Working from Home

Working from home

There are two main groups of people who work from home:

•  those who run their business entirely from their home
• people who split their time between their home and their office

Statistics suggest that more than 5.5 million people in the UK use their home as their primary place of work. This amounts to some 19 per cent of the available UK workforce which is a rise of 13 per cent in less than a decade.

There are now more than 2.1 million home-based businesses in the UK, and it is thought that roughly 1,400 new companies are started from home each week.

If working from home is something you already do, or are planning on doing, then you have probably thought about how to make that work best for you.  What tends not to work so well is having no designated 'office area' at home.  When your paperwork, files and laptop are squashed onto a corner of the kitchen table or in a pile on the bedroom floor it is harder to remain organised and motivated.  You may have a spare bedroom that works well as an office but if not you might consider a garden office. 

A Big Green Space garden office is an investment.  It is manufactured to the highest standards and specification.  We are not the largest company on the UK but we believe we are the best.   You can read about our garden offices here and judge for yourself. 

Summerhouse Wales

Lord Tennyson's Summerhouse

Summerhouses can be extremely relaxing places, somewhere to be without interruption or distraction,  close to the beauty of your garden.  It is perhaps unsurprising that  so many have found them ideal locations in which to work.  Lord Tennyson produced most of his work from the summerhouse he built on his Faringford estate, for example.  He is said to have painted dragons, sea serpents and kingfishers onto the window glass.  Einstein spent the years 1929-1932 in his summerhouse in Caputh, Germany.

Einstein at his summerhouse in Caputh.

The weather outside may be cold but that doesn't mean you have to wait until next summer to enjoy and be inspired by your surroundings.  Take a look here at an example of the best summerhouse Wales has to offer and then further explore the many beautiful summerhouse designs Big Green Space has to choose from, available in Wales and right across the rest of the UK.

Shade from the Sotogrande Sun in a Big Green Space Timber Pavilion

Last week saw us in Sotogrande, not too far from Gibraltar, installing a timber pavilion on a hillside with fantastic views of the surrounding countryside.  The pavilion features a beautiful cedar shingle roof, the inside of which you can see in the photo below, and is built upon a slabbed base.  It is easy to understand why Big Green Space designs are popular the world over, they are classically simple, complementing any location with their elegance.  If you are interested in further details on these pavilions and other garden buildings, please follow the links at the bottom of the page.

Click here for more information about the Big Green Space timber garden pavilion.

Working from Home in Hampshire

Hampshire Garden Offices - click here for further information.

The founding members of Big Green Space came to Pembrokeshire from Hampshire a little over 3 years ago.  We still have many friends and family in the Hampshire area, as well as numerous trade and business contacts, so it made sense to us to focus on Hampshire as one of our key installation areas.  You can see below some photos from one of our garden office builds in this area.

The build quality is superb.  Big Green Space garden buildings are fully lined and insulated and we only use double glazed windows.  You can click here for further details about the Big Green Space garden office specification.

Home Office Heaven

Working from home is steadily on the increase.  We no longer need to fit into the traditional 9-5 working day pattern.  Working mainly or partly at home brings benefits which have been well documented, including better health for workers and better productivity for companies.  There are alos wider implications for society:  even if staff worked only an average of one day every two weeks at home, this would result in 10% fewer people commuting and travelling, which would have a massive impact on roads, trains and buses.

Take a look at the Big Green Space range of Garden Offices.

Tuff Sheds for tough weather

 

 Tuff Sheds for tough weather

 At Big Green Space we are famous for our Tuff Sheds.  No flimsy flat pack for us, that blows down in the first strong wind and leaks during its first winter.  Nope - our sheds are seriously strong.  And we can come install a shed for you anywhere in the UK.

Take a look at the Big Green Space garden shed and find out why our sheds are so strong.

Scintillating facts about garden sheds.....   

1.If you laid all the sheds in the world end to end they would wrap around the planet six and a half times.

2. The Garden Shed was voted into the Millenium Dome's national identity display as one of the top symbols of Britishness.

3. Last year Britain spent £85 million on sheds.

4. The number of homes in Britain with a garden shed is 9.6 million and 52% of the population own one.

Wedding gazebos

This month we will be introducing hotels, both locally and further afield, to our timber gazebo range.  Our gazebos come in a range of designs and sizes and are a perfect setting for wedding photos.  All handmade by timber craftsmen in Pembrokeshire, they are pre-assembled in the workshop then installed on site in less than a day, causing minimum disruption to your schedule.

If you live in Pembrokeshire click here for more information.

For the rest of the UK, click here for gazebo information.

The strongest sheds in South Wales and Art in the Park...

We were very pleased to discover this week that the lovely people at Manor House Wildlife Park, Pembrokeshire, have been using our garden pavilion with the cedar shingle roof for their art workshops - Art in the Park has been a great success this summer.

Click here to see some Art in the Park footage!

It is also the start of September of course, and tidying the garden is on my mind...already have loads of autumny leaves to rake up.  If you live along the South Wales coastline as we do, then you will be only too aware of the extent of rain and wind that is probably coming our way over the next few months.  Our Tuff Sheds are seriously strong and built to withstand even the harshest of weather conditions.  Our sheds are not the cheapest you will find but they are definitely the most solid, secure and weather proof sheds available.

Please contact us for more information on our Tuff Sheds.

The Big Green Space Tuff Shed

Please click here for our shed specification and to find out why our sheds are so strong!

What will you do in yours?

What will you do in yours?

Our beautiful summerhouses and garden offices offer many different ways to help organise your lifestyle.  What will you do in yours?  We like the article below:

Click here to visit our main website with photos of summerhouses and garden offices.

1. Family room. For the modern day family, spending time together can be difficult to arrange, as everyone seems to have a busy life. Making a space for family time can help you make time for family time. Perhaps deciding to use your summer house or log cabin for evening meals or Sunday dinners can help keep your family close and in touch.
2. Chill-out zone. If you are a hard working professional or a full-time parent, then you could create the perfect chill out zone at the bottom of your garden. Deck out your summer house or log cabin with bean bags, big cushions and easy-listening music, lay back, and enjoy!
3. Home cinema. A home cinema is a luxury that is not always easy to fit into your home, which is why your summer house or log cabin would be the perfect place to install a large screen and some comfortable seating. Use your home cinema to spend time with your family without having to drive into town, or impress your friends by having a private screening of the latest releases.
4. Children's nursery. If you've got young ones in the house, but don't have a spare room to convert into a nursery, then a summer house or log cabin is the perfect answer to providing a separate playing space for your children. Perhaps lay some old carpet and bring in a few comfy chairs and bean bags, and your children can be free to play until their heart’s content without leaving toys strewn across your living room floor.
5. Home gym. Many of us have the desire to stay in shape, but not the time, money or motivation. These obstacles can be overcome by using your summer house or log cabin as a home gym. By installing a home gym, there will be no commute to stress you out, not queuing for equipment, and no feeling self-conscious working out alongside other gym-goers. Just remember to strengthen the floor if installing heavy training equipment.
6. Garden office. A large summer house or a log cabin kit can provide an excellent setting for a home office in your garden. Setting up a garden office means that you can work as hard as you like without the unnecessary distractions sometimes found within the family home. Electrical packs can be added to a log cabin to aid you in setting up a garden office.
7. Study room. Okay, we've called this a study room, but in reality your summer house or log cabin could be used by your teenagers simply as a place to hang out. True, they might not be doing their homework, but save yourself from teenage mood swings and hormones, and provide them with their own garden room in which to relax.
8. Creativity room. If you or someone in your family has a creative edge, allow them to express it in a dedicated summer house or log cabin. This garden room can be used as a garden studio for painting, sculpting or pottery, or even as a photo studio and gallery. Using your summer house or log cabin in this way puts good use to those evening classes, and provides you with a peaceful environment away from the busy house in which to indulge your creative pursuits.
9. Man-cave. A summer house or log cabin makes a wonderful refuge for the working man. A summer house or log cabin can be used as a retreat in which the man of the house can watch his choice of TV, whether it be sport, documentaries or horror films, entertain his friends, and play some pool or darts.
10. Beauty salon. The other alternative to the much-hyped man cave would be to create a female garden retreat in your summer house or log cabin. This garden room could house a miniature beauty salon, complete with foot spa, massage chair and the full body care range of products, perfect for getting the girls round and having a nice in together.

Welcome to the Big Green Space Blog

Welcome to our new blog!  The Big Green Space blog will try and provide the following:

•  updates and reviews on our latest products and installations
•  information on the best way to make use of your Big Green Space products
•  interesting background information and facts about the products we supply
•  other related ramblings

We welcome your feedback and comments.
 

Garden offices and summerhouses from Big Green Space