We have been eating breakfast since the Middle Ages when it was one of just two daily meals. During the Regency period, breakfast was usually taken at about 9am or 10am as evidenced by Jane Austen’s novels and personal correspondence. By the Victorian era, the middle classes were following gentrified habits with a full cooked breakfast. And during the 1950s, around half the population started the day with a fried breakfast.
Well-known figures through the ages developed strong favourites for their breakfast menus. Albert Einstein ate mushrooms, associated with boosting brainpower, with every meal, while Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart breakfasted on leftover meat from the previous evening. Winston Churchill was served daily with two breakfast trays and washed down his poached eggs and toast with whisky and soda. Ludwig Van Beethoven could not compose a note without his morning coffee and Claude Monet favoured an omelette. What we enjoy for breakfast changes all the time and the latest trends indicate that sustainable options, plant-based alternatives and food from around the world are growing in popularity.
Your morning rituals can set you up for a great day whether you start with an early walk, a quick workout, a meditation session, or simply enjoying a leisurely breakfast. Some say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you can enhance its benefits by creating the perfect setting in which to enjoy it.
Start your day with breakfast in your summerhouse and you will benefit still further from contact with nature, keeping you in touch with the seasons as the earth makes it journey around the sun. If enjoying your garden building as a breakfast venue appeals to you, below are some tips to create the ideal setting.
What type of summerhouse makes a good breakfast room?
Breakfast for one can be easily arranged in a small summerhouse such as the Balmoral or Baltimore models from the Scotts range. At 2m in width, both are made in a decorative octagonal shape and are fitted with shutters or windows and doors on three sides. If you frequently host guests, or even offer Bed & Breakfast to paying guests, they will enjoy breakfasting in a more capacious garden building such as Scotts’ 3m Newhaven Corner Summerhouse or its largest model, the Sun Ray Garden Room, available in three sizes up 4.4m in width, leaving plenty of room for a dining table and chairs.
Where’s the best place to install a summerhouse?
Once you have chosen your summerhouse model, plan its location and position with care. If you intend to carry food and beverages out from your house in the morning, you won’t want to walk too far with a laden tray. And it’s wise to make sure that you can access it via a level path or track that’s accessible in all weathers. Keep a pair of ‘back door shoes’ handy in the kitchen and a useful mac and you will be able to pop out to your garden building every morning no matter what the weather brings.
The art of sun mapping is not just for gardeners. It is also a crucial part of your summerhouse project planning to ensure you choose the best location. Sketch out a rough plan of your garden and fill in the shady areas four times during the day. Make your first sketch at the time when you would usually have breakfast and you will be able to see where the light falls. Sitting in the sunshine promotes a feeling of wellbeing and you will benefit from some warmth even when the sun is low in the sky. Don’t forget that the angle of the Earth’s axis means that the position of the sun changes in each season. By choosing the optimum spot for your summerhouse carefully, you should achieve the benefit of light and warmth all year round. Your garden’s aspect will affect your choice of location too.
East-facing gardens are sunny in the morning, and south-facing plots are usually exposed to sunlight throughout the day. In east and west-facing gardens, we recommend the addition of a rotating base for your summerhouse which is available on our Balmoral, Baltimore, and smallest Burghley model of octagonal summerhouses. The rotating base relies is mounted on nylon wheels discretely hidden beneath timber skirting, and you can simply turn the entire building through 360 degrees to follow the sun and shelter from the breeze.
What facilities will I need in my summerhouse?
If dining al fresco appeals to you, think about whether you will have breakfast outdoors all year round or only in the summer. If you can see yourself breakfasting out in the snow, request the addition of double glazing and insulation so you will be snug and warm as you enjoy your porridge. In the summertime, you may need a sunshade or parasol even early in the morning and should keep a spare pair of sunglasses on a shelf inside your summerhouse so you can read the newspaper or complete the crossword in comfort.
Now is also decision time about whether you need to install electricity. If you live for coffee, you might want to install the latest model like this Swan Retro machine in your garden building. Or you may simply wish to plug in an electric kettle. Or you can simply bring drinks with you from indoors each morning. Think about introducing some useful storage into your summerhouse that enables you to set up breakfast very quickly and pack everything away once you are finished. Scotts’ summerhouses are available with modular timber seating and each section doubles as a lidded storage box.
What are the best breakfast accessories for a summerhouse?
From a single seat and bistro table to a large dining table and chairs, the size of your summerhouse and its likely use will dictate the furniture you choose. If you choose Scotts’ modular seating that is carefully crafted to dovetail with the angle of the summerhouse walls, you will already have a comfortable upholstered seat with luxurious cushions in a range of colourways. A sunny breakfast room in your garden would be perfectly enhanced by our Sanderson Paradesia Grey, Honeysuckle Fig, or Sanderson Jackfruit Olive cushion fabric.
Our top picks for small breakfast tables are:
- John Lewis Swoon (left), made from FSC-certified acacia wood.
- Robert Dyas wooden square patio table that folds down.
- Choose a drop-leaf table style that can be stored away to open up the space once you have finished eating.
To enjoy breakfast in style, don’t forget to make a selection of crockery, glass, and tableware that you can conveniently store in your garden building to make an occasion of this special meal every day. From the Good Web Guide to breakfast accessories, we especially like:
- Fortnum & Mason Provisions butter dish
- Rowen & Wren vintage wooden butter knife
- Objects of Use pink Turkish enamel milk jug
- Matilda Goad ceramic toast rack
- Alessi Dressed egg cup and spoon in white.
Catching up with news and doing the crossword, you could find that your early morning interlude lasts longer than usual. We suggest that the following accessories that will add to the enjoyment of your garden building breakfast experience:
- Wayfair’s Apollonia Crane magazine rack
- Roberts Revival digital portable radio in sunburst yellow
- The Range’s two-tier tray in champagne gold
- Brakes stainless steel plate cloche with mirror finish and gold knob.
Whatever your vision of a summerhouse breakfast space, Scotts will be happy to help you plan your project, whether you’re creating a personal space for your own use or require a larger bespoke model for a commercial setting.
Speak to our friendly design team who are always on hand to chat through your ideas and provide advice. Contact us through our website or call 01832 732366.