A garden room can be used for many things: a home office, garden shed, darkroom, workshop… but perhaps you need it most when you have a temporary lack of space. If you don't have overnight guests very often, a spare bedroom seems unnecessary, as the space will be completely unused when no one is visiting.

In addition, having visitors for several days at a time can be a bit of a challenge. During the day there aren't any problems. Even if your guests aren't out and about all day, they still won't disturb your routines that much. At night it's a different matter. Your guests probably haven't synchronised their circadian rhythm with yours. Either they go to bed later than you do or they get up when you need more sleep. We usually aren't so willing to compromise our routines. We might not want to get up before our alarm clock goes off. Then there's the bathroom rituals that don't include friends and acquaintances no matter how much we like them.

Instead, being able to offer your friends a guest house in the form of a garden room feels practical and luxurious. It's always there, ready and waiting to accommodate guests at short notice. A bed, bedside tables, lamps - everything you need. Sure, it would be nice to be able to offer them a fully equipped bathroom, but if the need arises, there might be a toilet in the basement that guests can access without waking up the whole house.

A kitchen isn't necessary either, although it's possible to squeeze a small kitchenette into the garden room. A coffee maker might feel over-the-top, but set one up and/or a kettle and guests will be able to entertain themselves for several hours in the morning.

Even if you have a guest bed in the garden room, it can also be used for other things. It can serve as a garden shed or hobby room when you don't have extra overnight guests. This double use is perfect, as people don't just show up and expect to sleep over. You'll probably know well in advance, so you have several hours to clean, ventilate the room and change the bedding. It will still be a much smaller project than emptying the children's room or arranging floor space in the living room so you can squash some mattresses in there.

And when that question comes, you’ll know what to say. "Of course you can stay over, it's no problem at all, it'll be fun." Yes, of course you always says that, but with a garden room on your land, you'll really mean it.