How to get an extra room without extending

If you've already extended up and out and still need more space but don't want to move house, or if you're desperate for extra room but don't have the cash or space to extend, a garden room could be the perfect solution. What's more, you don't need several acres to include one. These days you can get all sorts of summerhouses, sheds and outbuildings in different shapes and sizes for whatever purpose to create much-needed extra space at a fraction of the price.

If you're thinking of investing, here are some ideas for what to do with your space and how to give it country-style chic.

1. A great way to make the most of your garden in the summer, and a good choice if you don't have a garden room or conservatory attached to your house, this summerhouse is the perfect lazy, summer-day retreat with wicker sofa and chair layered with pretty summer fabrics.

2. There are several reasons to install your home office in a posh garden shed like this. For one, it's a good idea if you don't have the space at home, but for lots of people who work from home, getting out of the house and confining work to a separate space they don't live in, helps productivity.

3. Love having people to stay but don't have anywhere to put them? A room at the end of your garden might just be the answer. Not only does it solve the space issue, it gives guests a really private space in which to relax, unwind and get a good night's sleep, too.

4. If you've no space for a dedicated playroom in your house, why not turn a garden room into a den for your children? Pack it with a table and chairs for painting and drawing, bookcase for their favourite reads and lots of colourful toys to play with and rediscover peace and quiet for at least... half an hour!

5. Sick of clothes hanging up to dry around your house in winter months and hearing the washing machine on spin mode? Dedicate an outbuilding to your laundry kitted out with everything you need for washing days, then when all the work's done, shut the door and leave it all behind you.

6. Are your pets ruling the roost? From ducks to chickens and even dogs, an old shed or garden room could make the perfect house or kennel for fluffy or feathered friends, keeping them under control, giving them lots of space and stopping them from getting under your feet all the time in at home.

7. Love a log pile but don't have anywhere inside to store them? This lovely garden shed has an extended roof with space underneath for a sizeable pile of logs which is easy to access but also has enough coverage to keep the majority of the rain off when the heavens open.

Looking for more garden ideas? Take at our inspirational garden buildings gallery.