Friday, July 10, 2009

What's your favourite gardening and shed blog?


The fine folk at Waltons Garden Buildings have set up a fun poll for National Shed Week. Here's what they say:

"We've been trawling through a selection of blogs and websites to find our own top 10 list of the best ones. It took some time to narrow the list down but we've got there now so all we need is for you guys to vote for your favourite blog or website. We've written a little bit about each one as well in case you haven't seen them before. We'll leave the voting open for a few weeks then when we close it we will announce the winner. Happy voting!
It's a great list and we're very pleased to have made the top 10. You can vote by clicking here.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Shedworking book: the cover


Here's what it's probably going to look like, give or take some tweaks. Just to remind you, it's out in June 2010 with Frances Lincoln at £16.99 (there will be a special offer on this price for all you loyal subscribers to Shedworking and The Shed magazine).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday posts are sponsored by Vivid Green, the low energy garden building specialists. Click here for more details

Simon Draper, Citysol & Shedworking book preview...


You can get a sneak preview of the Shedworking book (Shedworking: The Alternative Workplace Revolution, out next June) over the weekend in New York at Citysol thanks to Simon Draper from Habitat for Artists (it's not the one above, that's a previous work from Simon to give you the idea). Here's what he says: "

"The Habitat for Artists project is placing one of their six by six habitat studios close to the banks of the East River at 23rd Street for this event. The small studios are made from largely recycled and reclaimed material and artists also reuse their own work to clad the exteriors, art as material for shed building. In recognition of the repurposing of space as a creative outlet and also being a cost effective method of finding "new " space for numerous activities I thought it only fitting to celebrate National Shed Week and the Shed in all it's guises.

"As art becomes exterior cladding for the habitat studios I thought so too could the images of sheds. Having created grids of 'tiles' for artists to collaborate on and covering the sides of many of the studios I thought it would be wonderful to pay homage to the larger activity that is shedworking, creating a 12 by 12 inch grid a side of a studio with 48 images of other sheds.

"Alex has gladly provided a stock of images for us from his forthcoming book. But how to pick just 48? Alex had told me there were around 200 images to choose from but having funds and time only for one side I chose a systems approach which was also prone to the individual at the computer who randomly decided if there was one she preferred. The selection was done choosing every fourth one. No judges, no long discussions, no committees. The effect is stunning and the mix is a real statement of individual needs and character, a shed aesthetic. There are modern and minimal, rustic and true utilitarian follies all extolling the shed virtue."
The studios will begin to be used by a variety of artists over the next few weeks and there will be a small footprint garden close by. Citysol is a celebration of urban sustainability and creativity in a mini music and arts festival which opens tomorrow and runs until Sunday. We'll put up photos on Shedworking of the finished product tomorrow...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday posts are sponsored by Vivid Green, the low energy garden building specialists. Click here for more details

International Shed of the Year 2009 winner

Congratulations to Chuck Witmer of Silver Spring, MD, USA, whose The Shed is the winner of the 2009 International Shed of the Year (which by happy coincidence we featured earlier in the year). Here's what he says about it:

"The need for a woodshop/painting studio was unavoidable once we bought our own house and our family began to grow. I was building furniture out of our finished basement until we decided that the saw dust in the ducts was not the best for our lungs. My wife was painting out of the 3rd bedroom until we had our first born Eli which required the need for her space to become a guest room. I designed this accessory building to achieve the space necessary for the continued success of my wifes painting career and the passion to design/build and make furniture."
More photos of the build at Chuck's Flickr site and more details about the judging (I was part of the panel) at Shedblog.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday posts are sponsored by Vivid Green, the low energy garden building specialists. Click here for more details

What's the best way to move a shed?

Moving a shed or garden office is an issue which often arises. Sue Greenwood from Sweeble writes:

"Not sure whether any of your Shedworking readers can help with this – but any advice for us in trying to move our shed/office (basically spin it around and shift it to the opposite side of the garden)? So far we’ve had friends advising on a ‘Stonehenge’ approach (wooden rollers laid across the garden, strong ropes and slaves); the ‘Ikea’ approach (take it apart and pray it’ll go back together again) and the ‘Big Boys’ approach (hire a rugby team, pay them in beer)! Any other suggestions?"
There's also this possibility...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday posts are sponsored by Vivid Green, the low energy garden building specialists. Click here for more details

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

And the winner of Shed of the Year 2009 is...

The Kite Cabin, owned by Steven Harwood from Llandysul near Carmarthen, West Wales. "I entered Shed of the Year because I feel I have a very special shed in a very special place," said Steven. "The location is unbeatable in my opinion with amazing panoramic views. It is surrounded by nature including kites, badgers and various birds. It is such a useable space and is not pre-ordered like so many sheds these days. It is a realisation of my idea and I love it. I hope that my cabin will be an inspiration for others and what can be done in an otherwise dead space."

Steven's prizes include a year’s supply of cheese from the Cheeseshed.com, a £50 voucher from Wyevale Garden Centres, a unique shed cushion and a wind-up Trevor Bayliss radio.

Uncle Wilco, organiser of Shed of the Year said: “This is the third year we have run the competition and each time I am astounded by the quality of the sheds that our sheddies create, they put everything into it. From off-the-shelf sheds that the sheddie have decorated and turned into their own escapes, to hand-built ecosheds and workshops, the range of talents of the British public is unbelievable.”

The judges of Shed of the Year commented:

Sarah Beeny, TV property developer."The shed quality gets better and better each year - it seems more and more people are embracing the joy of sheds! Though I was tempted by Grumpy’s Palace as it looks just like my office, The Kite Cabin was perfect! Well done!!"

Chris Evans, TV personality and Radio 2 DJ: "Grumpy's shed was a great shed but nothing that nice and welcoming should be called grumpy - I'm saying next year change the name and you’re in with a shout, son. The disco shed so nearly got my vote for obvious reasons - DJ love etc - but let's face it, it's not a shed, it is in fact a vehicle born out of the most extreme capitalist culture and although, whilst spreading music, lights and fun where ere it may come to rest, pitch up and plug in, it is nevertheless, at its very core, a money-making wooden machine on wheels. In my opinion my favourite is the delightful, delectable, cool yet not pretentious - Dingly Dell. A shed indeed fit for a princess."

Alex Johnson, Editor of Shedworking.co.uk: "National Shed Week once again showcases the many ways in which the shed concept is central to the lives of millions of people, not just in the UK, but around the planet. The finalists have again shown that there is really no limit to the ways in which we can use the smallest room not in the house. Surely it's time that television property programmes stopped concentrating on 'grand designs' and started focusing on 'small wonders'?"

Rico Daniels, TV’s Salvager: "Of all the sheds featured the Kite Cabin is the one I would most like to own and spend time in. The construction is both unusual and visually appealing, making novel use of a difficult plot. It creates the sort of hideaway that would lift your spirits as you approached it and again as you enjoyed the interior and the views it offers . It is well-appointed and low-impact making good use of alternative technology and the ease with which it sits in the landscape makes it a real contender in my view."

Tim McNeil, Shed of the Year 2008 winner: "What a difficult job with so many beautiful sheds. You have to admire the eco shed for the amount of work that went into it as carefully recounted by the owner and the substantial building he created and the ecological case. However, the one that really took my breath away was Kite Cabin. I would love to have designed it and built it - and to own it must be just fantastic."

Tony Rogers, Shed of the Year 2007 winner: “The Kite Cabin -It's all his own design and build too. The view out down the garden is fantastic. With a TV, satellite, stove, carpets, video, telescope, toilet and beds. What more could you need. Maybe a phone to order the take-aways! Do they deliver take-aways to the top of the garden in West Wales?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday's posts are sponsored by The Garden Room Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

Shedman at Ledbury Poetry Festival

John 'Shedman' Davies is at the Ledbury Poetry Festival this week. His beautiful 8' x 6' shed, provided by NFP Ledbury, will be outside Ledbury's ancient Burgage Hall until Sunday. The shed, worth £400, will be raffled to raise money for charity. Do go along and say hi - John's a smashing chap and he'd love to see you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday's posts are sponsored by The Garden Room Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Louis Renault: shedworker

Car titan Louis Renault started his empire from his parents' garden shed at their home in Billancourt, France, after they gave him permission to bespoke it into a mini workshop, pictured above.

252° Living Area: Mobile Mini House

Designed by Stephanie Bellanger, Amaury Watine, François Gustin and David Dethoor, the 252° Living Area: Mobile Mini House is a trailer which unfolds into a mobile shedworking atmosphere not to mention a kitchen, bedroom, living room and bathroom, each bit rotating 252° when required.Via Yanko Design

Mary Wallace: allotment shed art

I've often thought that an artist who specialised in producing portraits of garden offices and sheds would be on to a good thing. Graham at Humble Designs highlights a good example of this, Mary Wallace's sketches of sheds at Westcliff Land Cultivation Society’s allotment site which she produced for charity. Well worth a browse.