If you were one of those people who made a New Year’s resolution to save money and start doing beneficial things for both yourself and your family members, keep reading. One of the best resolutions to make is to invest in a garden studio, hobby room, workshop or office this year. Let’s outline a few reasons why:

1. If you wanted an improved work-life balance, a garden office can provide you with that. Think about all the time you spend commuting to your place of work; that time could be better spent pursuing your hobbies and engaging with friends and family. The result of a better work-life balance is a calmer, more satisfied you, who no longer needs to feel stressed about missing out on key life events.

2. A home office can obviously have some benefits, but a garden office is much better. Shared space often means more noise, clutter and disorganisation. By creating a dedicated, segregated workspace in an outside garden shed, you have full responsibility over keeping the space tidy and ensuring you are productive during work hours. The same applies to hobby and craft projects: a garden cabin keeps everything separate and the result is less clutter, increased efficiency and improved organisation.

3. It’s true that everything said could apply in reverse. Your art canvas material getting mixed in with household laundry helps no one and can make you and your family feel like there’s no escape from work. Separation is arguably essential for keeping yourself, as well as your entire household, sane. Result: the workday starts and ends at specified times, allowing you to feel in control of life and your family the chance to spend some time with you each day.

4. New Year = New, healthy you, right? Timber-framed buildings have been shown to be better for the mind, spirit and body than conventional brick, steel and plasterboard buildings. Air-conditioned offices can actually make people ill. A timber build ensures that the humidity and temperature levels remain somewhat constant and they are less susceptible to dust and mould growth. Timber surroundings can also defuse stress levels. Result: While we can’t guarantee a stress-free year, a garden cabin can certainly make it easier to cope with your everyday life.

5. The cost of garden buildings is surprisingly affordable and budget buildings are very low cost. You can buy small summer houses and garden offices for very reasonable prices. Even larger, grander design structures are cheaper than the cost of comparable home extensions and much easier to erect. Result: A garden office can be designed, delivered, erected and decorated in a shorter space of time than what it takes for the average building extension planning application to be processed. What’s more, it will cost a lot less. Take a look at the 4 best wooden garden studios for sale.

6. Now we’re talking about money; if you’re a sole trader, the owner of a small business or self-employed, compare the installation and on-going running costs of a backyard office to the cost of renting an equivalent sized office in the city. It’s hard to secure desk space in business incubators at anything less than £300 per month, per desk. Result: In less than 10 months, a luxurious garden office fitted out with two desks could pay for itself.
   Una Cavanagh, owner of the garden studio featured above, runs a counselling business from a back garden office shed.

7. Talking about more cost reduction benefits, if you’re currently a homeworker and keep the central heating system on all day, heating a small space instead could save you a small fortune on your annual energy bills. Many garden cabins on the market are double-glazed with extra insulation as an option. Result: your household heating bills go down.

8. A garden structure, such as a timber cabin, has the advantage of being a multi-use covered space. As well as being a garden office, the space can double-up as a leisure room or workshop. If you design a garden cabin that has multiple rooms, you increase the functionality from the get go. How about a shed, garage, workshop, gym, office, summerhouse, etc. Result: Prioritise your functions based on a schedule or combine them all into a multi-roomed garden timber building.

9. Are you still worried about cost-effectiveness? Did you know that if you have a VAT registered business, you can claim back any VAT charged on installation costs and many interior fittings within your garden office? Office premises rarely qualify for corporation tax deductions, but some exceptions include the installation of utilities, so make sure you consult with an accountant. It might transpire that it would be best for your household to bill your business for renting the garden room space on a monthly basis. Result: With the right accounting advice, you’re guaranteed to be able to offset the costs of installing and maintaining a garden office in some way.

10. Let’s return to the beginning. Do you remember your New Year’s resolutions in which you committed to doing beneficial things for yourself? Saving time, saving money and achieving a healthy, separated work-life balance are all beneficial to your life. Creating your own working space can be incredibility liberating. Your garden office belongs to you. You can design it to be how you like it. It encompasses the best of the natural outdoors with indoor comforts. A timber office can also be aesthetically beautiful and make you feel happy when viewing it. Think about all that on top of the money savings!

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