivates you and inspires productivity. Our most popular Snug layout serves as a perfect home office / studio space. You need a space that liberates you to do what you do best, and we can work up a more bespoke layout to suit you. Previous examples included bespoke storage solutions with carefully considered wall space. So that it becomes a really personal environment in which to store favourite tools and kit, hang photos, framed certificates and artwork.
With smart ideas for hidden cabling, we can make sure your shepherd’s hut is connected with everything you need – including audio and visual equipment – without leads dangling everywhere. And whichever hut you choose, there could be space for up to three desks arranged in an ‘L’ or ‘U’ orientation. But that’s not all. Tropical fish tank in the corner? Even a bath to relax in at the end of the day? Everything is possible!
We can design your hut to work with any existing office furniture you have; an open plan hut which we wheel (or sometimes crane) into place and you set up with your existing office or study furniture from the house is so refreshingly simple. Or get our designers to create your furniture from scratch. We can also install a WC room or even a day bed in segregated areas of your hut office. Perfect if you sometimes have work sprints that require early starts and late finishes.
It’s your space to have just how you want it. Most furniture solutions are familiar to us now, and we can always work up any more creative ideas you may have.
Pure box office: we’ve seen all sorts
We’ve created a pleasing variety of workspaces over the years. From acoustically lined music studios through to an office for a veterinary supplies sales representative. Even a garden office for a virtual assistant, answering telephone calls for a number of businesses from her shepherd’s hut! From artistic boltholes to a hub for remote HR operations, we really can cater for anything.
As you will see, we are happy to work on custom builds. But often it’s our tried and tested shepherd’s hut designs that often prove most popular. The Snug is perfect if you just need one desk and has the option of daybed, stove and a comfy chair. For a little extra space you could choose The Cabin, which will easily fit two to three desks as well as a kitchen area and separate WC.
Will you need planning?
Once you have made the exciting decision to create a home office in your garden, the last thing you want is to be held back by red tape. One of the great things about adding a workspace on wheels to your garden is that you are unlikely to need planning permission. And in the unlikely event that you do, the process of getting planning permission granted is often straightforward and snag-free. That’s part of the beauty of enhancing your home with a shepherd’s hut.
Next steps? To discuss your requirements, please make an enquiry with us.
