'I doubled my living space with an outdoor room'

Sarah Brooks swapped a dilapidated shed for a showstopping open summerhouse, decked out with stylish home comforts to bring the inside out

-  Lisa Moses

For years, Sarah's view from her kitchen window was of a shabby shed and a tangle of weeds, but she always knew there was potential to do something amazing with it. "The overgrown flowerbed and the run-down outbuilding were an eyesore and didn't make good use of the space,' says Sarah. 'Lockdown made us all rethink our outside spaces and although we had a patio, using it was very weather-dependent. I wanted a retreat from the house, but where we didn't need to worry about the cold or rain.'

THE PROJECT