Simple design tricks to make a small garden room feel much bigger

Whether you’re a family of 5 or a couple craving more personal space, a small garden room can unleash a newfound freedom into your life. From a private workout to entertaining friends and family, or embracing your hobbies, there are so many wonderful ways to make the most out of the external footprint of your property. Yet, what if your garden will only allow for a small garden room?

Fear not, with over a decade of experience designing and building beautifully hand-crafted garden rooms, we’ve picked up plenty of tips and tricks on how to make a small garden room feel much bigger.

Stick with us and discover how simple it could be to bring to life your garden room dreams, even in the most compact of spaces.

Small garden? Room enough for us!

Many people worry that if they only have a small garden, or one that’s awkward to access, then a garden room must be out of the picture. Not true! The beauty of a small garden room is that you can fit our smallest rooms into even the tightest of gardens. Our exquisite, yet affordable Eden Essence, and luxurious Eden Classic, both come in a huge variety of sizes, from super small and perfect for a cosy garden office, home cinema or workout space, through to larger sizes with impressive dimensions.

How close can you go?

The smaller footprint option is great if you are keen to get the work done in a hurry and don’t want to add any extra head height as the standard 3x3m room size is easily within the basic planning permission rules. You’ll even be able to place a small garden room right next to the boundary line without any problems with planning, allowing you to maximise the space available in the garden.

But speak to our expert garden room team if you have any questions on planning.

No access at the back, no problem.

Thanks to the way our carpenters handcraft every building from quality materials on-site, unlike the prefab alternatives, we can build pretty much anywhere. Everything we need for your small garden room can be carried carefully through your house as needed, meaning even busy central town locations don’t pose a problem.

Shaped to fit your space

Wonky plot? Or just not quite enough space for a 3×3? It’s possible to achieve a truly bespoke small garden room to fit into the exact measurements of your plot, giving you something totally unique. We offer detailed, complimentary site surveys to iron out any concerns you might have, before our expert design team are able to create the very best small garden room possible, hand-built around your needs.

Small but perfectly formed Garden Room

So, you’re limited to a small space? So, what! When you opt for a quality garden room company, even the smallest of plots will deliver a beautiful new garden room that feels every bit as comfortable as the rooms inside your home. Aside from always using superior, long-lasting materials, both our Eden Essence and Eden Classic range offer premium finishes as standard to make your room feel homely from day one. However, there are a number of smart optional extras worth considering when you’re still at the designing stage of your dream garden room that will automatically make a smaller garden room feel bigger once built.

Glazing

With any garden room company worth their salt, you should be given a range of window design options to enhance the experience of your space. Bigger windows, or even floor-to-ceiling glazing, will let in plenty of natural light, helping even the smallest of small garden rooms feel larger. Choose sleek double doors or upgrade to bifolds for an even airier feel. Either way, you’ll be able to throw them open in the summer and enjoy a sense of calm, letting the outside in.

Streamlined essentials

We make a point of including all the essential fixtures and fittings into your building, designed to your specification, in quality materials, at no extra cost. No hidden extras. And, when you’re thinking about the essentials, what space-saving ideas should you look out for?

Lighting

If you have the chance, opt for integrated ceiling spotlights rather than hanging lights. Standard in every Eden, these keep the headspace of a small garden room beautifully uncluttered and create a brighter, warmer feel than a downlight with shade.

Heating

Although you can get some lovely slim wall panel heaters (the standard in our Eden Essence range) you might also want to consider upgrading to underfloor heating. (standard on the Classic) This is ideal for freeing up wall space and will reduce the number of objects cluttering up your room.

Extending your space outdoors

Upgrade your garden room by adding a premium raised decking. Available in both wraparound or single-profile options, the addition of a decking allows you to give your small garden room ease of movement between the interior and exterior. Add seating outside and throw the doors wide open to give a natural flow between inside and outside for that ultimate sense of space.

Think tall

Even with small garden rooms it is possible to create a building with an external height of up to 4m (gable roof) or 3m (all other roof types). However, you will require planning permission for this, or must ensure that the building sits 2m away from any boundaries.

Despite the extra effort, it could be well worth it because by adding to the height of your internal ceilings you’ll instantly get a greater sense of light and space, making a small garden room footprint instantly feel bigger.

For an even roomier experience, what about adding a skylight? Aside from bringing more light into the room, the ability to look up at the sky from inside is another great design trick to give the impression of more space.

Small interior design ideas, big feel.

Once you have the detailed design of your building ready, it’s time to consider what little tricks you can apply inside. You’ll be amazed how a few clever interior design ideas can help a smaller space feel bigger.

From your furniture choices to your paint palettes, when it comes to a small garden room it’s worth considering every detail.

Colour

It has long been recognised that wall colours can impact the feel and mood of any room. Whether you opt for an Essence or an Eden Classic, you’ll find they come finished to a high standard and painted in the colour of your choice, ready to move right in.

So how do you pick a colour that will make a small garden room seem bigger? Brighter colours, like off-white, and muted natural tones will better reflect the light of the room, giving it an airier feel. But with the brighter whites, you can lose a little warmth.

So, dare you go darker? Well, it’s often thought that dark colours make a room feel small. Surprisingly, this isn’t always the case.

In fact, rich, luxurious colours like midnight blue or, an Eden favourite, a stunning sage green, off-set with lighter-coloured furniture, can actually add to the sense of space because the boldness of the colour distracts the eye away from the busyness of the room.

Ultimately, it’s down to the atmosphere that you want to create. But, don’t be afraid of a bit of colour just because you are restricted to a smaller garden room.

Mirrors

A brilliant and age-old-trick of the eye, when it comes to giving a spacious feel to a small garden room is the use of mirrors. A well-placed mirror or two will throw natural light around your space giving a sense that it’s bigger than it really is. They will also add to the style of your room.

Whether you’re going for a laid-back country feel, or a more minimalist industrial style, you’ll find there’s a mirror out there to suit every style of small garden room you can imagine!

One point worth noting is that heavy, full-length mirrors may require extra support. So, if you let us know where you’ll want it, we can plan for this by installing reinforced walls where necessary.    

Downsize your furniture

Big, chunky furniture will always dominate a space, making it feel snug. This is also true of dark, heavy-coloured furniture choices. Instead, opt for lighter, narrower pieces in muted or natural tones, like white or pale wood.

Low-key furniture that blends better into its surroundings will always reduce visual clutter, helping a room feel bigger, perfect for your stylish yet small garden room.

Think multifunctional furniture

One of the best tricks we’ve used over the years in laying out a small garden room is to choose furniture that has more than one use.

Whether it’s a mirror with concealed shelving, or a seat that doubles as storage, there are lots of neat options on the market to make sure you maximise the space available inside your small garden room. Here are a couple of our favourites:

Desk double-ups

Shelving that stores a pull-out desk is a great way to make sure that a home office doesn’t dominate your small garden room on a permanent basis, keeping the space flexible.

Consider also dedicating a whole wall to storage. Floor to ceiling units can be made to look fitted for a sleek and stylish finish to match your beautiful hand-crafted building.

Opt for an ottoman

Ottoman storage seats, available in a whole host of styles, colours and types, and act as the ideal hiding place for your things. Family board games, books or blankets for example can be stowed away from sight to de-clutter your space.

You can even get ottoman stools with reversible lids for one handy coffee table, come-seat, come-storage unit. What more could you need?!

Transforming tables

From luxurious lounge complete with coffee table, to dining or hobby table in a matter of seconds. It’s a great way to keep your small garden room feeling roomy and yet completely flexible at the same time.

Sneaky storage ideas

Don’t forget to maximise a smaller floorplan by looking for unique storage ideas. Consider neat hanging solutions on the rear of the door, using storage under sofas or other seating, or try adding narrow shelving above interior windows as ways of benefit from otherwise unused spaces.

Finding clever storage spots will come in particularly handy if you want a small garden room fit for multiple uses, and don’t want storage to dominate the central areas. Even better if you’re a crafter or creative hobbyist with a lot of paraphernalia to house.

Check your tech

From the smart garden office to the compact home-cinema, there are lots of fantastic ways that tech can enhance your small garden room to give you the lifestyle you crave. Yet the more tech, the more visually cluttered a room can become, making it feel ever smaller.  If possible, opt for compact pieces.

Look out for Bluetooth speakers, slim, wall-mounted TV units and consider a compact digital home hub, like a Google Nest to bring control of your tech and entertainment together in one central device.

Try to do away with wires, or conceal them if possible as they will make the room look untidy. To help, consider where you are going to need plug sockets before your build.

Quality garden room companies like Eden will offer to install your electrics as part of the build price, so speak to your team about plug socket positioning early in the design stage, that way you won’t end up having multi plug extension cables covering up the floor of your small garden room.

Small Garden Rooms designed for space, built for living

There you have it, lots of simple and smart adjustments to make your small garden room feel that bit bigger. However, it’s worth remembering that a garden room should be made for year-round enjoyment and built to last.

So, no matter the size of your plot, never lose sight of the importance of including premium-grade materials and high-grade insulation into your check list of must-haves.

With all the space in the world, a chilly, damp room is always going to disappoint. So, do your research and take your time to get it just right. Most importantly, find a garden room company you can trust to take care of every detail.

Build your dream

Be it somewhere private to workout, a space to spend time with family or the place you plan to start a business, the life-changing space you crave could be ready in as little as six-eight weeks.

Armed with all our space-saving ideas, speak to our expert team and invests in a small garden room guaranteed enhance your home and your life.