Home office - well built garden room or try and squeeze in to an extension

[Beachness]

DH works from home full time, currently uses a single bedroom as a home office but we need to reclaim that as a bedroom space.

We would like to extend the downstairs to make a bigger kitchen/diner plus an additional accessible shower room and a utility on the ground floor.

We may be able to squeeze in a home office (needs to be a fully enclosed room!) but at quite a big sacrifice to the downstairs space.

Would a better option be to add in a separate stand alone garden room (fully insulated for winters & summers) or really try to squeeze an office in to an extension? Garden is big enough.

I WFH occasionally and happy to plonk myself wherever. Just not an option for DH.

I imagine long term the extension will appreciate in value, whereas the garden room may not.

I wfh full time in my garden office and love it. I “go to work” and usually don’t spend time in there other than to work. It’s quieter and sets the boundaries between work and home. That said, I’ve never had a dedicated room in my home so maybe that would work out the same.
Is there a financial consideration?

If money isn’t an issue then the answer is both surely? Can’t imagine how a kitchen diner type extension would look with an office built into it - a bit weird? Love my garden room. Don’t wfh myself more than a few days a year, but use it all the time as a games room, tv, extra bedroom etc.

Weve recently had our house valued. The estate agent said that a garden room wont add value to the house but will make it sell quicker or give ot the edge over a similarly priced house.

Thought I'd share that info to see if it helps you to decide!

I think if the office space in the extension is going to affect what you’d actually like for the extension then do the garden office and keep the extension for what you actually want.

i have a garden office and it’s fine. Only slight downsides are it’s further for loo trips/coffee trips than when I previously worked in the dining room. But then there’s the added benefits of work being seperate from home/can keep all my clutter on the desk and not worry about it. Garden office doubles as an art studio on the other side and also space for a yoga mat in the middle!

Pre covid my sister had a garden room built due to disability adjustments allowing her to work from home a few days a week. All insulated and with power and lights and they ran an Ethernet cable to it.

She says the best thing about it being separate from the house is you do feel like you are going to work in the space plus she is cut off from any noise in the house. She has electric heating controlled on an app so she can turn it on from the house making it lovely and warm.

I think these rooms can be multipurpose and can be a place for your teens to hang out later on.

A garden office, because ultimately it can be used as something else, but doesn’t alter the better plans for extention.

If you go for a garden office, make sure it’s insulated and seriously consider an air source air conditioning unit. They heat, as well as cool, and are far cheaper to run than direct electric heaters.

I was told (and it makes sense) that this depends on who is looking at the property. A family with children where the adults work outside the home then I think you'd be right. A couple or smaller family where someone wfh may really appreciate the value of a garden office.

Thank you all, some good points I hadn’t thought on.

I’m swaying towards keeping it separate from the proposed extension, although a garden room won’t add value, a poorly designed extension won’t either.

Got some architects booked in for first visits in the next few weeks, so will get some professional views, but I want to be clear on my ideas first.

I did do a search before posting but the thread that’s coming up below under similar threads didn’t show at the time. Different set of circumstances though.

Really nice to hear from those who like going out in to their office in the garden, think that would be hugely beneficial for my DH. If you’re back on this thread and willing to do so, it would be great to hear more details about your garden offices. @BringBackCatsEyes @HighStreetOtter

I'm here (literally writing from the garden office!).
What details would you like?

I vote for a garden room. I have one and it’s fab to be separate from the house.

They are a million times cheaper and less disruptive than an extension as well.

I think garden room is the wrong terminology because you can get very decent properly built garden offices that are permanent structures and will add value to your property.

FYI I just bought a garden shed/summer house a bit like this one and then put house-quality insulation, plasterboard and skim, floor insulation, carpet, blinds etc. it feels as warm and solid as a room in my house. It’s double glazed and I even have a log burner now! Total cost less than £5k but we did a lot of work ourselves. Still going strong 16 years later.

https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Terminator-35-x-25-Log-Cabin-shut.jpg

Insulation mainly, what type of material is yours made from/thickness. Is it warm enough in winter & cool enough in summer?

At the moment I’m thinking of having a proposed garden office at the side of the garden where the window would be facing directly north.

Did you buy one off the shelf, have it made, regular builder or specialist company?

And whilst I’m here, what size and are you happy with that size, and what would you definitely do again or may think of changing if you could?

Thank you!

Wow that’s impressive, I’d love to be more ‘handy’!

Happy to help.

It's double thickness wood with some sort of insulation in between.
There are about 3 weeks in the summer when it gets too warm. The fan helps otherwise I do go indoors during that time.
It does get cold but I have an electric heater and it soon warms up (a bit like a caravan I suppose). I'm sure it gobbles up the electricity but I am not commuting and I can afford to be warm.
We had it made by a garden office company and it arrived on the back of a lorry in about 8 large bits.
Fully double glazed, laminate floor, it has its own elec supply independent from the house (feeds off it though).
It's about 2m x 5m and has a covered deck/porch in addition.
My adult son and some guests sleep out here when he comes home so it has a single bed in it - hence the size (I have a 2 bed house). If I didn't need the bed then I could very easily 1/2 the size of the office and it would be super cosy. I only need a desk and chair. Oh my tumble drier lives out here too.

All told it was £7,000 - that's including the concrete base, getting the electrics in, the building itself and furnishing. This is over 10 years ago though.

Thank you, that sounds great.

Forget DH, I want my own!

So this is mine. Ignore the clutter and mess, have a puppy and life is chaos. It’s a sturdy log cabin rather than a seriously expensive garden office. Cost about 11k last summer including installation. It’s 4mx 3m.

I previously had a 3m x 2.5m one which was fine as an office and had a sofa in but I wouldn’t have got an art desk in as well. Or space to do yoga

the walls are thicker than a normal shed. Roof is insulated. All glass is double glazed. I have an oil filled radiator and it’s warm enough to work in all year. I have noticed with this bigger one this winter it takes longer to heat up. I can turn the heater on from bed to pre heat it.

It’s this one

https://www.cabinsunlimited.co.uk/big-january-sale-barbados-3-4-0m-x-3-1m-44mm-log-cabin-with-free-installation-and-base-included/

thats a seriously good Jan offer

From the outside

Thank you @HighStreetOtter its like a tardis, looks fab, very neat from the outside but seems huge on the inside!

I’ll make a note, as though that does seem like a really good offer, I think realistically we’re too early on in the process to buy just yet.

I have garden room envy now 😞

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hillington-Bike-Wall-Mount-Heavy-Duty/dp/B01M1BPWON/ref=asc_df_B01M1BPWON?mcid=b7a7dfaaa8263436a685e67d078548e8&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697218120366&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3983882412016825903&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007030&hvtargid=pla-424273090041&psc=1&hvocijid=3983882412016825903-B01M1BPWON-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1

@HighStreetOtter these are great for hanging a road bike on the wall out of the way and easy to access to go out for a ride, jusyt incase you don't want it cluttering up the floor space

to add £11k for a 3mx4m extra room is actually very cheap extra space which can be utilised for many different activities