Garden Office or Loft Extension?

[Merryoldgoat]

I have a larger than average 3 bed house. We have two kids who have their own rooms and downstairs is an odd layout - kitchen with a small table but very large living area with dining table etc.

There is very little space to get away from the general clutter of family life and as we’re both wfh our work stuff is everywhere too.

We have a fair bit of equity in our house and could afford to either build up into the loft, or do a fancy garden office.

The cost difference is quite big but the end result is not dissimilar - two extra rooms for ‘us’.

The end result would be that we’d both have our own office/personal space.

My thoughts:

It would be nice to have everything under one roof so if money were no object I’d go into the loft for preference as we’d actually get master, bathroom and office up there.

Garden room is much cheaper and could be repurposed to teen den in a few years when kids are older.

So

YABU - do garden room
YANBU - loft is better

We finished the loft a year ago and are discussing the garden room. I am so so happy with our loft and the space it creates for us to easily spread out (two primary aged kids). We went big master with en-suite and full width dormer and it’s amazing. I’ve seen our house with the two smaller room layout and you get two ok rooms rather than a wow room.
Price though... our basic quote was £55k (London) but we spent just shy of £80k after taking into account:
Bathroom and tiles plus Upgrade to wet room
Upgrade to tiles on dormer
Upgrade to exterior trims
Extra Velux over stairs
Upgrade windows to aluminium sliding doors
Carpets
Built in wardrobes and drawers (❤️❤️❤️❤️)
Curtains for above mentioned massive window.
Megaflow system to replace tank and improve flow
Decorating.
The kids actually use it as a second living room over the weekend and I work up there during the week.
I voted loft because whilst a garden room is nice I can still mooch upstairs with a coffee in my slippers even when it’s raining.

We have loft conversion, it was here already.

And it’s so nice as a bedroom. You get the east and west sun and nice separation from downstairs, so three levels.

Just keep the bathroom separate - ie two doors not just en-suite

Do both. You'll greatly appreciate the teens having a den in the garden in years to come.

Mice! I think we are all not talking about garden offices in the same way. There isn't any way mice can get in here -unlike our effing kitchen-. The garden room is actually much more secure than the house. I have a wall of white board and a chaise longue - it is a proper office, not just a desk in a room.

The wifi runs along the electricity cable and so is much better than in our loft. If we had had the space I would have investigated a toilet as that is the only thing that irritates me. Plus a flyover roof for the decking.

Why can I never do strikethrough?

Definitely do the loft. It will add value to your house and will be pleasant to use all year round. A garden room at the price point you have suggested may well not be pleasant to use in v hor/cold weather and will be a depreciating asset which in the long term will cost you more money to either remove or replace.

We had a similar dilemma a few years ago and went for the garden room. Absolutely no regrets. The whole build process took 3 weeks. It was much cheaper than a loft conversion (even though we went top of the range and had an en-suite put in).
We actually prefer that it isn’t part of the house - there’s no cross over of noise at all, so it’s been great that the children don’t have to keep the noise down while one of us is trying to do a zoom call.

We had a similar dilemma and opted for a garden room (well, a detached garage conversion, so the same thing.) This has left us with enough free cash to move now the time is right. However, we always knew moving house was likely as we have more kids than bedrooms and a loft conversion wouldn't have solved all our issues.

So for me it boils down to - would a loft conversion future proof your home entirely? Would a garden room keep your options open, and do you need them kept open anyway?

Wouldn’t risk a garden office if you & dp have to work at the same time. We have a dc with additional needs. Downstairs with the doors open is the farthest I’d go.

Loft extension sounds fantastic

I have a nearly 17yo who is desperate for a garden room. All his mates seem to have one and they used to hang out in these (prior to lockdowns) away from parents. If you want a loft conversion only do it if yo have lots of head height. Once you beef up the floor joists and insulate to modern standards it can have a big impact of head room and usable space.

If you're working from home, I would imagine that the garden room would be far less disruptive. Although the loft extension might be better in the long run, now might not be the time to have builders in the house.

"Garden rooms" are often just fancy sheds. I always feel they are cold/damp and hate the thought of tramping too and fro in pouring rain.

I love a loft room with skylights but as a pp said avoid too many smaller rooms and keep space open.

Would it add a lot to the cost to have a loo and wash basin in the garden room?

We had a dormer loft conversion done 2yrs ago.

The mess was hellish but it was worth it. We have an en suite and the room is really big and is separate enough for it to feel like it a proper grown up bedroom.

However we did have a small garden room built years ago and we never use it. Its always damp and cold on the winter even with the heating on but DH does use it in the summer as an office.

We have just extended our kitchen to add a separate living space and its amazing! We've got a sofa and TV in it and it feels like our living space has doubled.

If it was me I'd go for the loft extension everytime.

Right. Well thanks everyone. I clearly need to have both!!

I’m going to have to do some number crunching.

None of this is mega urgent as DH likely to be wfh for a long time but has a decent set up in the bedroom and once Covid is over he can move more freely around the house if needed.

But longer term I’d like the house to have a better flow with more dedicated space.

My hobby is starting to take over too which I don’t especially like and would love a proper space I can escape to (ha!).

And to PP who asked about a conservatory: no, it wouldn’t work on our house.

@Merryoldgoat

I have a larger than average 3 bed house. We have two kids who have their own rooms and downstairs is an odd layout - kitchen with a small table but very large living area with dining table etc.

There is very little space to get away from the general clutter of family life and as we’re both wfh our work stuff is everywhere too.

We have a fair bit of equity in our house and could afford to either build up into the loft, or do a fancy garden office.

The cost difference is quite big but the end result is not dissimilar - two extra rooms for ‘us’.

The end result would be that we’d both have our own office/personal space.

My thoughts:

It would be nice to have everything under one roof so if money were no object I’d go into the loft for preference as we’d actually get master, bathroom and office up there.

Garden room is much cheaper and could be repurposed to teen den in a few years when kids are older.

So

YABU - do garden room
YANBU - loft is better

My personal preference would be garden shed / type office, they are beautiful and it's also nice to stretch your legs in the garden and see e.g. The sunset , birds, nature ect,.plus less inconvenience than a loft conversion, and then the saving on costs, much better for a garden shed , office.

Conservatories are so outdated now and surely impractical.

I would go for a garden room for a quick fix but if you want an extension and/or loft conversion in the medium/long term, maybe don't spend a fortune on the garden room.

It's a tricky one!

I'd go for the loft or both! 🤔