Very popular in rural areas, garden cabins UK based and everywhere else are now gaining a lot of traction. People all around the world are moving further and further away from the idea of working in an office, wanting to work from home instead. Yes, the revolution in employment and how people see it has had echoes that reach far beyond what you would expect. But how can you upgrade your garden cabin to fulfill your new needs? Read on and see!

Why Garden Cabins?

Everywhere more and more people want to move away from cluttered office spaces where they are forced to spend eight or nine hours every day with virtual strangers. Instead, they dream of a personal space close to their family and friends where they can work in silence and relax at the same time. What does that mean for the landscaping of a house and its backyard? That people are only just now rediscovering their garden cabins.

In the past, cabins or log cabins as they are otherwise called, had just been used to store tools, wood for the fireplace and everyday items that a family didn’t need any more or simply didn’t have any more room in the house for. But the past few years have awoken people to a new and wonderful reality. Garden cabins UK style can be used as much more than just a storage space.

Armed with a handful of creative ideas, a little paint, and the right tools, these once-upon-a-time sheds can become the perfect space where you can work, relax, entertain guests, organize playdates for your children or even have a friend stay overnight. Let’s take a look at a few amazing ideas on how to upgrade a garden cabin UK style!

Things to Consider Before Upgrading Your Garden Cabin

There are many ideas out there that serve the purpose of upgrading, but they all depend on what you have in mind for your garden cabin. Here are some things you need to decide on before you get to work.

• What will the cabin become when you are finished with it? Will it be a guest bedroom, a home office, a playroom for your kids, a man cave, a she shed, a creative space, or a room where you can have business meetings? How you upgrade, furnish, and decorate the garden cabin will depend heavily on this.
  
  
• What is your budget? You may have great things in mind, but it’s always a good idea to set a budget before you start renovating.
  
  
• Do you have permission to renovate? You should know that a lot of cities and small towns actually do not allow home owners to change the outer appearance of their house or annexes because it could interfere with the landscaping of the neighborhood. This could mean that you are not allowed to use certain colors to paint or add another level to the garden cabin. Make sure you have permission first!
  
  
• Decide what to do with the things you are storing now in the garden cabin. What is in there now and why have you kept it? Decide what can be thrown out, recycled, donated or sold before you start the renovation process.

Ideas on How to Upgrade a Cabin

Here are some amazing ideas that will get you started on the road from garden cabin UK style to an actual sanctuary that will meet all your needs.

1. Install Skylights

This is a general idea on upgrading your garden cabin that will benefit you independently of what you are planning to do with it. Skylights will help flood the small space with natural light from above. This will make your time in there a lot more pleasant whether you are working, doing yoga to relax, if your kids are playing inside or if you need a lot of light because you are reading a book.

If you want to save money and are in need of a budget-friendly solution that will not up your electricity bill, you can install skylights that operate manually. They will also provide extra ventilation in the room whenever you need it.

2. Repaint the Entire Garden Cabin

You might think this is an obvious suggestion but, actually, the paint job is more important than you think. Here’s a tip. Stop thinking about your garden cabin as just a shed or a storage space and start thinking about it as a repurposed room. In this way, you will see just how crucial the color palette really is.

For example, if what you have in mind is a man cave, than we suggest tones of whale grey with black linings. If on the other hand, you’re thinking about a she shed, choose soft combinations of color such as mint and lilac or purple and mauve. When it comes to children’s rooms, they will benefit from bold colors such as sunny yellows and fuchsias that will spark their imagination. If you’re planning a relaxation room, go for calming colors such as lavender, cream or vanilla white.

3. Choose a Theme for the Cabin

This idea may fall under the decorating umbrella, but it’s so much more than that. When it comes to upgrading a garden cabin UK or anywhere else, you can’t go wrong with a theme. This can literally be anything you want, so let your imagination run wild. Think about things that inspire you most in life.

It can be your favorite book, so you’ll have a Harry Potter inspired space, your favorite movie for a cabin with a Godfather twist, or it may simply be a nautical, rural, or Parisian theme. If you’re a fan of Disney, go for that, if you like travelling set up some maps of the world, if you like history get a few ancient artifacts, and the list could go on forever.

4. Install French Doors

Your garden cabin is not your house. This means that it doesn’t need a heavy front door with locks and pads. Instead, you can install beautiful French doors that will open up the small space to your garden and give it an air of freshness. In fact, what French doors actually do is make the space look a lot bigger than it is in reality.

When you replace heavy wooden doors with light ones that have a lot of glass panels, it creates the illusion of space. It will make it seem as if there’s nothing between you and the garden beyond. Plus, it will let even more natural light filter through, saving you more money on electricity.

5. Add a Chandelier

This detail is meant for those of you who are planning to set up a guest bedroom, a second outdoors living room to entertain guests, a space to relax or even a very luxurious place where you can work. But here’s the trick. We’re talking about a faux chandelier. It will, of course, hang from the ceiling but it won’t be connected to the electric grid.

Instead, you can use real beeswax candles or the type that run on batteries which you can place on the chandelier. In this way, you can create a sophisticated and intimate atmosphere without having to spend money on electricity or worry about connecting your garden cabin to the electric lines.

6. Install a Sound System

Whether you plan on working in your garden office, relaxing or having your children play in there, it’s important that you benefit from a state of the art sound system. Music or ASMR background noise will help you concentrate or decompress and will make your garden cabin all the more pleasant to be in. Buy a few yards of cable and speakers and run them from your house to your cabin to set the whole thing up.

Here’s a tip. Since this is not a priority in the whole renovation process, you can watch out for some great deals or a sale. Take advantage of such opportunities and furnish your garden cabin with a great sound system.

7. Change the Windows

This idea is intended for those of you who really want to go deep into the renovation of their garden cabin UK style. Most log cabins, especially those that haven’t been used for years, maybe decades, probably have outdated windows.

You can replace them with steel ones that have double-paned glass. This will help direct more light into your room. Not to mention that these contemporary touches will make the whole space feel more modern and airy.

On the whole, trying to upgrade a garden cabin UK or elsewhere may turn out to be the best decision you ever made. There is no reason whatsoever why you should have an ugly duckling of a space sitting in your backyard when you could luxuriate in a beautiful room. As a matter of fact, we’re willing to bet that soon enough you will want to spend more time in your garden rooms than in your living room!