Designing Garden Buildings for Small Spaces
When designing a small space, it pays to be practical in your approach. That doesn’t mean compromising your garden dreams entirely – rather it means narrowing them down so they will truly benefit you and your lifestyle.
Example: while a large pond might not be practical, a wall fountain with recirculating water could provide the ideal alternative. Plant materials could also benefit from such an arrangement.
Planning
Even small garden spaces can become functional sociable spaces that become the hub of outdoor lifestyle, from sitting and admiring plants to being at the center of everyday activities. But it takes an honest assessment of your habits and an experienced approach in order to design something truly suitable. That is why asking yourself the Three W questions (what will I use it for, who will use it, and what will its appearance be?) is such an effective way of honing in on what matters to you and your family most in a garden space.
Answering these questions will guide the design process and enable you to prioritize needs over wants. This exercise is especially helpful when designing a small space; limited resources necessitate rigorous editing efforts in order to produce optimal results.
If your garden room will serve as an office, ensure there is sufficient electrical power and the windows and doors provide ample ventilation and airflow. In some instances, it may also be beneficial to upgrade insulation levels or consider solar panel installations; depending on your property these upgrades will increase costs but improve comfort and resale value of your room.
Susan utilizes double-duty elements to maximize limited space. For instance, a garden shed can double as seating on a small patio while a narrow garden room serves both as an intimate retreat for reading and writing as well as playroom for her sons.
One key consideration when creating a small garden room is lighting. To get the best effect, maximize natural light and draw sight lines upwards – this will open up your space from feeling cramped and enclosed to cozy and welcoming. If structural modifications aren’t possible, adding large windows and glass doors is another good alternative, while remembering how natural lighting can boost mood!
Design
Step one in designing a garden should be to determine its purpose for yourself. While this may be difficult without physically seeing your space, asking yourself the Three W questions (What, Where and Why) honestly may help get to the core of what your desire.
Your next decision should be whether the garden should enclose your spaces and relate mostly to your home, or open up views and connect to its surroundings landscape. This decision will shape its style and themes.
Once your overall layout for a garden has been determined, you can begin considering planting and hardscape design. Plants provide structure like walls do for rooms; their forms should be carefully planned to enclose areas along garden paths while emphasizing important points along them. Massing should also be utilized to achieve balance and unity in compositions while considering color and texture – warm hues with coarse textures may make a space feel smaller whereas cooler hues and fine textures expand it further.
Garden spaces are often determined by buildings and windows, with these frames often serving as visual boundaries that you can divide with plantings or garden ornaments – or you might opt for one focal point that unifies and frames your landscape – something like a fountain or urn is ideal as both sides of your garden will enjoy viewing it simultaneously!
One of the greatest challenges in creating small garden rooms is making them seem spacious. Clever design and furniture choices can help combat this difficulty; sliding or bi-folding doors save floor space and allow more natural light into the room; neutral or white colors on walls and ceilings make small rooms seem larger; window seats, storage cabinets and overhead shelving take full advantage of height.
Interior finishes play a big part in how a garden room feels, too. Furniture should be designed to take up as little space as possible while personal memorabilia or decorative items add an individualistic feel that helps make the space feel like home. For a garden office space, for instance, professional features like desk and shelving give this area an office-like vibe.
Construction
Garden rooms and log cabins can be designed with various interior finishes to suit a range of preferences, from choosing colors, flooring materials, the placement of electrical sockets and roof type – to selecting pressure treated wood structures fitted with energy efficient double glazing which increase comfort while decreasing noise pollution levels and adding value.
Once you have decided on the primary function for your garden room, it’s time to focus on elements that will create an inviting and relaxing space. Planting and water features, both indoor and outdoor, help create an intimate ambiance while Susan suggests seating around features to add cosiness – this can help divide up large spaces into multiple smaller ones while avoiding that „cluttered” look that often plagues small spaces.
Landscape design must also include walls in order to define dining areas, seating zones and enclosed working spaces. Garden walls can either be explicit or implied: for instance a berm of evergreen shrubs could serve as an effective physical barrier whereas low planting beds provide visual barriers while softening transition between house and garden.
Lighting and electrical appliances can dramatically increase the functionality of your garden room at night or during poor weather conditions, while adding electric heating will extend its use throughout the year. Monitoring construction progress regularly is of vital importance, as this allows contractors to detect unexpected problems before they cause costly delays and identify areas for enhancement and additional landscaping work. As drainage issues can often be resolved quickly and cost effectively before becoming major issues, our dedicated aftercare team offers assistance should any arise during your build. Our experts are also on hand to discuss your project in greater depth, answer any queries and provide advice at every stage.
Maintenance
No matter the size or scope of your garden space, it is crucial to think through how you will maintain it on an everyday basis. Answering honestly to this question will allow you to move past photoshopped idealized visions and focus on its real functionality as a place where you live and use.
Similarly, if your garden will serve as an office space, consider how many people will utilize it and the types of tasks that need to be accomplished in order to avoid purchasing unnecessary furniture and equipment that will go unused for extended periods. Furthermore, maximize natural lighting to increase productivity while cutting energy costs.
Garden buildings can also serve as an effective means of adding plants and wildlife habitat elements that are often lacking on smaller properties. Bird feeders and nesting boxes can make an enormous difference by providing much-needed food and shelter for species in your garden.
Making sure you plant densely and use ground cover will minimize water loss, weed growth and allow vegetables or flowers to flourish at their fullest potential. Plus, it helps keep maintenance costs down while eliminating time spent weeding!