Garden Rooms 

Office Space

Since the first lockdown having a home office space in your home has been more important than ever. Some of us have managed to get back to our offices, but I think home working is here to stay, even if it’s just a few days a week. The flexibility to have a separate work space away from the distractions in the home can transform your work life balance.

Garden rooms make a very useful office space. They’re much more cost effective than moving to a larger house or hiring a shared office space, with the advantage of more security and peace than a shared space. I have seen people working from pubs as well as libraries and dedicated shared office spaces, whilst your garden room doesn’t unfortunately come with a bar it will provide a more professional and peaceful working environment! It will add value to your home as well as giving you the space you need whenever you need it.

Gym or Hobby Room

Garden rooms have other uses too, the only limit to the way you use the new space is your imagination! If you’ve always wanted your own gym that is a great use for a garden room, you could even put a hot tub in the garden and use it as your own private gym and spa. If you have a hobby that needs more room, or is driving your family crazy moving it out to a garden room could be the answer. Whether it’s model railways or learning to play the trumpet an extra space away from the house is perfect.

Extra Space

If your house is becoming too small for family to come and stay you could turn your garden room into a guest room. We all find we out grow our homes as our families grow. Sometimes you want to have family to stay but have to move children out of their rooms to accommodate visitors. This isn’t ideal, as we’ve all had to put up with grumpy kids arguing first thing in the morning because they need their own space. If your garden room can provide a guest bedroom it’s a very useful space. When you don’t have visitors the space could be used as a home cinema room, games room, or just a place for your kids to meet up with their friends. Giving everyone the room they need, making your home a happier place to be. With the clever use of furniture that has multiple uses such as sofa beds and folding tables your garden room can have more than one use.

Whatever you use the extra room for you can make it personal. By considering how you’d like to use it, and the furniture you’ll need before you select the style and configuration of garden room that is right for you. This way you’ll know everything will work. Garden rooms are pre-fabricated off site, so the installation is fast and hassle free, so whatever you need the space for a garden room could be the simplest solution. Talk to us if you’d like more information, we will be happy to help you.

Home Maintenance

Although it’s been a mild autumn so far the changing of the leaves and the clocks going back are reminders that winter isn’t too far away. If you’re worried about your heating bills, or would just like to make your home cosier this year there are plenty of ways to get your home ready for colder weather.

Insulate

It’s worth checking you have enough insulation in your loft and around your water pipes. An unisulated loft will lose 25% of the heat in your home, and it’s easy to buy insulation. If your loft has no damp problems you can get mineral wool insulation from most DIY shops, it’s not super expensive, and will pay for itself within a couple of years in savings on heating bills. Keeping heat in will keep your bills down, and make your home a nicer place to be.

An efficient front door will also help to keep heat in your home. Your front door could be responsible for up to 20% of the heat lost from your home. A good quality composite door will eliminate draughts and be more insulated, keeping your hall warmer. We have a wide range of doors, all of them are at least A rated, so they will be energy efficient as well as looking great.

Draught Proof

Draught proofing your windows and doors can make a big difference to the temperature of your home. Replacing old windows with highly thermal efficient double or even triple glazing will make your home feel a lot warmer. If you can’t afford replacement windows you can plug holes and replace any blown glass panels, we can replace these for you. Just replacing glass panels will help to keep heat in.

Warm Roof

If you want to use your conservatory thoughout the winter you may find a glass roof just doesn’t retain enough heat. We offer warm roof as a replacement for your glass roof. This is an insulated roof system that looks like a tiled roof, but it’s strong and light enough to be used as a replacement for a glass roof. Great for making your conservatory warm throughout the year.

Free Quote

If you’d like a free no-hassle quote for new windows or doors to get your home ready for the colder months get in touch today!

Getting New Windows?

You’ve decided to invest in some lovely new, energy efficient double glazed (or even triple glazed) windows, how exciting! Once you’ve got an installation date you might be wondering if there’s anything that you need to do before the team arrive to install your windows. Our fitters are very experienced and will install your new windows efficiently, but there are a few things you can do to help them out.

Plan

Another thing to consider whenever you’re having work done on your house (not just windows) are your pets. If you have nervous pets you might want to ensure they’re kept well away from any workmen in your home. We don’t want to stress out the smallest members of your family! Any dogs that might be upset or feel threatened by people coming into their home should be kept away from the fitters. If there’s a dog sitter or member of the family that can take them for the day that’s a great solution. If they have to stay at home it’s not a problem. The fitters will only work in one or two rooms at a time, so you can shut the dog away from the work in another room. This ensures the safety of the window fitters and your pet, so it’s worth it.

You can expect our fitters to take great care of your home, they will clean and tidy up once they’ve finished and your new windows will be looking great for years to come!

How do you choose a colour for your front door?

This can be quite tricky, especially if more than one person has to agree. Choosing a colour scheme for your home is a very personal thing, if you paint your hallway and you decide it’s not quite right you can always re-paint it. If you get the colour wrong of your new composite door it’s more of a problem!

So which colour is best? This is an impossible question to answer definitively as it depends on the style of the exterior, where your home is situated, as well as the preferences of the occupants. Estate agents say that blue or green doors are best when selling your home, and not to go for anything too unusual, as it might put some buyers off. Having said that we think if you love it and want to stay there for some time you should go for the colour that makes you happy. Sometimes a more quirky colour can make your home stand out for all the right reasons.

Grey Doors

Grey front doors are the most popular colour choice for 2022 in the UK. They can look very classy with a crisp white door frame and a mid or dark grey door. A clean fresh look for the front of your home. Grey is more popular in cities and towns than in the county or by the coast. Light greys are seen to be comforting, whilst darker greys appear to be more sophisticated. Whatever shade of grey you choose it will look best if dressed with the right letterbox and knocker to add interest.

Black Doors

Black doors were the second most popular choice for 2022, but they look like they might be the top choice for 2023! Think the black door at 10 Downing St and you’ll see how professional a black door can look, especially if you live in a smart Georgian town house. A classic, timeless colour it doesn’t suit all homes. It would look too dark on a country cottage, so you need to consider the rest of your surroundings.

Red Doors

Red is seen by some cultures as lucky, this can be a reason to choose a red door. It’s bright and cheerful, welcoming you to the property. It can also be seen as a bit aggressive, so you want to be sure if you choose it your home stands out for all the right reasons. A red front door can look great on a red brick property, or with a white painted exterior. If you have a garden full of red roses a red front door could be the perfect choice!

How do people use a conservatory?

If you’re considering adding a conservatory to your home, or you have an existing conservatory that is under used you might want to consider ways to use your conservatory. The traditional way people use the extra space is as a garden room or extra sitting room. A place to relax in and enjoy the garden even in the great British weather. It can be very relaxing to watch the wildlife even in the rain!

More people are working from home than ever, a conservatory makes a good home office. An easy solution if you need a new work space, as most don’t need planning permission. You may need to use roof blinds or consider the roofing options to reduce glare, if you’re in need of office space you should think about a conservatory or a garden room. If you love to exercise outside, but aren’t so keen on the wet and cold why not use your conservatory as a home gym? There are so many options available, so far we have looked at the most common options. If you want something a bit quirkier with blackout blinds you could create a home cinema, or if you have enough space you could even use a conservatory to house a swimming pool!

Planning

Obviously it’s best to think about how you’re going to use the space before you start the build. This means that you can plan useful features before you start building. If you’re going to use the space as a kitchen or work space you may want more brickwork and less glass. A garden room will benefit from extra glass so you get a good view of the garden. If it’s an entertaining space why not add bi-fold doors so in the summer you can open the room up completely so your guests can use the garden and conservatory, perfect for a family barbeque. It’s important to consider heating and cooling options, you can add underfloor heating (great for a play room) or roof vents – handy if it’s a kitchen extension. Make the space your own, and it will be used for years to come.

Want to know more?

If you’d like to talk about ideas for your conservatory please get in touch, we’ll be able to help and give you a free, no hassle, no obligation quote

Replacement Period Windows

If you are lucky enough to live in a period property you will enjoy the look of your period windows. The downside to these original wooden windows are draughts, maintenance required and high energy bills. It’s important to consider carefully when making changes to your windows, as the look of these windows will change the character of the property. The first thing to consider before making changes is whether the building is in a conservation area or listed. This will limit the work you’re allowed to do to the front of your house. It’s important to know the rules before you start, so you don’t waste time and money on changes you will have to remove later. If this is the case you will have to repair existing windows or replace them with wooden or metal windows made in the same way as the originals. This will be expensive, and the new windows will not be as energy efficient as a double glazed window.

Wooden Style Windows

Need period windows that aren’t a sash style? We also offer flush fit replacement windows. These double glazed windows are designed to replicate 19th Century timber windows. It’s not just the perfectly flush exterior that recreates a vintage look, the interior is stylishly decorative too. These windows can come with metal handles to complete the traditional style, so you don’t have to compromise on your interior design to achieve a warm home. As you can see our replacement windows can perfectly compliment older style architecture. When you’re upgrading to double glazed windows it’s worth taking a look at our windows for period properties.