A garden room is an extra room on your property that’s separate from your main house.

You could use it as an:

• Art Studio

• Backyard Office

• Outdoor Gym

• Meditation Room

• Backyard Bar

Or whatever else you deem important.

Homes are often filled with comfort, family, and distraction. I find focusing at home to be incredibly difficult, and have benefitted from designating separate environments for my most important tasks.

Sharing this pain point with others led me to craft 6 custom garden rooms for homeowners across North America, ranging from offices for therapists to financial innovators.

When we designed with a specific goal in mind, their Garden Room became an intentional escape from the rest of their life in their home. Now, it’s your turn to play architect.

Start With These Questions

Begin by identifying the space you’re currently missing in your home or would like to separate out. This can be done by asking “what activity do I value that I don’t have the space to properly perform?”

Now that why you’re creating the space is clear, crafting the design requirements for your garden room is a simple process of understanding your needs.

Having clarity on architectural requirements transforms a project from being an amorphous set of ideas to a checklist that can to be met through creative problem solving.

Here are two examples of designs that you may have arrived at through completing this exercise:

A Summer Art Studio

You’re an artist without a space to create. You don’t need much; this is a space to throw ideas around and get messy. What’s important is that the space is conducive to creativity.

• No insulation - You’ll just use it when the weather inspires you

• Open to the outdoors - Let the light in!

• Solar powered - You only need to power lights, a speaker and a fan

• Rainwater collection - Just need to clean paintbrushes

• Plywood interior - To hang artwork wherever and throw stuff around

A Backyard Office

You’re a writer in need of a writing retreat. Your home has too many distractions and it’s hard to focus when your kid’s got the TV on. You want it to be presentable since you’ll be taking video meetings and quiet so that you can engage in deep work.

• Insulated with a mini split - You’ll be using this year round

• Closed, but ample window space - Don’t want to hear the neighbours

• Electrical and internet hookup - Need a reliable connection for work

• No plumbing - No need, you’ll head inside for breaks

• Finished interior - You want a professional look

Progressively Make Decisions

Whatever it is that you ended up with, sketch it out. Talk with friends and family to iterate on the design and most importantly: be satisfied with a rough idea. 

At this stage, it’s unwise to get too caught up on decisions since you have so little context on the feel of the space. For example:

• Once you’ve created the foundation, you might stand on it and realize you want to move a window.

• Once you’ve put up the siding, you might look at it and think it’d look better painted blue as opposed to brown.

All you need right now is an understanding of the space’s intended use and overall footprint. I like 8’ x 12’ because it doesn’t require a building permit in most places and is a multiple of common material dimensions, leading to minimal waste.

Once you’ve brewed on the design for a while, move on to the next step in the build process:

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