MULTI-TASKING MARVEL

Interior designer Louisa Tudor, husband Ed and children Millie and Tom have space for work, play and guests in their garden room

‘My husband and I have lived in this semi-detached house in Twickenham for over a decade,’ says Louisa. ‘With open-plan living on the ground floor, we felt we needed a break-away room, so we decided to look into installing a garden room. We applied for planning permission because we live in a Conservation Area. We went as wide as we could to fit the width of the garden at four and half metres and a depth of three metres. With the last metre width of the room we created an en suite and outside storage.

‘The room has given us a space for work and study, a chill-out zone for the children and a guest bedroom. Designing the interior for all these needs was interesting. The space is so limited that using darker tones wasn’t really an option. The interior walls are melamine panels with plastic beading, which we removed and filled the holes with cork to create a surface to wallpaper on.

‘A corner sofa bed gave us the versatility to use the space as a chill-out zone for the children or a guest bedroom. For the en suite, we used three different tiles to create some movement and rhythm, again using light colours. Black accents give depth and contrast.

‘The room is in constant use. I enjoy working away from the main house, guests stay out there with their own en suite and on Sunday afternoons in mid-winter we’ve found ourselves snuggling up there with hot chocolate and a good book. It’s so peaceful.’

COSTS & CONTACTS

Garden room £14,000

Plumbing £3,000

En suite and tiling £2,800

Easigrass £2,500

Fencing £1,000

Drapes £900

Sedum roof £850

Decorating £500

Garden room Green Retreats, 01296 325777, greenretreats.co.uk

Interior design Louisa Tudor of LJ Interiors, 07920 864403, louisajaneinteriors.com