Create the perfect garden shed and studio

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This contemporary garden studio is actually made out of an old shipping container; the strong and robust metal shell makes an ideal garden sheds. Eco-designers John Little and Dusty Gedge specialise in making these modified garden studios. Made to order, they can also feature special ‘habitat panels’ on the outside walls.

Personalise a standard garden room or shed by painting it a colour that blends with the surrounding planting scheme. Warwick Offices specialises in traditional garden studios, such as this one, and offers a huge range of styles, along with a bespoke service.

This garden studio was designed and built from scratch and it occupies about a quarter of a courtyard garden. As well as providing me with ample studio and shed space, it also features two concealed cupboards positioned along the front face, which are crammed with garden tools and logs.

Some garden studios are large enough to incorporate a kitchen or even a bathroom. By positioning your shed's doors and windows to one side, it then allows more internal space to accommodate another room. This one is from Roomworks, which offers studios starting from 3m x 3m upwards.

If you would like to have a garden studio but you live in an older, period property then this may be the best solution. Grainstore Garden Buildings designs its buildings to look like an old grain store and when mounted upon staddle stones, this garden studio has a much more traditional appearance.

Created by the innovative architectural company Weston, Surman & Deane for an author and illustrator of children’s books this east London garden studio looks almost good enough to live in. The cedar-slatted façade allows sunlight in by day and at night the illuminated shed shines out across the garden.

The beauty of having a shepherd’s hut as a garden studio is that it it’s on wheels so you take it with you if you move home. Dorset-based company, Plankbridge make contemporary huts and garden sheds that can even be fitted with a log burner, making them very cosy indeed.

A guide to planning restrictions

Before building a garden studio you should consult your local planning authority and, if you are using a company to build your studio, make sure that it complies with planning regulations. It is generally quite straightforward to build a garden office but here are some main points to consider:

• The building must be single storey.
• You cannot build a studio at the front or side of your house – only at the rear.
• You cannot use the studio as a dwelling.
• If your home is a listed building you will not be allowed to build a studio or office in the garden.
• The total area that you can construct any garden out buildings – including garages, summerhouses etc – must not exceed 50 per cent of the total area of land around the original house.
• If your home is on the Broads, a World Heritage Site, a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, then further restrictions will apply to the area the building can occupy and its position.
• If your building is within two metres of the boundary it should not be any higher than 2.5m.
• If the building is further than two metres from the boundary then it should be no higher than 4m high.

This website is a great starting point. It offers information about building a garden room and has a comprehensive directory of companies that build them.

Suppliers

Here are some companies offering garden offices and studios:

• ecospacestudios.com
• gardenspaces.co.uk
• grainstoregardenbuildings.com
• green-studios.com
• greenretreats.co.uk
• greenroofshelters.co.uk
• plankbridge.com
• pod-space.co.uk
• roomworks.co.uk
• warwickoffices.co.uk
• wsdarchitecture.com