Shed of the Year 2020 finalists announced

Lockdown has spurred the nation’s shed owners to impressively imaginative heights as they compete for the Cuprinol Shed of the Year crown. The 2020 contest sees the introduction of two new lockdown-specific categories - Lockdown Repurpose and Lockdown New-build - as the finalists are announced.

The Lockdown Repurpose category celebrates those who have transformed their sheds in response to the coronavirus outbreak, including Sarah McGoldrick who responded to the PPE shortage in the early days of the pandemic by supplying frontline NHS staff with visors from her shed workshop in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

The Lockdown New-build category hails those who have overcome the challenges of lockdown. These include retired art school lecturer Michael Roberts from Bromley, Kent, whose former pupils include Damien Hirst and Steve McQueen, who created an elaborate Chinese-style pagoda.

The shortlist also features:

- Pat Crook, from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, has recreated a beach hut to provide her father who suffers from dementia with soothing surroundings

- Adrian Backshall from Eastbourne, East Sussex has built his shed on a railway trolley

- Colin Furze from Stamford, Lincolnshire uses his shed to come up with inventions including a full-size Star Wars Landspeeder (a strong entry in the Workshops category where Suitcase Trains HQ is also a likely contender)

Judges whittled down hundreds of entries to compile this year’s shortlist of 27 sheds in nine categories including Budget, Summerhouse, Unique and Unexpected. A winner from each will be decided by public vote, then an overall winner will be crowned by a panel of shed experts with a giant golden crown for the winning shed. The overall winner will also receive £1,000, a plaque and £100 of Cuprinol products.

Head Judge and founder of the competition Andrew Wilcox said: “More than ever, the events of recent months have shown us what a valuable role sheds can play in our lives. They are spaces where we can help our NHS heroes, educate our children and care for our family.”

Public voting is now underway for the 14th annual competition and will close on August 8. Check out all of the 27 finalists and cast your vote at www.readersheds.co.uk
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Grumpycorn: garden offices for children

A lovely introduction to the delights of shedworking for children by writer and illustrator Sarah McIntyre, her book Grumpycorn tells the story of, well, here's how Sarah describes it:

Unicorn’s so excited… he’s going to write the most FABULOUS story in the world!

He has a special writing cottage where he can be all alone and find inspiration. What else does he need? Maybe his special pen. And his special tea. And maybe some home-baked cookies. …And an idea.

NOT the ideas of the friends - Narwhal, Mermaid and Jellyfish - who curiously arrive to find out about this fabulous story and beg to have starring roles… no, not THOSE ideas. Just GO AWAY, everyone!

Available from all good bookshops. Strongly recommended
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Studypod nature office

Black has been in vogue for garden offices for several years now, and if you like the sound of that then it's worth taking a look at the Studypod nature office from Norwegian company Livit. It's all fairly minimalist ("zenminimalist" is actually how Livit accurately describe it) and not a lot of features, including a detachable desk, oak laminate flooring, and heavy duty lockable wheels as an extra. But the USP (as nobody seems to say any more) is that it is very black with a large hardened tinted window to the front. It's delivered ready to go, internal specs of 2m x 1.8m. If you like this, then you may also like their Birdbox model which has very similar characteristics. --------------------------------------

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Rise in beach hut rental prices

There are roughly 20,000 beach huts in the UK for those looking for a shedlike element to their holidays. Recent research by Howsy and GetAgent indicates that whether you're renting or buying on the south coast of England, the prices continue on their inexorable rise.

Howsy's figures suggest that the average total for renting one is £1,525 a month, 2.5% more than 2019. Unsurprisingly, Mudeford in Dorset leads the pack where prices are just below £4,000 a month (if it's any consolation this is only a 1.2% increase on last year). Elsewhere, Whitstable huts cost a monthly average £1,232 (up 4.1%) and £948 per month in Sandbanks in Dorset (up 3%).

It's just over £830 (up 5.6%) in Southwold, Suffolk, and around £750 in Bournemouth (£752, or 4.4%), the two areas which have witnessed the largest surges.

As always, there are some ludicrous prices. Beach huts are still going for well north of £300,000 at Mudeford, though not all are so dear - pictured top is Noahs Ark, Beach Hut 75 at North Beach in Southwold, on with Durrants for a mere £67,500. On average, a hut costs nearly £37,000, rising to £90,000 in Dorset but only £10,500 in West Sussex.

“It would seem as though beach huts offer the solution to a buy-to-let sector that has been battered by a string of government changes to tax relief and stamp duty," said Calum Brannan, CEO of Howsy. "While the cost of acquiring a beach hut is generally far lower than the regular market, the astronomical rents secured on them will be resulting in some very favourable yields indeed."
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Does a garden office count as a benefit in kind?

There appear to be no hard and fast rules about what you can and can't claim when you start working from a garden office (which is why we always say check with your tax advisor and the tax authorities before claiming anything). Here's an interesting Q&A from the Irish Independent on the subject of 'Bik', benefits in kind.

The questioner's company is going to pay a substantial grant towards homeworking and they wonder if there is a tax implication in so doing, particularly if it is subject to benefit in kind. Here's the reply from Joanna Murphy, CEO of Taxback.com:

"Benefit in kind is any non-cash benefit provided by employers to their employees, such as company cars, medical insurance etc. As these have a monetary value, they must be treated as income. Revenue Commissioners confirmed that employers may provide the following equipment and facilities to an e-working employee for business use: computer or laptop, printer, scanner, software, telephone, mobile, broadband, office furniture, which won't be treated as Bik where private use is minimal. A garden office could potentially qualify for the above tax treatment, where private use is minimal. However, I would recommend that an approval from Revenue is taken in advance."

Image courtesy Garden2office.   -------------------------------------------------
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Warwick Bartlett: lockdown shedworker

A nice piece in the Isle of Man Courier about Warwick Bartlett who has been running his company Global Betting and Gaming Consultants from his summerhouse during lockdown. Here's a snippet:

Former bookmaker Mr Bartlett, originally from the West Midlands, inherited the summer house when he moved to his current home in Castletown in 2009. The wooden structure was a place ’where we stored things like suitcases. the mower and all that kind of stuff. There were lots of spiders in here and stuff. So I have given it a clean-out, painted it, had some carpet put down and had the electrician come and rewire it all’. He’s also had a radiator fitted - ’it’s got a timer fitted so it comes on an hour before I get to work in the morning’. Mr Bartlett added: ’On a sunny day I can sit here with the doors open, it’s quite relaxing really.’

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Home offices now a "make-or-break feature" when selling houses

It's a bold statement from the Telegraph but they go some way to backing it up by talking to leading estate agents (albeit working in a high value home bracket). Here's a snippet:

“It’s the hottest topic among buyers, sellers, developers and house builders,’ says Marc Schneiderman from the prime Hampstead-based estate agency Arlington Residential. ‘The majority of buyers expect a workspace of some kind.” And it needn’t be big. “I have one client who runs his multi-million-pound business from a laptop and mobile phone in his home study that’s no more than 10 square feet,” he adds.

Mark Lawson, partner at The Buying Solution, also sticks his neck out in the piece over the perennial question of how much a garden or home office adds to an asking price by suggesting that a good quality home office can add 5-15% to a property’s value, “especially if it’s separate from the main house".

Image courtesy The Bedroom Company ------------------------------------------------------

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ITV profiles the rise of the garden office

A nice piece by ITV News Anglia's Tanya Mercer looks at the rise of the garden office, especially during lockdown. Among those she talks to is Matt Moss from Smart who reports a 45% uptick in demand since the start of lockdown. Here's what he says:

The situation has dictated that people have had to work from home and employers are now seeing that it works. Changes have been made and organisations are investing in it as a longer-term commitment.  These buildings are no longer being seen as a luxury product, but a necessity.

The home working revolution: but what does it mean for the office?https://t.co/6tauLQIHAy pic.twitter.com/vFZli0ztMC

— ITV News Anglia (@itvanglia) July 16, 2020

In related news, research by Attic Self Storage indicates that people working from home during the lockdown in the UK have generated £37.4 billion, with 44% of those questioned saying working from home is the most productive workplace they've ever experienced.
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Garden offices on the rise in the US

While the tiny house movement has grown from strength to strength in the US over the last decade, the same cannot be said for the uptake in garden offices. While shedworking does exist and there are several companies providing a range of designs - including Kanga Room Systems, pictured above - it is not nearly as popular as in the UK (for some thoughts on this subject, see Lloyd Alter's piece on Treehugger).

However, lockdown may yet prove to be a gamechanger. In a piece for the New York Times ('Your New Home Office May Be In The Back Yard'), Tim McKeough talks to various US shedworkers and suppliers. Here's a snippet:

Millions of people are in the same space-constrained situation, where it’s often difficult to find a dedicated space to focus on work. As a remedy, a growing number of people lucky enough to have a backyard are finding their way to companies like Studio Shed, Kanga Room Systems and Modern Shed, which build small stand-alone structures that promise a little separation.

Since the pandemic struck, Studio Shed’s sales have taken off, said Mike Koenig, the company’s president. “Things just got really fast after Covid-19.” In March, he said, “We beat our forecast and easily doubled our sales over last year. In April, it was four times over last year, and May was even more than that.”

 Well worth a look. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Narrowboat garden office

While garden offices tend to be in, well, gardens, there are many shedworkers who also ply their trade on the water. Waterways World has an excellent article in the July issue (available on their website here) about how to work from home if your home is a narrowboat - it also includes several case studies, and some tips and advice from me. It's a great magazine and I'd strongly recommend subscribing (you can also keep up with them on Twitter and Instagram where they are @waterwaysworld)

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Garden offices increasingly a part of post-lockdown planning

Shedworking HQ is being rather deluged by various bits of research and surveys and the like, and while we take most of them with a pinch of salt, taken as a whole they point towards increasing interest in homeworking in general and garden offices in particular.

The latest, from financial specialists HUB Financial Solutions, suggests that three-quarters of people in the UK are not planning to move as a result of lockdown effects and indeed a fifth are enjoying their home more than ever. However, just under half are expecting to carry on homeworking after lockdown is over and more than a third plan to make significant home layout alterations - for 12%, this includes building a garden office (and another 7% it means an extension). Overall, two thirds of those questioned believed that homes with specific home or garden offices would be particularly in demand.

There are similar results in a survey by estate agency Yopa, with additional figures suggesting 20% of people are less keen than before on living near busy towns or cities with a similar figure saying their employer has told them that working from home will be increasingly commonplace. A third said that if they were given this additional flexibility, they would consider moving house to another region (this figure rises among Londoners) and 40% are looking for larger properties.

Image courtesy Garden Affairs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Natalie Jenner: shedworker

Canadian novelist Natalie Jenner, author of the recent bestseller The Jane Austen Society, is also a shedworker. In the video below, she walks us round her writing shed. Here's what she said about it in an interview with Jane Austen's World:

My main quirk as a writer is the fact that I can and do write anywhere, anytime. I gave up my home office when my husband started working from home, and so far I have not yet been able to get it back! I write by the fireplace and big window in the living room, in bed, at the dining room table, by the pool, and last summer I treated myself to an 8 foot by 8 foot writing shed in the garden. My absolute favourite time to write is when I first wake up, usually around 5 am if I am in the middle of a book and can’t stand the suspense myself of what’s going to happen next. All I need when I write is just my laptop and sometimes a cup of English breakfast tea to keep me going.

This is where I write. pic.twitter.com/Eq0Fi8Z1Xm

— Natalie Jenner (@NatalieMJenner) July 9, 2020

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How to build a musician's garden office

A marvellous detailed article at Production Expert by freelance dubbing mixer Graham Kirkman about how he moved his Luminol Audio studio from his attice into a Dolby Atmos-equipped garden studio. Here's a snippet:

To be honest my loft studio was almost perfect. No-one else used the space, it was big, it sounded great. So why did I build a new studio in my garden? Well - you’ll have noticed that I said it was ‘almost’ perfect. In the winter I could hardly feel my fingers and in the summer it was like sitting on the surface of the sun. Add to that that the boss (read wife) told me she wanted to turn it into an upstairs extension!!! So I needed a new space. Garden studio it is then…

This is one for music professionals and if that's you, then this is a must read.

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George Bernard Shaw's writing hut in the latest issue of the Idler

The latest issue of the Idler magazine is now out. It has my usual columns on sheds (and snooker) including a look at how George Bernard Shaw used his garden office to promote his own campaigns. Here's a snippet:

Thus, in August 1929, Shaw stood in front of his hut for a photo for Modern Mechanics & Inventions magazine to promote the idea of sunlight as a healing agent (the dramatic postures he effected for these shots were also in line with his interest in eurhythmics, the concept of developing one’s sense of rhythm through movement). He also had windows installed that were made from Vitaglass, a recent invention that allowed UV rays to come through, letting, the makers said, “health into the building”. That move, which was also picked up by newspapers, and indeed his very ownership of a hut with a turntable, placed him in the vanguard of medical thought, since rotating summerhouses were used to treat people suffering from tuberculosis.

You can read the rest - for free! - at this link.
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Garden office green roof

If you're contemplating whether or not to put a green sedum roof on top of your garden office, here's a fine example of what it can look like, courtesy devine1974.  -------------------------------------------------
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Standen Bothy

The Shedworking staff are all members of the National Trust and spent a pleasant Saturday at Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, walking the parkland and admiring the marvellous folly. Here's another wonderful example, a bothy built by the highly talented designer Will Shannon at the NT's Standen House as a tribute to the modern Arts & Crafts movement. Constructed from sandstone, Sussex bricks, handmade clay tiles and local sustainable timber, you can find it in the grounds of the property in West Sussex (booking currently required during this phase of lockdown).

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How to build a garden office by yourself (video)

It's been a while since we've had one of these speeded-up shed build videos and since it's Friday, it seems like a good day for another. Enjoy!

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Brickwork studio

A rather impressive garden studio (the home of First World Records record label) by Somerset and south east London-based Trew Turner with an especially attractive facade produced via efflorescence using the natural salt in the bricks for the lighter colour effect. Outside it has London Yellow Stock bricks with thermalite blocks on the inside which with insulation makes it very snug. It also features an increasing popular Crittall style window and an oak herringbone floor. All the fitted furniture - bench, desk, turntable units - was made from Birch ply

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Tiny Salon

Tiny Salon is a marvellous moveable shedlike business, a mobile hair salon in a VW Luton Box Van operated by Laura Snellgrove in the Winchester/Southampton area. Inside the 3m x 2m internal space, it's all kitted out to a high standard (with eco-friendly haircutting features) and according to Laura replicates the full salon experience. Interestingly, Laura lives in a tiny house with her partner which they built last year

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