Barbecue all year round with a garden BBQ hut and grill

Barbecue all year round with a garden BBQ hut and grill

Rustic cabin by the Poison Garden at Alnwick GardensNext to the extraordinary Poison Garden at Alnwick Gardens in Northumberland is a quaint timber cabin. With its rustic logs and octagonal shape, it’s out of a story by the Brothers Grimm – one of the more sinister ones, judging by the skull-and-crossbones on the locked gates of the adjacent garden.

Adding to the silvan atmosphere is the evocative smell of woodsmoke drifting from the cabin. The centrepiece of the cabin is a raised indoor log fire.  As well as being a wonderful focal point, it can be used as an indoor barbecue.

Everything at Alnwick Gardens is done on a grand scale (if you’re in doubt about this, take a look at the Harry Potter style treehouse). But, unlike most of their ideas, the BBQ house can actually be replicated in a back garden, and with the unpredictable UK weather, that means you can barbecue all year round.

All year round barbecue hutIf you like the cabin at Alnwick Garden, and you’re an avid barbecue cook, then you’ll be delighted to discover that GardenLife sell BBQ huts with an almost identical design – octagonal shape, Nordic-style doorway, picturesque chimney, and an optional internal BBQ grill and smoke extractor hood. As GardenLife cater for different garden sizes, these barbecue huts are available in two different sizes; Kim (with a 3.2m diameter) and the larger, slightly taller Greta (3.8m in diameter).

BBQ huts – also sold as barbecue lodges or even Arctic grill houses and smoke houses – derive from the huts (called ‘kota’) used by Saami reindeer herders in the Far North of Finland. Originally covered with reindeer skins, they usually have bench-style seating around the edge, used for sleeping as well as sitting.

The popularity of BBQ huts is soaring in the UK because they allow the Brits to extend their passion to barbecue all year round. With a barbecue hut, it’s possible to barbecue whatever the weather – on a sunny bank holiday weekend, you can enjoy wasp-free burgers inside the cabin, with door and windows thrown open to let in the breeze. In rain, snow and mist, you can enjoy ‘outdoor living’ indoors, still enjoying the unbeatable taste of a great barbecued steak, and swapping the Pimms for a good red wine.

Barbecue houses can also double as quaint sleepover huts (simply use cushions and sleeping bags on the benches), or a snug (the ideal place to make and enjoy some home brew).

The Arctic origins of BBQ huts lead many people to decorate them Nordic-style, with reindeer skins, sheepskins or (fake) furs on the benches or floor, and Nordic accessories like wooden tableware. Finnish Marimmeko fabrics give a more modern Nordic feel, whilst children may like a Moomin theme (using this for tableware or cushions is more easily reversible when their tastes change).

Another option is to look across the Atlantic for your design inspiration. Search terms like ‘Mexican’, ‘Santa Fe’, ‘hacienda’ or ‘TexMex’ style produce some great affordable design ideas, including:

  • fabrics in vibrant and exuberant red, terracotta and ochre shades
  • handpainted Mexican pottery
  • Mexican tiles (either in blue/white or red patterns) as mats
  • woven Mexican wall hangings
  • brightly coloured or plain woven baskets for storage
  • even a cactus!

All these are easy to source wherever you live in the UK. The look works brilliantly with the wooden beams of a timber cabin, and makes a great backdrop for an indoor barbecue grill.

Traditional garden gazebo - a cheaper alternative to a BBQ hutIf you don’t want to go the whole hog and buy a BBQ lodge, a gazebo gives meteorological flexibility and protection, providing shelter from too much sun or too much rain. Gazebos such as GardenLife’s Dove, Calder, Leven and Foss models are also a great idea if you have small children – keeping the barbecue in a safe, enclosed area whilst the kids run around the rest of the garden.

A summer house provides somewhere dry and draught-proof to enjoy your burgers if the sky suddenly blackens mid-barbecue. It can also act as a windbreak – especially if you buy a model with a sizeable roof overhang – making it easier to get your charcoal lit in the first place.

Do watch out if you’re barbecuing near a timber building, though. And never be tempted to move an outdoor barbecue indoors – it’s not just fire that’s a risk, but carbon monoxide poisoning too. Only barbecue indoors if you’re using a specially designed indoor BBQ grill and smoke extractor like the ones we offer with Greta or Kim.

Alnwick Garden photo credit: http://paradisexpress.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/alnwick-garden.html

How to set up a home office on a budget

How to set up a home office on a budget

At the end of 2013 over 4 million people in the UK were self-employed – and the numbers keep on rising. Not all of these people are working at home, of course  – the 4 million includes contractors, freelancers and trades people who work on-site for customers and clients. But with more people working for themselves, more of us need space at home to do our jobs.

How to set up a home office on a budget, and increase workspaceThe classic solution is the spare room or the garage – or worse, a PC and desk squeezed into the corner of the bedroom, or a laptop on the sofa. But talk to any home-workers and they’ll give you a list of drawbacks: interruptions by family, no space to store papers or supplies, nowhere professional to meet customers, the difficulty of switching off from work …. What they need is an office, but setting up a home office isn’t as easy, or cheap, as it may seem.

If you’re an empty-nester, you could easily convert a bedroom into something more ‘professional’. But what if you’re already bursting at the seams? Extensions and attic conversions are expensive, disruptive and can take many months (or years) to finalise. So, how to set up a home office on a budget? Well, a garden office or workroom could be the perfect solution.

Not only are garden offices cheaper than extensions and loft conversions, they can be completed in the space of a few days, and won’t render your house uninhabitable while they’re being constructed. And if you tire of working for yourself, they can quickly transform into a home gym, games room, spare bedroom or workshop, and if you move house, you can take a timber garden office with you!

As the idea of the garden office has become mainstream, the choice of designs has proliferated (as a browse around the GardenLife website will illustrate). When deciding on a style, it may help to run through the following questions:

  • What sort of building design would match the image of your business – a traditional garden room design, a more spacious log cabin, or something sleeker and contemporary in appearance, such as our Nith or Esk designs?
  • Do you want the office to double up for other purposes – summerhouse or workshop, and which designs would offer the greater scope to do this?
  • Do you hope to take on staff in the future, and will they need their own deskspace?
  • Do you need substantial space to store supplies or finished products?
  • Will you need some sort of ‘reception’ area  – for example, if you need a waiting area whilst you deal with several clients?

View a full range of garden officesAll these questions will help determine the style, size and layout of the garden office you choose, as well as solving the problem of how to set up a home office on a budget. For example, in the GardenLife range, some of the larger models like Arun, Medina, Usk, Yar and Lodden have more than one room, creating options for store rooms, meeting space, reception area or private offices.

One final point to guide your choice is the question of warmth. GardenLife recommend that you look for timber garden rooms with a wall thickness of at least 44mm, especially if you want to use a garden office all year round. Thinner than that, and even the densest timber won’t have sufficient insulation properties to keep your home office warm enough for four-seasons use (without landing you with high heating bills). Similarly, we recommend garden rooms with double-glazed windows if you plan to use your office for long stretches or throughout the year.

Bespoke log cabin in the woods!

Bespoke log cabin in the woods!

Following on from last months’ post announcing GardenLife’s new bespoke garden building design service, we’ve pulled together a few notes and photos on another bespoke project we undertook not long back down in the Borders.
Bespoke holiday cabin
Project Name: Bespoke Holiday Log Cabin

Location: Peebles, Scottish Borders

Client Brief: GardenLife Log Cabins were tasked to design and build a substantial log cabin for year round holiday use with five internal rooms, including a bathroom and open plan lounge. The log cabin was to be open and light to take in the amazing views of the surrounding woods and hills, but also warm enough to accommodate holiday makers in the depths of a Scottish winter!

Technical Specification: The log cabin was built with dense 88mm laminated timber (much thicker than standard designs of 44mm or 70mm) and was insulated throughout to ensure it remained warm even in winter. If you’re interested, ground plans, cross sections and 3D renderings can be viewed in this PDF [1.2MB].

Completion Time: Including the time spent on planning and building regulation, as well as the usual applications and approvals, it took GardenLife eight months to complete the entire project (from initial consultation to watertight construction).

Concluding Notes: This project allowed GardenLife to design and build a great log cabin to act as a perfect holiday retreat in a beautiful and secluded area. When the bespoke log cabin is not in use by the client it is hired out to tourists (which helps with the running costs and upkeep).

Bespoke log cabin design

If you’d like more details about GardenLife’s bespoke timber building design service, or if you have your own plans for a holiday cabin in the woods, all you need do is contact us with your plans and questions.

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