Louise explained she waited until Black Friday to make the most of discounts on interiors, like 20 % off bar stools and a slashed price tag on her sit-stand desk. She shopped around too, and found bargain prices for things like her‘ living wall’ of faux plants, which she bought from eBay for £ 30 per square metre( half the price of other retailers she considered), and a reduced herringbone LVT floor from Factory Direct Flooring.
The finished garden room is primarily used by Louise for remote work, and doubles as a space for entertaining friends:
“ It has made such a difference. It’ s so nice to walk out of my back door and go to work in my garden. The bedroom I used to work in was so
dark and cramped in comparison, and now I have so much more natural daylight in there thanks to big bi-fold doors and a full-length window. It’ s been a game-changer for my day-to-day work. Before, I’ d reach the weekend with peak cabin fever, but thanks to the physical separation of my work and home space, I feel that a lot less often now.
“ Aside from work, whenever my friends and I are down the pub, we often come back here— there have been a few times where the school mums and I have been dancing in our garden room‘ til late! Everyone who sees it says‘ oh my God!’ and is in awe of the finish, even more so when they find out we did it ourselves. I love that it’ s separate from the house too because we can tackle the mess from parties the
GARDEN DESIGN
Project Information
• Louise, 46, desperately wanted a separate home office and entertaining space
• She was put off hiring professionals after a bad experience with rogue builders
• Louise and her husband Ewan decided to DIY the whole project
• They kitted it out with Black Friday deals and bargain buys from eBay, Amazon, and Dunelm
• Couple estimates they saved £ 17,000 doing the project themselves
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