How ever you choose to mark the day – from gifting luxe red roses, chocolates, cuddly plush teddies or posting sweet nothings on social media – Valentine’s Day can put a strain on your relationship. One study found that relationships were more likely to break up on this day than a typical week. Galentine’s or Palentine’s Days are ways to take the focus off romancing ‘the one’ and celebrate friendship instead.

Or maybe a garden room just might put the ‘spark’ back into your relationship?

It may sound silly… But believe it or not a garden building could help ease the tensions caused by your partner leaving their hobby clutter all over the house, or interrupting your work-from-home, or the lack of space to relax and unwind together.

Time together vs time apart

Communication is key to maintaining a healthy relationship – as is cultivating a healthy work-life balance.

The 5 Love Languages shows how individuals in relationships prefer to receive and feel love. They apply to romantic relationships, work, friendships, and family.  The 5 Love Languages are: Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation and Physical Touch. Take a quiz to find out what language lends itself best to you.

Often couples bicker over how much time they should spend time together and apart. Relationship experts suggest following the 70/30 rule for a happy relationship with 70% of your time spent together and 30% of your time apart. However, it’s important to adjust this rule to fit your unique circumstances, as every relationship is different.

Make Room for Love in your Life

A garden room provides the space to spend quality time together unplugged from your devices.  A garden building is the perfect place to have shared experiences and deepen your connection with plenty of date nights. Away from any distractions and ensuring that you both have each other’s undivided attention – you’re bound to find a greater level of intimacy. Or perhaps consider hosting Galantine’s and Palentine’s day in your garden retreat to nurture your friendships. Take inspiration from these delightful date night ideas. 

Benefit from a change of scene

Working and living together can be tricky. As the old proverb goes a change is as good as a rest. A garden office can provide a shared workspace for partners working remotely, fostering a productive environment whilst enjoying each other’s company

It’s crucial to set up clear boundaries between your professional and personal life. This includes creating separate physical spaces for work and living to help distinguish between the two. It also involves refraining from checking work emails or taking work-related calls after hours, as well as leaving work-related stress at the workplace.  

You could leave anything work-related within the four walls of a garden building or use it as a space to decompress and relax if you work remotely inside your living space!  

Divine Savages

Husbands and business partners Jamie Watkins and Tom Kennedy own their own London-based interior design business Divine Savages. They ran their studio from their garden room for a good handful of years, before moving to a new property.

“When we started our garden renovation, having a garden studio was top of our list. Running our interiors brand Divine Savages together meant we desperately needed a space that helped us to separate work and home, even if it was just at the end of the garden! Once the project was finished it really transformed our lives, with the studio doubling up as both a dedicated workspace for Jamie to run the business from, as well as a place for entertaining with friends on chillier summer nights.

Stay up to date with Jamie and Tom’s luxury designs by following @divinesavages on Instagram.

Garden Building Expert reveals all

Malvern Garden Building expert, Majella Lloyd, sometimes finds herself dispensing relationship advice while helping couples on their search for the perfect garden building. She says, “It’s a privilege to be a part of their journey to find the ideal space that meets their unique requirements.” 

 Majella proves how versatile the garden rooms are by describing how couples use them as offices, home gyms, yoga or Pilates studios, safe havens for teens, and even for housing personal collections or hobbies that take up too much room in the house. She remembers, ‘I helped make a relationship happier by finding a space for a husband’s train set once.’ 

 Post-pandemic Malvern Garden Buildings appear to be playing a role in defusing tension in relationships. Majella explains:

“One customer told me her husband wasn’t going into work as much since Covid. She worked part-time and he was getting under her feet. The husband said, ‘I’m no trouble in the house’ to which she shot back, ‘yeah no trouble you’re just breathing.”  

Majella jokes that garden office might have saved their marriage. 

With the rising cost of moving home a garden building offers a budget-friendly solution for couples, either as extra space for themselves (or their better half) to have time alone or to enjoy together.  

There’s no need to fight over who has the garden room as Majella describes how flexible Malvern Garden Buildings can be with the choice to create rooms within rooms with partition walls or even add a cat flap to keep on the right side of the family pet! 

The enduring quality of Malvern Garden Buildings means they can also adapt over a couple’s lifetime from workroom to playroom to becoming a spot to watch the sunset with a G&T.

Time alone

Spending some quiet time alone is healthy and can restore your energy to leave you feeling ready to take on the world!

Content creator, interior design and renovation enthusiast Sharon Hornsby, (@Hornsbystyle) had a Studio Pent installed last Autumn as a space to work from home.

Sharon finds her new Studio Pent Malvern Garden Building a productivity haven for her work. She said:

“I love having my garden studio to work from home in now, it’s not only my office it’s my haven too – Being able to work surrounded by nature has made me so much more productive and it’s lovely to be on my own rather than in the bustle of the house.

In a matter of a few months, her new garden building has made a positive impact on her relationship. Sharon goes on to say: :

It’s meant no more shouting at Jim to be quiet if I have a call or having to clear all my samples from the dining table at dinner time, which in turn has led to a much calmer living environment – now he just comes to the studio with a coffee for me or we have lunch together and then I go back to the studio to work – not only has it made a huge difference to my work/life balance but too our relationship too”.

Using an ex-display Studio Apex as a space to rehearse and create music, is Oliver Darley’s ‘Music Room’. Insulation was added onto the building to help with the acoustics and soundproofing. Double glazing enables Oliver to get lost in music without disturbing the neighbours or activities in the house.

A garden room is a bonus space conducive to focused work where you won’t be disturbed by the hustle and bustle of home life.

Outside interests

Having a hobby is a great escape from reality, keeping boredom at bay and bringing a sense of fulfilment. Hobbies also help to maintain individuality and independence – not all interests need to be the same as your partner.  

However… hobbies and interests can come hand in hand with a LOT of belongings.  Has your partner’s hobby become a full-blown obsession? Is their collection outgrowing the house and taking up too much living space?

To wife Susan’s relief, Alan uses his garden studio to house his ever-expanding sports memorabilia collection. Ingeniously, he fitted an extra moving wall to create even more hanging space but it also provides a spot for them to enjoy together. Alan explains:  

“Our MGB still looks great 10 years on, I still have my sporting memorabilia securely on display, with many new pieces gracing the walls or planned to do so. My wife and I can also watch garden birds and animals from both inside and from the veranda outside and enjoy our garden from an elevated view.”

A garden building can be the ideal creative solution for safe storage space and organisation. Also, a space free from distractions and interruptions to fully pursue what brings you or your partner joy and let the creative flair flow.