The Shed issue 12 now out (2nd birthday issue)

Issue 12 of The Shed, our second birthday issue, is now out. All subscribers should have received their copy by now and if you'd like to join them, or to get in touch with me on any shedworking subject click here. It's free (although I won't be too embarrassed if you'd like to make a donation), it's a pdf and there are back copies if you'd like them. Happy reading!

Around the shedworld

Shedblog had this piece in the always excellent Just Sheds Tuesday slot about a New Zealand shed turned into a charming outside bar... Anne Robert at My Urban Garden Deco Guide looked at outdoor carpets, especially the Atlantique carpet which has been developed for “outdoor cocooning” with a Mediterranean touch... The third Home Office Warrior blog carnival has some interesting links on everything from banners ads to whether homeworking is for you and how to be a more effecive homeworker (Grant also points out that Web Worker Daily has had a nice makeover)...MetroNaps aims to maximise employee productivity by harnessing the latest sleep innovations to increase profitability and claims to be the world’s premier provider of professional napping products and services... The Daily Telegraph had a nice story about building with cob featuring friends of Shedworking Adam and Katy from Cob in Cornwall...

Friggebod Friday - Öland: island of sheds

Off the east coast of Sweden lies the nation’s second largest island, Öland, writes Sy Willmer, Shedworking's north Europe correspondent. It's a favoured vacation destination for all shapes and sizes of Scandinavians in the warmer mouths and home to a community of islanddwellers who when not employed in the tourist industry are occupied with sailing, agriculture and small fishing concerns. Charming villages are arranged around the long thin coastline and one finds a wealth of sheds related to all of the island’s activities used by fisherman, farmers and holidaymakers, through to artists' ateliers. The livestock of choice here is the ever popular sheep (shepherds are well known to the readers of Shedworking as the mothers of shed invention). On my arrival on Öland my first destination was the island’s southern tip, favoured by birdwatchers and the Swedish royal family, to view a well preserved traditional “Herdes skjul” or shepherd's hut.Shed technology has a long history on Öland and the island is home to some excellent examples of classic Nordic sheds. The pitch roof is worthy of mention, especially the timberwork that is different to that present on British thatched roofs. The interior is lined and plastered creating a cosy retreat for the sheep professional from the elements of this windswept island.

The farmers of Öland have been productive the length and breadth of the island - while circumnavigating one frequently finds the familiar Scandinavian red lock panel style of shed by the side of the road. But my particular favourite is the pole mounted version. Life on an island can be full of surprises and as the wise men of Öland are fond of reminding wandering shed enthusiasts, look out for your shed and your shed will look out for you.

Ice fishing tents

One of the questions I'm always asked is, isn't it cold in a garden office in winter? No, it's not, I reply, thanks to the marvellous insulation. Now if you want a cold shedworking atmosphere, how about these ice fishing huts by Larry David Braden who says:

"There are probably more people in those shanties than in those houses. The parking lot has about 20 pickup trucks. The wind chill is about minus ten degrees. I thought my face would flash-freeze and fall off."

Win copies of In Cold Daylight (featuring heroic shedworker)

As we reported earlier this week, shed champion and novelist Pauline Rowson's In Cold Daylight is very much in the running for the prestigious Spread The Word World Book Day 2008 (you can vote for the book here). Pauline has very generously offered to give away three copies of In Cold Daylight to the first three readers of Shedworking who correctly answer the question below:
Q. What job does In Cold Daylight's garden office hero Adam Greene do?
a) Marine artist
b) Prime Minister
c) King of England
So if you think, for example, that it's (a) marine artist, simply write, (a) marine artist in the comments section and I'll be in touch if you're a winner.

Box of Delights - home office pods

Two delightful shedworking boxes today. First the Eclipse Desk by Marcus Ward Curran which includes a desk, a chair, a hooded pod, speakers and wheels. This great video below shows it in all its glory.Or how about the Battle-Rig Pro (above) from Master Rig which comes in red and black, or silver and black. It's aimed at gamers but you could work at it too. According to their site, they're working on a specific office rig which should be available soon.

Via Yanko Design and Trendhunter

Not much change from £300,000

If you have a spare £280,000 kicking around, how about snapping up 6 Beach Road, West Bexington, Dorchester, (mains water, electricity and drainage all connected) which in estate agentspeak is a "recently refurbished one bedroom timber chalet enjoying stunning sea views over Lyme Bay with direct access onto Chesil Beach". So what do you get for your slightly more than quarter of a million? Double glazed French patio doors lead to:
> Studio Room – 17’7” x 9’6” (5.36m x 2.90m). Formerly a separate sitting room and master bedroom now opened up into one spacious studio room with windows in three aspects, enjoying views from Golden Cap, Lyme Regis to Portland Bill. Built in
storage cupboard.
> Kitchen – 6’5” x 5’6” (1.96m x 1.68m). Coloured unit incorporating Belfast style sink and mixer tap with wood block work surface over. Space for fridge/freezer. Plate rack. Access to roof void. Part double glazed stable door to rear.
> Bedroom – 6’4” x 5’8” (1.93m x 1.73m). Fitted bunk beds.
> Bathroom – 6’5” x 5’5” (1.96m x 1.65m). Coloured suite comprising bath with shower mixer attachment over. Pedestal wash hand basin. WC. Wall mounted boiler for hot water.
> Outside - Gardens lie to both front and rear adjoining the beach to the front and form part of the Jurassic coastline. Implement shed. Barbeque.

More information from Symonds & Sampson

Booth's 100th garden office

Congratulations to Northants-based Booths Garden Studios who have just celebrated the sale of their 100th garden office (it will be built in early December in Southampton). Designer and owner Alex Booth says his original goal was to sell the offices at a rate of one per month but at present the company is putting up two garden offices per week.

"The quantity of sales in the past year marks a very large achievement for the small company," says Alex, who has been fine tuning the designs over the last five years while also running a building company. "With an ever increasing market comes very strong competition. We offer great value for money and we do not take any deposits. The office is only paid for once installation is complete and the customer is completely satisfied. Our unique design allows our offices to be erected in a day and on uneven ground - no preparation is needed prior to our team installing the office. This saves our customers both time and money."

Shepherd's Hut Tuesday - Inverary Station

Not all shepherds' huts have wheels. John Chapman from Inverary Station in New Zealand has very kindly sent in these lovely pictures of the hut on his property. He writes:

"These huts (known as musterers' huts) are common throughout the mountainous area of the South Island and many of them are still in use. Most of them are in remote places, some up to 20 or 30 miles from any other houses. Some, like the predecessor of ours, were built as boundary keepers' huts, up to 150 years ago, when there were few fences. These men were required to live in such lonely surroundingss and prevent their sheep from straying to the neighbouring property.

"Our hut was rebuilt about 15 years ago and is in the middle of our 10,000 acre property about eight miles from the homestead. We use it mainly in the autumn when we spend time bringing the sheep down from the high tops prior to the winter snows. It can sleep around ten people and all cooking is done over the open fire."

Sit on the grass and work

It's probably not ideal for long stretches of homeworking and doesn't conform to any health and safety guidelines, but this chair from Chair Couture certainly brings a bit of the garden into the garden office.
Via Dwell blog

How to move your garden office

What do you do when you move house and want to take your shedworking atmosphere with you? Call Shedsmoved of course.
Via shedblog

When beer and shedworking meet

An interesting story by Scott Rochfort in the Sydney Morning Herald who writes: "The most logical business deal of the week goes to the West Australian boutique brewer Oz Brewing, which trumpeted its move into the shed sector. He continues: "

"The company, which listed last year with the plan to live up to its name - that is, brew beer - has since outsourced that responsibility and appears more excited about the "heavy demand" for prefabricated housing...But the loss-making company reckons it is on a winner, detailing a plan yesterday whereby it will fork out 20 million shares ($2 million) and $1.5 million cash for a 50.1 per cent stake in Shedco Pty Ltd. It will pay another $400,000 for a portable house business, Eco Transportable, a company set up only three months ago."

The company claims: "The decision will generate a second and immediate cornerstone revenue driver for the Fremantle-based brewer and expose Oz Brewing to the burgeoning urban and rural demand for sheds, garages and prefabricated houses and offices."

Shedworking with your loved one

A nice piece in The Guardian by Lynsey Thomas over the weekend looks at the dangers of homeworking with your soul mate. She writes:

"Then, all of a sudden, my husband was there, making tea at inopportune times and eating all the chocolate. He takes pens from my desk, he borrows my power lead, he uses my mobile charger and all this from a grown man who is so territorial that he was moved to write his name on his stapler with correction fluid. I ask you, what's a girl to do?"

A light piece, but one that raises some important questions. If you shedwork or homework with your life partner, please leave a comment.

Minimum Mobile Module from Lab Zero

Those of you interested in cargotecture (building homes and shedworking atmospheres out of cargo containers) will be intrigued by the solar powered Minimum Mobile Module from Lab Zero. Via the always intelligent Bldg Blog where Geoff Manaugh discusses the whole issue of cargotecture in a very measured way and you can find more images, including ones of the Jellyfish house, a kind of shed on water.

Shedworking hero makes fiction hot list

Shedworking has featured novelist Pauline Rowson's marine artist and shedworking hero Adam Greene before. So we were delighted to discover that the book has now made the long list for the prestigious Spread The Word World Book Day 2008 ("I’m thrilled to bits," Pauline told Shedworking). Readers are now being asked to vote online for the book that most tickles their fancy from this list of 100 and the top 10 will go forward from the end of January for World Book Day on 6 March 2008. Let's be honest about this, a vote for In Cold Daylight is a vote for shedworking and shedworkers everywhere. Click here to log in and vote and get a chance to win £100 of National Book Tokens. Here's a little more about the book:

“In Cold Daylight is a hard hitting thriller inspired by a tragic true story of firefighters killed in the line of duty and a potential cover up over their deaths. Unravelling Rowson’s cryptic clues in this fast-paced, atmospheric novel is like playing a thrilling game of ‘pass the parcel’. After unexpected twists, you peel off the layers of literary wrapping, which eventually uncover the mystery. But instead of featuring a brave firefighter hero, Rowson has chosen to tell the story through the eyes of a man who is the opposite. This is marine artist Adam Greene's journey through overcoming depression, a nervous breakdown and leaning on the prop of his strong-willed, ambitious wife as much as discovering why his best friend, Jack Bartholomew was killed in the line of duty. The fact that she has decided to tell this real life mystery and her fast paced writing is what makes this new writer so original."

If Pauline wins the £5,000 prize money she is going to donate it to the Fire Service National Benevolent Fund, so everybody will be happy.

Shedman - new poetry collection

John Davies, the poet known as Shedman who is also poet in residence on The Shed magazine (new issue out at the end of this week) will be giving a preview of his new collection Shedman (what else?) at The Poetry Cafe, Betterton Street, Covent Garden, on Wednesday 28 November at 7.30 for 8pm. The new collection is available from the Pighog Press and is one of Shedworking's books of the year. Here's more information from Pighog:

“Is a shed a substitute for something never had
a replacement mother, or a kind of flat-pack dad?”

So begins John Davies’ much published and broadcast signature poem in his new full-length collection Shedman, named after his journeying alter-ego. Shed poems there are aplenty, illustrating Shedman’s career since his first residency at Brighton’s Booth Museum of Natural History. But this new collection also represents the broad spectrum of John Davies’ work. Across the different sequences, Davies weaves together his themes with wit and seriousness in an array of carefully crafted, thoughtful and thought-provoking poems."

Sheds, business rates and birds

A terrible story by Gary Cleland in today's Daily Telegraph about the problems of sheds and business rates. Essentially, pigeon fanciers have been told they will have to pay business rates because their pastime is not a recognised sport. Here's what Cleland says:

"Pigeon fanciers will be forced to pay rates on the shed where they store their race baskets, because the fact that they are not officially recognised as a sports club means do not qualify for business rate relief. Sports club can formally apply for dispensation of 80 per cent from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and then to their local authority for 20 per cent. A spokesman for HMRC said that pigeon racing was not listed as one of the sports eligible for business rates relief under the Community Amateur Sports Club scheme."

Bonkers.

There are bright beach huts and then there are...

At Brighton Beach, Melbourne, by Kris Martin at JPG Magazine.

N55's walking (shed)house

How would you like a shedlike atmosphere which walks? Those inventive folk at N55 have indeed been working on just such a prototype design in a project for the Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire. Inspired by gypsy caravans, the Walking House is a modular dwelling system which allows you to shedwork (or indeed live) nomadically with little environmental impact: energy is collected via solar cells and small windmills and a small greenhouse module can be added. And not only can it collect rainwater, it's amphibious. The framework is made of steel, aluminium or wood with windows of polycarbonate.I'm not entirely sure about the next bit: there are six legs and they can be worked so that while it moves (slowly, at the pace of a human step), three legs are on the ground at the same time. The idea is a collaboration with a group of travellers in the Cambridge area. Here's what N55 say:

"The Walking House requires no permanent use of land and thereby challenges ownership of land and suggests that all land should be accessible for all persons. Society could administrate rights to use land for various forms of production of food for example, but ownership of land should be abolished.
N55 furthermore suggest that WALKING HOUSES should be owned by all persons in common and used by the persons wanting to live in them."

Vocabulary lessons for homeworkers

By definition, shedworkers tend not to spend too much time in a traditional office and so you could find yourself in a whole different linguistic country of middle management speak when you do pop in for a visit. The Independent has a useful guide to understanding terms such as 'Push the needle, you desk jockey' by Sean O'Grady. Go on, swallow the frog.

Country Life likes shedworking

A nice piece by Carlo Passino in Country Life who emphasises that: "You can add value to your property by installing a studio which costs less than a house extension, and provides a retreat away from domestic distraction." She quite rightly points out how far garden offices have moved forward architecturally (listing four of Shedworking's favourite companies Painted Pavilions, Ecospace, The Garden Escape and Rooms Outdoor).

Friggebod Friday - Sopstugan: the rubbish cottage.

Sheds have a million and one uses, writes Shedworking's North Europe correspondent Sy Willmer. Needless to say everyone must have somewhere to put their rubbish and as the debate hots up surrounding the domestic chore of recycling home waste the good burghers of Malmö, Sweden, have taken the fight outside. We're all used to Scandinavian countries being some of the “greener” EU member states but consider the fact that most apartment buildings up north traditionally, and until recently, had a rubbish “shoot” found on each floor. So the transition from streamline convenience to taking all one’s rubbish down flights of stairs out into the snow has been quite a sacrifice.The Belgians get community tax incentives to encourage recycling but here Swedes receive improvements in the build environment. The example shown is constructed and finished with typically Nordic finesse. The building’s scale and material complement the surrounding low-rise urban block it services. This facility is with all the details you would want to see such as ramps, wide self opening doors, swipe card locks, vandalproof, plus with the inclusion of a “green roof”. Malmö is really is becoming Sedum Über Alles: as one of Scandinavia’s fastest expanding urban areas the city’s planners are committed to using green roof technology on the majority of flat roofs and low rise buildings and unlike a Nordic dish of dark Game meat and fruit jam, it looks good and you can sit on it.On the inside, larger models of “wheelie bins” or waste containers are parked side by side under illustrated information signs aiding the user to separate successfully. Waste collection services are then able to enter the shed for regular collection by means of a master key. The current norm when “doing the rubbish” at home in most of Europe is to just separate waste into recyclable material groups. In the future we will all have to go further and divide into categories, similar to what we do now with coloured glass but next will be types of plastic and metal. Several thousand kilometres south from here in Vienna they are already separating something like ten or more different types of individual material. I think that sheds may just save us – get your council to build you one today.

20 year study on homeworking

There are so many of these surveys saying teleworking/telecommuting/homeworking/shedworking is great that I tend not to bother you with them since they all say pretty much the same thing, but Tom Jowitt in PC Advisor comments on a really large study from the Department of Management and Organisation at Pennsylvania State University by Ravi S Gajendran and David A Harrison. The researchers looked at nearly 50 studies on flexible working over the past 20 years with details on nearly 13,000 homeworkers. Overall, they suggest teleworking is great for both employees (more control over how they work, higher job satisfaction, increased company loyalty, less stressed, better work/life balance, improved performance) and employers (performance levels don't drop, something AT&T should be musing over...). Their conclusion: "Contrary to expectations in both academic and practitioner literatures, telecommuting has no straightforward, damaging effects on the quality of workplace relationships or perceived career prospects."

Mikano - Island Living Space

Manchester-based Modular building specialists Mikano designed and built this shedworking space for a client on a private island, accessible by a bridge, to combine additional living and work space. It is built on screw in pilings and manufactured using galvanised steel, cold-formed profiles, utilising composite panels with a single ply roof and aluminium and cedar façade.

1970s shedstuff wanted

If your shed stretches back to the 1970s, then the Museum of Garden History would like to hear from you. As reported at Lila Das Gupta's The Rake's Progress and shedblog, the museum is planning an exhibition of the contents of a typical 1970s shed (to be more precise, in fact very precise, a typical 1978 shed). It is looking for donations from the public to furnish this time capsule which will show how gardening has changed over the decades. The show will open at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2008 before ending its tour at the Museum of Garden History.To donate, email: mary@museumgardenhistory.org with a description of the item and a picture if possible. Photo from Colin's Blog taken circa 1970/73 including Boracic acid powder, Wright's Flowers of Sulphur and Potassium Permanganate. Nice.

Step-by-step garden office build

A nice step-by-step pictorial guide to the build of a garden office at Timber-Works' Photobucket site. Details (via the Green Building Forum): Construction is; skim/12mm plasterboard/visqueen/150 x 50 framing/ warmcell/9mm breathable ply/nilvent/50 x 50 horizontal battens/25 x 50 verticals/25 x 50 siberian larch rain screen with 5mm gaps. It is architect designed and the patio door utilises Hafele track and slides. 4.5m x 4.5m (3.5 if you dont include the decking) x 2.8m high.

Alterknitives' garden office

As the interesting site Lovely Shops NZ points out, Alterknitives in Herne Bay, Auckland, is a "yarn oasis" which stocks plenty of Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding and all the Rowan yarns. As the site says:

"There’s nothing quite like meandering up an old stone pathway to a rose-covered garden studio [above] to go and look at the most gorgeous yarns now is there?"

Aero 11's floating office and retreat

Aero 11 have a nice selection of customisable prefab shedworking spaces which they call The Airship Series. The offgrid Retreat (above) is built largely of steel, has a foldupable awning and deck, and inside is a bathroom, titchy kitchen and of course a desk. Below is the larger floating home and office 'Airship' which has a wooden frame but with an aluminium roof. This one has a composting lavatory.
Via Materialicious

Lindahl Lodge garden office/gym

Duncan White from Lindahl Lodge has been keeping Shedworking up to date with their latest build, a rather nice eco-friendly garden office/gym. Here are some more images as it nears completion. Pictured is the sheep's wool insulation going in, an antique stained glass window being brought back to life, and some rather nice copper
guttering. "Everything on it and in it is environmentally sound," says Duncan, "and it looks out of this world."

BBC One Show - Shed Heaven

The BBC's One Show has been running a series of pieces on sheds over the last few weeks (Shedworking and Uncle Wilco from readersheds.co.uk have been helping the researchers). The final strand was on tonight and overall it's been nicely done, but has sadly missed the opportunity of moving the shed story on by talking about shedworking, which is how shedlife is developing into the 21st century. If you've missed any of John Sargeant's jolly slices of shedlife, then click on the link above and you'll find three short videos.

Box of Delights - dazzle shed

I love the dazzle shed from Elenberg Fraser in Carlton Victoria (picture by Kate Gollings). It's a backyard shed which houses various gardening paraphenalia. This is what the architects say about it:

"The shed had to be marvelous but still invisible and discreet. Sited in the corner of the garden at the rear of an old converted fire station, it was constructed out of marine plywood and peg board, painted black and white and assembled by a theatre set company. The optical illusion of the dazzle pattern tricked the viewer in thinking the facade was flat. The discreet camouflage was a success. The quest is to find the front door."

Via Kevin Hui at the pushpullbar2 forum who says the design is based on the Dazzle Ships from World War I which used 2D pattern to distort the shape and orientation of a 3D shape,

Garden office garden

Now this is what I call a garden office. More details at Si Drummer Boy's Flickr photoset.

AT&T: bad news for teleworkers

Slashdot reports that AT&T is telling up to 10,000 of its homeworking employees that they must return to a traditional office. Not good news. Some interesting comments on the slashdot site to the story.

Messy Desk Contest

In response to the posting earlier today about Unclutterer, James A-S wondered if there is a Flickr group for those of us whose desks are not so delightfully tidy. And there is, the Messy Desk Contest...Here is paladinsf's entry above.

Help save Scott's Hut by drinking his tea...

The United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust is one of various bodies trying to save Captain Scott's famous hut (covered previously on Shedworking and pictured above). The latest news is that they are now able to match every donation so a donation of £100 with Gift Aid would be worth £256 to them. One way they are planning to raise money is through sales of Captain Scott’s Strong Blend tea which will be available soon at branches of Tesco (5p from every pack goes to the UKAHT). They call it "a strong refreshing tea of history and distinction" and is apparently the original blend supplied to Scott’s 1910 expedition.

Unclutterer - workspace of the week

I've recently been enjoying Unclutterer which describes itself as a blog about "getting and staying organized. A place for everything, and everything in its place is our gospel." Of particular interest to shedworkers is the regular Workspace of the week posting. Above is sirw82’s Home Office 2.0 which is one of many other interesting workspaces at the Unclutterer Flickr pool. Well worth a browse.

Shepherd's Hut Tuesday - Plas Onn Llanfechain, Powys

A shepherd's hut converted into a home office was recently sold by Savills in rural Plas Onn Llanfechain, Powys (asking price for the five bed house with barn annexe and four acres plus of course the hut was £450,000). Sadly there are no interior images available, but I think this is the kind of romantic image which really encourages people to work from home.

Live/work

I am sure that once you have shedworked, you would never want to go back to ‘in-thehome-working’, writes Liz Wakeham-Jones in today's guest post. So where do you look for a property with similar attributes if you need to relocate? www.liveworkhomes.co.uk is the UK’s only dedicated live/work property search website promoting properties specially designed to combine work space and home.Scouring 100s of residential websites is often fruitless for buyers/sellers looking for an uncompromised live/work space. If you are looking to sell your unique combined shed office and home, why not market it at the only UK site exclusively marketing such properties. Call Liz on 0845 324 5717 or email: lizwjones@liveworkhomes.co.uk and quote “Shedworking to receive a special superduper discounted rate.

Choosing a shed - Studio Retreat

We previewed Studio Retreat some months ago when a reader asked about Scottish garden office suppliers. And now things are up and running. There are currently four standard designs - ranging from 3.2 x 2.6m up to 3.2 x 5.7m - in the ever-popular wood (our old friend Western Red Cedar) and glass combination with French doors, decking option, timber base with adjustable feet.

Shed of the Year 2008

I'm delighted that Uncle Wilco from readersheds.co.uk has asked me to be a judge again for the 2008 Shed of the Year competition (more details at shedblog.).I'm in very illustrious company, joining a panel consisting of Wilco himself, inventor and shedworker Trevor Baylis, property guru Sarah Beeny and beach hut expert Kathryn Ferry. Naturally, there'll be plenty more updates over the coming months so watch this space.

New beach hut row

The Observer has picked up on the story at Uncle Wilco's shedblog that hiring a beach hut at Langland in Wales' lovely Gower peninsula could set you back £10,000 next year, up from £236 this year, a bit of a hike by anybody's standards. On a happier note, there's a lovely video of the huts here courtesy of This is Swansea.co.uk.

Portable Globe House

From Science and Mechanics via the excellent Modern Mechanix blog of January 1961, this is the future of shedworking, the Portable Globe House for Well-Rounded Living, called the Kugelhaus. As writer Wayne Wille says, it is just 15ft in diameter, very convenient, and can be delivered by helicopter. He continues:

"Its eggshell-like construction is of either lightweight reinforced concrete, metal or plastic. Just one inch of concrete gives good results, says the inventor, Dr. Johann Ludowici. The house can be completely assembled in the factory—with whatever furniture or other equipment is wanted—before delivery. As portable as a house could be, it can be flown to wherever you want it by helicopter, towed in by boat (it floats), or, more conventionally, carried on a truck."

Apparently, it was commissioned by the Belgian government which wanted a comfortable low-cost small house which could be towed up rivers or flown into remote regions of Africa for use as worker housing.
Via the always intriguing Shed and Shelter

Rooms Outdoor - bespoke Cuberno

Rooms Outdoor have recently been busy putting together a bespoke version of their Cuberno model in Primrose Hill, north London. The couple are using it as a guest room and a hangout for their teenage sons. Attractive features include a rather nice interior finish, green roof and folding sliding doors. RO handled the entire project including design, planning permission (the family live in a Conservation area), building control submission, and site services such as plumbing electrics and internal decoration. A nice job.

Friggebod Friday - Fiskbod/Fiskhodda

As one travels around Scandinavia, one sees the shed format used in different ways, writes Sy Willmer, Shedworking's North Europe correspondent. Rental holiday cabins are popular with Swedes but even more appealing to mobile Germans and the travelling Dutch. Picture the scene, a natural beauty spot where the rolling pine forest meets the lake, holidaymakers frolicking in the clear waters and a petrol station surrounded by red and white cabins just off the motorway. Ok, not where one would choose to spend the entirety of the summer holidays but these places make an excellent overnight stay when moving across the Nordic region.Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and the Danes are naturally attracted to water and a Friggebod or Fiskbod (fisk = fish) is where one may choose to stay when sailing or fishing. In Scandinavia, fresh or sea water is never far away and the shed as boathouse is prevalent on the rocky west coast where Sweden meets Norway, up in the Fjords and in the archipelagos in the east between Stockholm and Finland. Scandinavia’s commercial fishermen also like a good shed, not only as boathouses but also for smoking and sales venues. In a similar manner to the front at Hastings in Sussex, excellent examples of traditional wooden Swedish fishmonger’s huts covered in layer upon layer of thick paint can be visited close to the museum and city castle of Malmö in southern Sweden. Fiskhodda is the local name for these charming buildings that are held in great affection in these parts.A two story shed is a viable option: compact of course but cosy in the extreme!