Having a dedicated workspace in your home is harder than you think.
It doesn’t matter whether you live alone or share your abode with other family members. Maintaining a separate area used solely for your business purposes isn’t as easy as putting an “office” sign on the door to one of your spare bedrooms!
With that in mind, more people are creating that much-needed office space but outside of their homes. No, they don’t go and hire some office space from Regus. Their solution is much closer to home. Actually, it’s only a few feet away from their home; they have a garden office! That’s right; more home-based entrepreneurs choose to build (or have built for them) an external building in their garden that they have solely for business use.
If you are on the fence about whether to opt for such a radical addition to your home, these 6+ reasons will persuade you that it’s actually a great idea:
1. You’re still at home
One of the reasons that you chose to work from home is due to the flexibility and convenience that such an arrangement offers. The thing is, some people find it hard to concentrate on their work when there are people (or pets) around them being distracting all the time. A garden office makes it easier to focus on getting your work done while still being a moment’s walk away from your home.
2. Your paperwork won’t disappear into a black hole
When you share a house with other people, the likelihood is high that documents relating to your business will end up growing legs and walking away from your desk. That’s especially true if you’ve got one or more small humans living at home with you!
An advantage of having a garden office is your important papers will stay exactly where you leave them.
3. A garden office helps you have a set routine
Are you used to waking up at a set time, and heading into work for say 9 am each morning? If so, you’ll find it hard to stick to such a routine when you work from home, even if you operate out of a spare bedroom.
Believe it or not, going to a garden office each morning for a set time will help you to stick to a daily work routine. Part of the reason is down to the fact your garden office is a separate building to your house.
4. Your garden office doesn’t have to be like a shed
Some folks assume that a garden office means that people opt to work out of a small wooden shed perched at the end of their gardens! The truth is, you have total control over how your garden office looks, and which materials are used in its construction. For instance, instead of perspex windows, you could invest in energy-saving vinyl windows.
Plus, you could even have your garden office built out of bricks and mortar rather than wood paneling!
5. It can double-up as your recreation center
When you’re not working in your garden office, you could also utilize the space as an area for your hobbies and interests. Some ideas include a gym zone, computer gaming center, or even somewhere to play pool with some friends in an evening.
Whatever you like to do in your spare time, you could have your garden office double-up as a recreation center when you’re not using it for work purposes.
6. Garden offices aren’t expensive to build
Let’s face it: one of the first thoughts you had, when the idea of a garden office got planted in your mind, is “how much is a garden office going to cost me?”
The good news is that garden offices are more affordable to construct than you might realize! You have total control over what materials get used in the construction process. Did you know that some people even build garden offices using materials recycled from buildings and houses?
7. Garden offices could be tax-deductible expenses
Depending on which part of the world you live, a garden office could possibly be used as a tax-deductible expense. And even in areas where that is now allowed, you could still save on your tax bills for things like equipment and furnishings you use solely for business purposes.
It’s worth checking with your local business tax office to determine what you can use as allowable expenses in your garden office.