How 3 Designers Created These Stylish Garden Rooms
A Garden Room Turned Creative Studio
Laura Stephens
A garden room is successful if it’s actually used. Neglected, dusty garden studios don’t invite use, and they need care and attention to feel genuinely welcoming. The basic elements have to be right so temperature is key – underfloor heating keeps it cosy in winter and air conditioning makes it usable in summer. For me, it’s important that it feels as homely as possible. Filling it with soft furnishings and personal objects makes it feel like an extension of the home rather than a separate space.
The lighting scheme is exactly what I’d want in my own home. In this instance, downlighting was necessary as it is a working studio but wall lights and table lamps were essential for creating a much softer, cosier feel. I also carpeted the space using Unnatural Flooring sisal, as wooden floorboards can collect dust and carpet encourages colleagues to take their shoes off and feel at home. We used wide-board tongue and groove on the walls and narrower tongue and groove on the ceiling, which is a brilliant way to give a simple ‘box’ texture, rhythm and character.
Temperature control is the biggest challenge. To keep it cosy in winter, we had curtains made, which also help reduce glare in the height of summer. We tried to bring as much of the garden in as possible – including making the windows and doors as large as possible. WeI used an earthy colour palette, with the exception of a pop of Farrow & Ball’s ‘Dix Blue’ to draw attention to the windows and doors. The timber cladding helps it settle into the garden and we also created a deck in the front to form a natural threshold.
Many clients create dedicated garden offices to separate home and work life. It’s an investment in the overall property and, in the long term, can reduce the need for rented office space. A lot of these spaces are designed to be dual-purpose – for example, incorporating a sofa bed so they can double as guest accommodation or including a small gym or wellness area.
There are some strong design decisions that elevate the space. They include a long table running along the back of the room, with floral curtains that conceal client work, printers and other practical essentials. The worktop is where we lay out schemes, supported by two large lamps that deliver warm, even light. There’s also a small kitchen area for making tea and coffee. Recessed shelving stores paint and tile samples, while reeded open shelving displays colour-coded fabric baskets.
Everything has its place and is easy to navigate. A client recently came for a presentation and said it felt like being in The Hamptons. The panelling, sunny colour palette, planting and decorative lighting all contribute to making it a place I genuinely look forward to being in every day. It has also completely changed how I experience the garden – I love seeing it from this new perspective and watching the seasons shift.
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A Garden Room Turned Flexible Office/Guest Room
Melissa Hutley, Co-Founder Of Hutley & Humm
Garden rooms should always start with a clear sense of purpose. If a space tries to do everything, it often ends up doing very little but when it has a defined role – whether that’s a workspace with a proper desk, a yoga studio, gym or art room – it immediately becomes a place that is used and valued. We also encourage clients to think a little more imaginatively if they don’t need a traditional office. It might become somewhere to listen to music, a bar for entertaining or a space dedicated to something they don’t usually make time for. That sense of intention is what makes it feel like a true extension of the home.
We try to give each space its own distinct identity – whether it sits within the main house or in a separate structure. A garden room should feel like an experience the moment you step inside. Layered lighting is key to that. It allows the room to feel atmospheric at every time of day, whether you’re working, relaxing or hosting. We also like to introduce moments of personality and surprise – like a bold wallpaper in a small bathroom – which gives the space character without overwhelming it. It’s about creating different zones for different moods and moments, so the room feels dynamic rather than purely functional.
The biggest challenge is making the space comfortable year-round. Good insulation is essential, as is the practical infrastructure, including a bathroom and somewhere to make a hot drink, so it genuinely supports daily use in all seasons. We think carefully about temperature and atmosphere. In winter, it should feel warm and cocooning, with soft lighting, candles and layered textiles. In summer, it becomes a cooler retreat that opens out onto the garden.
Garden rooms are increasingly being used for things that aren’t normally prioritised in the house. That might be a dedicated workout space, a sauna and cold plunge, an art studio, a music room or a creative writing retreat. The common thread is that these spaces feel more personal and expressive – they’re less about necessity and more about enhancing lifestyle and wellbeing.
Our client needed a space to work creatively and somewhere for guests to stay. We started by sticking to soft muted greens in the panelling, so the studio sat quietly within its surroundings. We then layered in softer details, using pinks and teals in the furnishings for warmth and individuality. The daybed was designed as a place to read but also as a place guests could sleep comfortably. Storage was integrated underneath, housing all bedding and essentials, so nothing was left exposed. One of our favourite details is the marble-effect wallpaper in the bathroom. It’s a small space, so it allowed us to introduce a bit of pattern without competing with the greenery outside. It feels playful, unexpected and slightly indulgent.
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A Garden Room Turned Guest Hideaway
Katharine Pooley
A garden room must have its own distinct character – that’s perhaps the most important thing to understand about designing one. It shouldn’t try to be a smaller version of the house.
Layering of fabrics is always a good place to start – mainly because it does more work than almost any other design decision. In a compact footprint, texture is everything. It creates warmth and absorbs light and sound. In our shepherd's hut, the tented ceiling, fabric-lined walls and carefully chosen textiles build that sense of cosiness that makes a small space feel like a sanctuary. We also allowed for a small kitchen space, so you can enjoy a self-contained area for an entire afternoon.
The principal challenge is always seasonality – ensuring the space is genuinely comfortable and inviting throughout the year, not simply in the warmer months. Our hut is very much designed to be used year-round and that informed every practical decision from the outset. The wood-burning stove is central to that, as is the wall insulation and the choice of fabrics.
Garden rooms and shepherd's huts were once discussed almost entirely in practical terms – additional square footage, a home office, somewhere to store things the house couldn't accommodate. That has changed. Clients now understand that a space separate from the main house serves a deeper and more personal need. It is about retreat. It is about wellness. We are increasingly asked to design these spaces not as functional annexes but as dedicated sanctuaries. We have designed garden rooms as gyms, sauna retreats, meditation spaces and as rooms whose sole purpose is relaxation and restoration.
The priority should be creating a space that feels unlike anywhere else in the home. Our shepherd's hut, tucked beneath the trees in the garden of the Coach House, is tonally and atmospherically quite different from the main house. Where the house has a certain formality, the hut is cosy, layered, intimate – a place of soft fabrics and gentle light, ideal for curling up with a book or simply sitting quietly and taking in the views across the garden. That contrast is intentional and essential. The two spaces complement one another rather than compete. What makes it feel like a natural extension rather than a separate outbuilding is tonal coherence with its setting. The colour palette, the materials – everything has been chosen so the hut sits peacefully within the garden.
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