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They often say, ‘the bigger, the better’. Yet that’s not always the case when it comes to new features for your home and garden. Here, we break down the common garden office sizes to help you find the one that fits your outdoor space best.
How Small Can a Garden Office Be?
The smallest garden offices on the market can be around 2x2m, which is enough for a small desk and chair, and maybe a fan or heater. That’s pretty much the limit.
A not-so-generous workspace size for a few furniture pieces, but it will do if your garden is limited. For your legs? Not much. The good thing is that the size range doesn’t end there.
Small Garden Office Common Size Range
3×2.5m and 4x3m are the common sizes in this range. They don’t take over your garden, but still leave ample room to move around.
A 3×2.5m garden office is a step up from the absolute minimum. It can fit a desk, chair, and a compact filing cabinet or shelf. You can even add a plant, a lamp, or a noticeboard, and still have some elbow room.
For reference, have a look at the BillyOh Canvas Insulated Garden Room.
In the above floor plan, there’s a desk along one of the long walls and a chair in front of it, plus a round rug underneath. There are also three storage shelving units with plants, and an armchair in the corner for extra seating. The door opens outward from the front wall.
This layout keeps the desk central but leaves plenty of space to move around. You can take inspiration from this setup if you choose this garden office size.
Now, a 4x3m garden office can handle more furniture. That could be a filing cabinet, a coffee machine, a printer corner, and a comfy chair for taking breaks.
Verdict: If it’s just you and a laptop, 3×2.5 m might be enough. If you want storage furniture or extra space to stretch your legs, 4×3 m is safer.
How Large can a Garden Office Be?
Just a quick legal point: your garden building can’t take up more than half of your property’s original outdoor space (unless you get planning permission, which might be rejected on this basis). So just think about how much of your garden will be eaten up by your outdoor office. If you have plenty of space to spare, you should be fine. That’s assuming you’re also escaping some of the other trappings of the planning permission rules. Check out our guide to outbuilding planning permission for the full details.
Do you think your garden office might be used by more than one person using it? Or do you want space for storage, equipment, or perhaps a small home business? Either way, going bigger makes a huge difference—literally.
The interior is more spacious, allowing you to fit two desks, a couple of chairs, or set up separate zones, a.k.a. partitions. Having this flexible layout means you can have one area for work and another for socialising. No strict boundaries, and you can arrange the space as needed.
You’re not limited to ideas either, and that’s what we like about it. And even if it’s just you now, it can save you headaches later if you hire someone or get extra equipment/furniture.
To give you some ideas of what’s possible, here’s our BillyOh Fraya Max Pent Log Cabin in 9x3m.
It has a longer, more open layout. One side houses a full-size desk, chair, and storage. At one end, there’s a lounge area with a large sofa and coffee table. At one end, there’s a lounge area with a small sofa and coffee table. On the opposite side, a large sofa with extra storage creates another usable corner.
At this stage, you’re looking at an office that has multiple business activities going on in it. Perhaps you’re running a salon where you also take care of administrative tasks between appointments. Or you could handle sales on one side while products are packaged on the other.
Can you imagine your garden office being like this?
What to Consider When Choosing the Size of a Garden Office
Start with the garden, not the office. One that fills every spare metre can end up feeling intrusive, block light, or make the garden harder to use.
Leave a working space around the building. You’ll want room to walk around it, maintain it, and still enjoy the garden. If fitting a bigger office means squeezing it tight against fences or boundaries, it’s a sign to go for a smaller one.
Access is another thing that often gets overlooked. Doors need room to open fully, along with a path or route from the house. An office that’s technically the right size can still feel awkward if furniture or planting gets in the way.
Also consider what else needs to stay in the garden. Seating areas, planting, sheds, or play space all compete for room. The office should sit alongside these, not take over everything.
Pick a size that works with your garden and lets you use the office the way you need it. And we have a guide that gives you more tips on that:
