With more and more people working from home in the current market, and this trend expecting to stay, backyard home offices are becoming a popular design. So, what are the choices for backyard offices?

The most popular choices for backyard offices are either:

• A modular cabin.
• A partially modular home, such as a kit home, or flatpack.
• A build-it-yourself from scratch, such as a studio or cabin design.
• Or, you can convert your pre-existing backyard building, such as a shed or garage.

So, if you do not have enough room for the home office you need inside your house, or want something with a little bit more privacy, then, by all means, you can consider a backyard home office.

Ultra modern offices can transform a backyard

Let’s get straight into it, and begin discussing what you can do with this design, so you can get to straight into work – pun intended.

Can Anyone Put Together a Backyard Office?

Well, as long as you have a backyard, and as long as the space in your backyard meets the regulations of Exempt Development, you can certainly put together a backyard office.

What can make a backyard office an Exempt structure?

Well, the legislation surrounding this changes from state to state, however, the size limits are below for urban regions:

• NSW: A maximum of 20sqm in floor space, and no more than 3m above the existing ground level.
• VIC: As much as 10sqm in floor area, and less than 3m high.
• QLD: Up to 10sqm in floor space, and under 2.4m in height.
• SA: A maximum of 15sqm in floor space, and less than 3m in height.
• WA – Not bigger than 10sqm in floor space, check height limits with your local Council.
• ACT – If your block is less than 500sqm, a maximum of floor area of 10sqm. If property if between 500sqm to 600sqm, a maximum floor area of 25sqm. Or if property is larger than 600sqm, a maximum of 50sqm. Check height regulations with your local Council.
• NT – If it is placed a minimum of 40m from all boundary lines, and the building height is under 2.1m, a maximum roof area of 12sqm. If placed at least 70m from all boundary lines, and the height is less than 2.4m, a maximum roof area of 30sqm.
• TAS – Up to 18sqm at most. Check height limits with your local Council.

You must also ensure that your office, in every state except for the Northern Territory, is at least 900mm away from any boundary fence.

As long as you have enough room at your boundaries you can fit most of our designs.

There are some additional rules around setbacks from boundaries and dwellings depending on your council area and zone, so it is best to check with your local Council for all regulations.

Also keep in mind that you may require planning permission, if you are going to have clients come and visit your office, as this could cause an impact to your neighbours.

What Are the Best Materials to Make a Backyard Office Out Of

Materials are always something that we advise that people take their time to consider before they purchase. This is because the materials that you use in your building provide a lot of different things, such as:

• Appeal aesthetically.
• Insulation, and
• Protection against the weather.

Some of the best materials to take into consideration are:

• Brick veneer – You can read about the advantages and disadvantages of building with brick here.
• Wood – Many people choose to build with wood, as it is simple to adapt, energy-efficient, easily maintained, durable, and sturdy.
• Metal – You can read here about the  the benefits and downsides of choosing to build with a metal, such as Colorbond.
• Concrete – Concrete walls can make your home office highly energy efficient, particularly those that have a lot of natural light, as the concrete will soak up the heat from the sunshine.
• Stone veneer – A stone veneer (such as limestone or granite), is quite inexpensive, easily installed, tough and sturdy, and needs little upkeep to keep it going.
• Glass – Glass allows much needed natural light to come inside. A strong glass is required, so it holds up against strong winds and storms.

What is also important when choosing a material is not to give in when it comes to your style or quality – this is your space, that you are going to be working in, and it must make you feel happy.

A simple design can match almost any primary dwelling (main house)

After choosing your material for your main frame, you will have to put your mind at work again, to choose more materials again, such as those needed for your:

• Roofing,
• Windows, and
• Doors.

This is where it may assist you to enlist the help of a professional, such as an architect, to plan your design. They will help you work with these materials, knowing how best to combine them, as well as making the best use of your land, the end result being them having created you a beautiful architecturally designed backyard office.

But if you would like to read more into the materials and choose them yourself, read this article about the materials that you should not use when building.

What are the Cost Differences for Backyard Offices?

As mentioned, you can either buy a pre-made office, a partially pre-made office, convert an existing building such as your shed or garage, or reduce your limitations and construct something from scratch, to suit your own needs or make it to your own style.

Hamptons look backyard office can easily be achieved

Each option though will have different prices involved. Let’s go through some of them now.

The least expensive way to build your backyard office is to choose a DIY option – such as a flatpack (kit) home, or a prefabricated (modular) home.

These come either already built, or already partially built, so you can build them yourself as an “owner-builder”, which will save you thousands of dollars in the long run. It is also one of the quickest options, as they are already at least somewhat pre-assembled.

These can be fully constructed for under $20 000.

One of the next, least expensive options, is choosing to convert a pre-existing building, such as your garage or shed in your backyard that you are not using. After all, these are buildings that are already there – you just have to convert them into an office.

You can then choose to build your backyard office from scratch. The cost to do this will depend on a few things – in particular its size, and the materials you choose. The bigger the size, the more it will cost. Some materials are more expensive than others also.

Below are some average costs:

• Brick veneer – $1300 to $3900 per square metre.
• Wood – $3900.
• Metal – $2500.
• Stone veneer – $2130 – $2210 per square metre.
• Plastic – $2400.

Please note that this is just for material and labour. There will be more charges, such as Council fees. You can see just how much I spent when I built my own granny flat.

The “Country cottage” feel is an easy design to assemble

If you do not wish to choose a DIY option, can also have a builder install a your backyard office for a cheap price – a starting price to run with is roughly $17,652. But know there will be extra costs if you do choose a builder, so here are suggestions on how to:

• Save on some of these builders costs.
• Choose a great builder for yourself.

Is It Hard to Get Internet to Backyard Offices?

Getting internet to an office in your backyard is actually quite easy these days, much easier than you may think, and it is all thanks to the new latest technology that we have.

However, it is not as easy as getting away with using your house Wi-Fi. This is as the Wi-Fi in your main home may not reach the backyard, or even if it does, you may get an inconsistent connection at best.

Going ultra-modern might be a choice for your land

What you can purchase though is a ready-made kit, which enables you to do either of the below:

• Extend your home internet – The easiest way to connect your primary home and your home office wirelessly is by using a Wi-Fi repeater (range extender). This means that you will not have to dig trenches for cables – it instead connects your Wi-Fi appliances and router in your main home and redelivers all of the data it receives back to the office. However, this will only work if your main home’s Wi-Fi router has a strong enough signal to which it can connect. So you may need to use a directional antenna, to create that signal. A kit with all the products that you need to extend your Wi-Fi can be purchased here.
• Set up a new connection in your backyard office using 4G – You can use a normal 4G modem, in combination with an antenna, to create a separate connection to your backyard office. These generally have more bandwidth, creating a stronger and more reliable connection. A kit with all the necessary appliances and cables can be purchased here, ready for you to set up.

Does Bunnings Sell Backyard Offices?

While Bunnings does not sell a backyard office as a ‘kit home’, as such, they really can help as a one-stop-shop for just about everything you require to complete your project – whether from scratch, or whether your fitting out a shed or a kit home that you have already built.

As there are Bunnings stores all around Australia, it is logical in thinking that you can just head down to your local store, and talk to their friendly staff about their easily installed flat-pack and modular kitchens and bathrooms, their floor coverings and their home office appliances etc.

In many Bunnings stores, you will also find that they can assist you with giving you the contact details for a tradie who can lay the carpet you just purchased, install that kitchen you just paid for from them, or any other jobs you need done once you have purchased the products from their stores.

You can read Bunnings own article here on how a garden home office was built using their own products.

Can I Have Clients Visit My Office, Do I Need Insurance?

Conclusion

If you use creativity when designing your home office, you can have both a backyard office and a living space in one small area. This can make them a great design idea for narrow blocks. They are also a simple, cost-effective idea.

So, if you have a smaller block size, or not enough room for a larger granny flat to include both your setbacks and floor space ratio requirements, then, go ahead and start think about a backyard home office.

You don’t need to have a cabin built on a concrete slab. Building on piers can actually be easier in many cases.

For some design ideas, see our article “15 Studio Granny Flat Designs That Include Everything You Need”. Hopefully here you can find some designs that you love – as you will be working in there, the area must inspire you to work to your best quality.

As always, if you want to save money on your build and design your own granny flat, you can find out more about owner builder granny flats from us here.