Do you think a garden room or granny annexe will be part of the house of the future? If so how and why?

Alex says…

Absolutely.

Not enough houses are being built at the moment - houses are very expensive and getting a mortgage is very difficult.

On top of which, people are living longer and putting an elderly parent in a home is very expensive, and having them with you in your own house doesn't always work out.

Having a compact Granny Annexe in the garden with small Kitchen, Shower & Toilet would maintain privacy and independence and be far more affordable.

Technology also means many people can work from anywhere in the world so it's a no brainer to work from home but this can have problems which a Garden Office can solve.

The problems we come across are children getting home from school at 3 oclock which interferes badly with a business call or even just that the spouse wants the partner "from under my feet"!

A Room "away" from the house does give a person a different mind set where they can get their work head on. Writers are the perfect example of this.

Other examples are when a baby arrives, Mum understandably wants the "office bedroom" back for her baby. The Dad gets booted out and a pro Garden Office is the perfect solution.

For people buying a garden room or granny annexe today, what elements design and material wise do you recommend for the building to look good and be functional in 10, 20 years time?

There's 2 elements to this - the lifespan of the exterior materials and surprisingly - Portability.

People want a long life garden room or granny annexe that needs no maintenance, like your house really.
Imagine if you had to paint or stain your house every couple of years - it would be a real pain.
Houses get round this by using brick, but building with bricks is very expensive and permanent.

You could use a wood like red cedar but if it's not treated, it will lose it's look as the sun and rain does it's thing.

The other alternative is to look at modern building materials which are as effective as brick but also more flexible with the design.
That's why we use a Plasti Coated Leatherette Embossed Galvanised Steel. Our customers are always surprised by this, but love the fact that it maintains it's look for 30 years with Zero Maintenance. 

If "Apple" were building a large state of the art factory - would they use timber?
Of course not.
They would use Steel, Glass and Plastics.
Apart from the fire risk of timber, a business does not want the expense or hassle of looking after timber. 

We have stopped making Timber Garden Studios for exactly these reasons. 

This then comes to the second design element for functional use and that for us is Portability.

If your mother for instance, was a home owner, she could sell her house.

Let's say she gets £150,000 for it.
She then spends £40k on a Granny Annexe in your back garden which works out great and she has £110,000 in the bank.
She kept her independence and you were still there to look after her.
You spent quality time together.
Time is cruel though and eventually we do lose our parents. The most horrific thing to happen in my life but it does happen unfortunately.

This leaves you with a Granny Annexe that has lost it's major function. Of course you can use it as a Shed but it's a very expensive shed.

Why not sell on your Granny Annexe to another family who need what you had - quality time with their parents.

This is why all our Garden Rooms are portable.
If your parent passes away, you still have a major asset. Your mothers home hasn't been used to pay for expensive time in a care home. The Granny Annexe value can be realised by selling onto another family in need.

How can buyers future proof the garden rooms they buy today? What features do you include as standard?

Apart from future proofing the exterior, we now install the latest LED down lights which use very little electric (bills are only going one way - up:-) plus they have a lifespan of 75,000 hours.

They can also have a dimmer switch attached if required.
The flooring we install is a Heavy Duty V Groove Laminate which is thicker than normal and therefore stronger.
We include SIP Panel insulation in the walls and roof for maximum insulation in the winter and summer.
As discussed above - portability means if your circumstances change, your Garden Room can be sold on or you can take it with you to your new home.

Also, our Studios have an inbuilt adjustable base which doesn't require a concrete base. It saves time, money and hassle. It uses 10% of the concrete that a concrete base uses.

Concrete is not good for the planet.

Garden rooms are popularly brought as home offices, studios etc do you see a shift in the uses people are buying them for e.g. granny annexes etc?

Yes.

We are getting more enquiries about Granny Annexes but the stumbling block is the red tape and the backward thinking of planning in the UK.

They're not building enough houses.
They don't want to build on Green belt land.
But they won't let people solve this problem with living space in the garden.

It will have to happen though as the growing elderly population is a slow ticking time bomb which garden rooms would help defuse.

If you were designing a garden room for yourself, what features would you include ready for the future? E.g. would you include a shower room, go bigger than you need now etc.

Yes - a Shower, Toilet, Kitchen, Bedrooms.
Yes - you need a new home in the garden and we can do it more cost effectively than a new build brick built permanent structure which you can't easily sell on.

15' x 12' VF "Flyover" Granny Annexe with 4' Flyover & Decking

Alex has decided to offer rental Garden Offices and Garden Studios. Alex is committed to giving everyone the opportunity to have a room in the garden. This came about because a friend of Alex’s runs a Beauty Therapist Business from their home.

She said to Alex…”I love your Studios but I can’t afford one. If I had one, I would probably be able to earn an extra £100 per week because I could do “Tanning” which I can’t offer at the moment.”

This got Alex thinking.

So he said, “If you pay for the installation of the Studio, I’ll rent you a Garden Studio for 6 months. See how you get on, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll simply collect the Garden Studio and you’ll have no more to pay.”

Alex’s friend jumped at the opportunity and will soon have a Garden Studio installed in which she can offer her New “Tanning” Service. Over time, she’s hoping that the extra income will eventually cover the Garden Studio rental and the initial installation costs. Once they are covered, she will have a valuable extra income. If it doesn’t work out, she will simply call Alex and have the Garden Studio collected.

So a quality room in the garden is slowly becoming a realistic option with Alex’s latest innovation in the world of Garden Studios & Garden office’s. Renting office space anywhere can be expensive, especially if you live in London so renting a professional office for your garden could make a lot of sense.

Contact Iain for more information on this exciting opportunity. Iain’s number is 07590 067 120 or you can email him on iain@boothsgardenstudios.co.uk or simply fill in our contact us section here 

Alex & Amanda Lamb - filming a room in the garden for My Flat Pack Home TV programme

I’ve had a nice email from Ian Davies about his room in the garden, his LoLine QC Garden Studio…

He said…

When checking us out, you should checkout our competitors and you won’t find a better place than The Garden Room Guide to do this. It’s a website ran by a chap called Woody and it’s excellent coverage can help narrow down your choices from the literally 100′s of suppliers out there. You will find Woody’s site at www.TheGardenRoomGuide.co.uk and hopefully find your perfect room in the garden. He very kindly did an article about the New QC5 Studio which you can see here.

Red Cedar Becomes "Grey & Blotchy" If Not Treated

You may also be interested in a hard to find “How To Finish Western Red Cedar” Guide which is available here  . If this link doesn’t work, just do a google for ”How To Finish Western Red Cedar”, and it should come up. It is a report from the “Real Cedar” organisation in the USA.

It quotes…“It is important to understand that the choice not to apply a finish to your cedar product has long term implications.

This choice requires advance consideration before you allow natural weathering to begin. (If it is not treated straight away, then it is a far bigger job at a later date)

and continues…”As Western Red Cedar weathers, it will lose its natural colour and become grey, and because of varying moisture and sun conditions, it does not weather uniformly and is likely to develop a dark, blotchy, grey appearance.”

It also says…“You may not want to treat the cedar if you have a concern about the environmental impact of applying a finish on the Western Red Cedar”.

Red Cedar for a room in the garden is commonly portrayed as being no maintenance…

For example…this quote from one website asks…

“Does the red cedar cladding need treating?

(and answers)...”Red cedar is a wonderful wood and an obvious choice for building design. It is naturally resistant to decay and insect attack because of naturally occurring acids in the wood.”

Which is all true – but is not quite the full picture, according to the Real Cedar organisation in the USA.

Lack of maintenance of red cedar has long term implications, and the initial appealing look of Red Cedar simply will not be maintained without treatment.

Jan had French Doors and a window on one side and said…”As I said before this is a huge investment for my little company, but I think its going to be an excellent investment. I’ll be migrating my desks, computers etc next weekend, so from next Monday I will be working in my garden studio. Can’t wait, I’ve had lots of great comments from the neighbours and friends!” Regards Jan.

Jan is so busy with his website design in Weybridge that he needed the room in the garden for more staff. He didn’t want to throw cash away by renting premises so his latest “portable asset” Garden Studio (all Booths Garden Studios are portable) is a long term decision. Jan had an Air Conditioning Unit installed which with lots of computers working, means he can stay as comfortable as any working environment can be.

He finished by saying…”like I say when all done and clear I will make sure to get you some nice photos next summer, once my patio is re-done and garden is in bloom. Thanks again, everyone loves the look of the studio, even my dad!” Jan

You can see Jan’s excellent website here  and through dealing with Jan, I know he would give you an excellent website from his new room in the garden:-)

Jan's 12' x 12' Loline QC4 with French Doors & Side Window