Sheet 09 · Case Notes
Written records from recent Brighton and Hove garden-room commissions. Text columns only.
Before
Kemptown terrace: rear lean-to used as storage for bikes and paint tins. Single bare bulb, cracked vinyl floor, and a door that stuck in damp weather. Kitchen looked onto clutter rather than the small walled garden.
Owners wanted a reading corner and occasional supper for four without a full rebuild of the shell.
After
Cleared the lean-to, laid a pale timber platform over a levelled slab, and set a low sofa opposite a narrow dining table. Marine-coated frames retained; new thermal blinds on the west panes.
Plant troughs at the sill hide the neighbour wall. The room now hosts weekday reading and weekend meals; bikes moved to a side shed.
Before
West Hove side return: dark corridor between kitchen and unused conservatory. Roof glass without blinds; afternoon glare made the conservatory unusable from March to September.
Family of five needed a homework table and a dry route for school coats.
After
Glazed-link styling added a bench with coat hooks, a roof-blind schedule, and a translucent privacy pane toward the neighbour. Conservatory furniture reduced to a round table and four chairs with a wall desk on the solid flank.
Glare dropped enough for afternoon homework; kitchen sightline to the garden reopened.
Reading these columns
Each pair records the site condition we met and the styling moves that changed daily use. Structural works, where needed, were by the client’s builder; our sheets covered layout, finishes, shading, and planting edges.
Fees for the Kemptown lean-to sat near the middle of our package band; the Hove link was a slimmer commission closer to £900.
What we measure on the first visit
Door swings, sill heights, neighbour windows, and the wettest corner of the floor decide more than style preference. We sketch those constraints before talking fabrics.
Clients receive a short written note the same week so builders and households share one reference.
Outcomes we look for
Success means the room is used in wet months, not only on bright Saturdays. If coats, homework, or supper still happen elsewhere, we revisit the plan.
Follow-up visits within the package adjust planting and textile layers after the first season of Channel weather.
Requesting a similar brief
Send photos of your rear elevation and a note on how you want to use the room to [email protected]. We reply with a suggested package band before booking a survey.