To buy a summerhouse?

[furrytoebean]

We have a medium sized garden and at the bottom of the garden we have space for a small summer house 6ft by 8ft (or we could move the shed and get a bigger one).

We don’t have tons of money however we could do it without going into debt if we don’t go on holiday abroad next year.

For some reason I have woken up desperate for a summerhouse, I imagine myself reading in there with the rain against the roof, eating my supper in it in the summer months, meditating in the morning wrapped in a blanket.

I’ve never thought about one before but it’s taken over my brain!

Am I just have a blip or is a summerhouse the answer to the prayer I never knew I prayed?

Or will I use it once and never go in it again and wish I had gone on holiday?

i've only ever seen them used as storage

I've never sat in mine either. It's lovely, got great views but it is never used.

May be if I ran power to it ....

How much time at the moment do you spend meditating, reading in a quiet part of the house or eating a relaxed? That is the upper limit of how much time you will spend in the summerhouse.

It's the upper limit, because having a summerhouse won't magic you more time. But the time you spend in the summerhouse will be less because of the faff of taking stuff out with you. So if you spend lots of time doing those things now, it may be worth it. If you don't, then what you really need in your life is more time - a different problem entirely.

Oh wow BeeLaidee I think I’d want to take permanent residence in your summer house, it’s absolutely beautiful!

I don’t have kids so I meditate twice a day and spend about an hour a day reading

Beautiful @BeeLaidee

Thank you somewheresorted.

It does have power and I put a couple of nice lights in it, plus an electric radiator. It was massively self indulgent. I hang bits and pieces I pick up on holiday on the walls.

You need a radiator like this, so you can use it all year round. Outing myself completely now!

I think we all need a pooch like yours too @BeeLaidee

I love mine, it's a sanctuary and I sit and read, drink coffee or wine, listen to the birds and smell the garden. Sometimes I go down there and work. It has power, wifi and an electric radiator and it's own little terrace. It doesn't seem to attract spiders, in fact I see more of those in our old house. No storage allowed but there are a couple of potted trees that live outside it and they go inside if the weather is very cold.

Ours has power, blinds, carpet and we put all our exercise equipment in it when we moved in. Hardly ever been in it

I had a summer house, we had a fridge in it for the wine and the beer, we loved it and so did the dog.

Ours is for sewing or working so it gets lots of use.

Mine was marketed as stable block (so very sturdy) currently used for camping storage but I have plans to install insulation (some time in future) so it can be used as an escape place.

We put on a proper tiled roof which made a huge difference to how cool it is in the summer and how much warmer in winter.

I love my posh, over-sized shed

only worth doing if it is really well insulated and can be used all year.

Ooh me too! (although even if I was unsure, Bee’s lovely dog in hers would convince me 😄)

We’ve just demolished an old one that was crumbling away and used only for spiders and junk.

I now have the space to start again. I want a bigger one and I want to fill it with blankets and books and cushions and my two cats and radio 4 and pretty lights.

Ds looked keen about the idea and said he’d invite all his mates over. Noooo way am I filling it up with clumping great teenagers and a feckin dartboard! I’m not sharing it 🙀

But I’ll have to wait until next year for it.

We looked at some a while ago and couldn’t believe the cost. Want one again now after reading this thread!

I don’t have kids so I meditate twice a day and spend about an hour a day reading That sounds like you've got a good chance of getting some use out of it.

Think about the miserable days when it's been drizzling all night and all the foliage is dripping - will you decide it's easier to stay indoors? If the answer's no then it does look as if you'd get your money's worth from it.

And you could even sleep in it - doesn't give a good night's sleep, but it's a fun thing to do at this time of year when it starts getting light again only about two hours after it's got dark.

The cat loves ours. Within 5 mins of me going in there she's crying at the door to get in. And we often have to leave a window open when we've finished in there if she's not ready to come out.

If dh is in the garden he sees her stretching up to see if a window is open and crying to get in. Bless.

I wouldn't sacrifice a holiday for it.

Maybe compromise with a roofed arbour seat? We got one for around £250, It's nice to sit in when it's raining, I take my cup of tea out there every morning all year round.

Do you reckon I could get a nice one for 3k??
I’m in the north so builders tend to be cheaper but to be honest I can’t work out how much they are as the prices seem to range from £500 to £15

£15k obviously

I couldnt afford one of those posh ones and they didnt really fit into the space I had. I then decided the best thing I could do to declutter my house was to evict the gaggle of teenage boys who frequent my house to a manshed.
So I bought a large potting shed, twelve by eight feet. Because its a potting shed it has one wall which is mostly window plus windows on the front and back walls so its very light. I have put in an electricity supply so it has heating and lighting. The floor is insulated and has a big rug. When I get round to it the walls will get insulated as well. Four of them can sleep in there reasonably comfortably. We have had it for a year and its well used for sleepovers, even in February it was warm enough. He has a table football, dartboard, TV and DVD player down there and can run the PS if he wants. By the time its finished total outlay will be around three thousand pounds.
I have put a small freezer in there and other than my sons bike it hasnt become used for storage. I do have a big storage box which doubles as a seat which had a lot of camping gear which they use for sleepovers so it saves having to lug it back and forth betwen the house.
We couldnt have a holiday abroad this year or last because of it, but we have had been away in the UK. I think its been well worth the investment. Its well used now and when my son leaves home I will turn it into a garden room for me, probably a mini library with squishy sofa.

Do you mind me asking how mich that cost Ted?

You could get a decent one and furnish it for under that if you shop around online. Ours was a lot less than that but dh and I assembled it ourselves. The only thing I have left to do is insulate it.