“I army crawled in there.”
“He was always on Zoom meetings.”
Dodging daily video calls was not a game Jamie enjoyed playing.
“I’d have to duck and try and get past the camera view to get what I had to get.”
“It’s not a way to live. I couldn’t get dressed in there. He would start work at 8 o’clock.”
It’s a familiar situation many of us find ourselves in as we spend more time at home.
With five kids under the same roof during lockdown, David had nowhere else to work.
Jamie had a solution.
She moved her husband’s workstation from the bedroom to the backyard.
Two years ago, the couple had two Melwood Verandahs installed on their property.
As a macramé artist, Jamie needed space to spread out.
“I was working inside the home. I was taking up the whole house, so I was getting on my family’s nerves a bit.”
She chose a Verandah 20 for her workshop, measuring a spacious 6.3 metres long and 3.2 metres wide.
For storage, she chose a smaller structure, the Verandah 11.
“That holds my excess cotton stock.”
Now that Jamie’s business has expanded, she’s moved her creative studio to a warehouse.
David was quick to claim the vacant backyard room as his home office.
“The day I said, okay, you can use my space, he went and got a couch.”
While David enjoys his newfound home office pod, Jamie says there’s no chance he can turn it into a man cave.
“I won’t allow him to decorate it!”
“He’s using my old antique desk, so I said you have to keep my desk in there.”
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David was happy to oblige.
“He loves it. He likes being out of the bedroom because it was like he slept there; he woke up, he was there all day.”
“Your bedroom should be where you relax, not where you do your high-stress corporate job.”
The outdoor room also provides lockdown stress relief.
“He doesn’t have to worry if the kids are yelling. He doesn’t have to tell them to be quiet or get out of the house.”
After hours, the cabana serves another purpose, more space for the family of seven.
“I know the twins like going in there and watching their shows on the iPads.”
In years to come, Jamie is confident the use of the garden rooms will continue to evolve.
“If I decided to close up shop, it doesn’t matter because we have five kids, and the kids could use it. It would add value to the house.”
“When we sell our house, we’ve got this beautiful extra space out the back. Anyone would love it.”
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