Repurposing your shed for the 21st Century

The flexibility of working from home over the past decade has seen a steep rise in home owners repurposing their garden shed as an office, a place where they can concentrate away from the hustle and bustle of the main house, somewhere for hobbies such as painting or working out, or simply as a relaxing space in which to relax and unwind.

Oeco Garden Rooms has put together this handy guide and checklist on how to turn your old garden shed into an effective space for the future:

Repair any issues first

If the garden shed has been sitting unused or unloved for some time, the first thing to do is repair any issues that the structure might have. This include fixing leaky roofs, wood rot, broken windows or uneven floor boards. Starting off with a solid structure will make the rest of the build run more smoothly and cause less headaches in the future. These types of repairs are things you can do yourself, but if you feel more comfortable hiring someone these repairs are relatively cheap to rectify.

Thermal Insulation 

Thermal insulation is a great idea to install in your shed, especially if it is to be used all year round. This specially designed insulation keeps the structure cool in the summer and warm in the winter, it also makes the building more energy efficient, saving you money on heating the shed in the winter months. For more information thermal insulation and how it works check out the Oeco Garden Rooms website.

Painting the shed 

After the shed has been repaired and is water tight you can paint it to give the structure an updated look. Painting the exterior of the shed a bright colour will make it stand out and create a focal point in the garden, while painting it a darker colour will make it blend into its surroundings and help the foliage take centre stage. Treat the inside of the shed as another living space; neutral or muted colours are perfect for creating a relaxed environment, while bright and bold colours can help alertness and concentration levels.

Install PVC-U Doors and Windows

Fitting PVC-U windows and doors in the shed helps to keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Patio doors in particular can improve access to and from the garden and allows plenty of natural light to enter the building. PVC-U windows and doors are also manufactured to the highest level of security, meaning that you can be safe in the knowledge that your possessions are protected.

Run Electricity 

If you haven’t already, add electricity to your shed as this means that you can get a lot more use out of it. Whether you want a place to store a spare freezer, work on projects with power tools or create a cinema room, the possibilities are endless. Running electricity from the main house to a shed is a job for a fully trained electrician, do not try to do this yourself.

Adding Storage and Countertops 

Adding storage and countertops to the shed will allow it to be used for a multitude of purposes from a home office to a relaxing hideaway. Storage cabinets and desks can be bought readymade, making installation a breeze, or you could choose to make your own storage exactly to your needs - the sky’s the limit! Whatever you decide to use your shed for, make sure it feels like an actual room and an extension of your home, this will ensure that you are more likely to use it regularly. Little things like adding a rug or putting up some artwork can go a long way to making the space feel more homely. 

Creme de Menthe shed crowned Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2021

Model and social media influencer Danielle Zarb-Cousin’s 1970s-inspired bar has been crowned the Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2021.

Danielle said she has channeled her heartbreak after splitting from her fiance - Love Island’s Jonny Mitchell - into building her Creme de Menthe shed. “I went through a bad time with the break-up. It was the worst thing that could've happened, going into lockdown and not being able to see anyone or not being able to date. Building the shed became a focus in a time of chaos. After building it, the shed became a place where I could sit and write. It was a little sanctuary for me and it's something I'm really proud of. The shed really represents that time in my life.” 

 Danielle, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, says winning Cuprinol Shed Of The Year 2021 “feels amazing.” “I'm so happy I won. It's been a long process building the shed, so it's nice to know it's paid off.”

After moving in with her parents at the beginning of the first lockdown, Danielle transformed an old, unloved brown shed that they were planning to knock down, into a retro haven complete with an orange and mint green colour scheme and cocktail bar. 

“I’m really drawn to that era," says Danielle. "I love Elvis and Johnny Cash, and artists like that, so I made this whole moodboard and I didn't want it to be a gimmicky or fancy dress-type 70s, I wanted it to be more authentic.” 

Danielle has filled the shed with retro decorations, furnishings and vinyl records, which she collected from charity and vintage shops, and says she hopes to inspire young people on social media to challenge 'throwaway culture'.

Danielle has been using the space to write her blog on subjects from heartbreak and dating to lifestyle and is now in the process of turning it into a book. “I always sit in the shed and write because it's just so peaceful and quiet and I can really focus. I've also started writing some short stories, and I do that all from the shed. “Moving back in with my parents for lockdown was not ideal and I needed my own space, so it was a place I could go and write and not be disturbed.” 

Head judge and founder of the competition Uncle Wilco said: “We have been blown away by the creativity, passion and dedication on display from sheddies across the country. The amount of care and attention entrants have devoted to their sheds this year is inspiring. But it was Danielle’s Creme de Menthe bar and her use of colour, interior design and vintage decorations that really impressed us. We hope her win inspires a new generation of sheddies to get out in the garden and start building sanctuaries of their own.”

There's no garden office category but top prize in the workshop/studio section went to Ally Scott from Southampton, an artist and signwriter, with her creation The Peculiar Pear. She put together the shed after her mother died in 2016 and she decided to take the plunge to become self-employed using money left to her. “The shed changed my life. It sounds really cheesy but it did. I spoke to my friend and she said my mum would have 100% said ‘yes, Ally, buy the shed, start your own business and paint stuff’.” 

Ally’s shed creation started life as a 6x6 garden shed from a garden centre and says the shed was a “godsend” over lockdown. “I'm a 48-year-old single parent to Sam, who is 15, so it really helped give me and my teenager space, as it’s a room that wasn't my lounge that I could be creative in. The shed is underneath the trees and in the shade all day long, so it’s the perfect place when it's hot. And underneath the gazebo is very good for cocktails.”

Philip Pullman - (ex)shedworker

One of the bestknown shedworkers of recent years is Philip Pullman, as rodcorp reminds us in an excellent post which looks too at his writing techniques. Pullan wrote the His Dark Materials trilogy in a shed in his back garden - he had a superstition about not tidying it while he was writing a book - and was so closely associated with it that in The Independent’s ‘You Ask The Questions’ column sent in by readers, one question was ‘what are the defining qualities of a truly great shed?’ to which he replied: “The important quality about my old shed was that it wasn't in the house. It was down at the bottom of the garden. It was a comfortable place. Insulated. Warm in the winter. Dry. Quiet.” Here's how he described it in an interview with children's book site Achuka:

"My shed is a twelve foot by eight foot wooden structure, with electricity, insulation, heating, a carpet, the table where I write (which is covered in an old kilim rug), my exorbitantly expensive Danish tilting-in-all-directions orthopaedic gas-powered swivelling chair, my old computer, printer and scanner (i.e. they don't work any more but I'm too mean to throw them out), manuscripts, drawings, apple cores, spiders' webs, dust, books in tottering heaps all over the floor and on every horizontal surface, about a thousand jiffy bags from books for review which I'm also too mean to throw away, a six-foot-long stuffed rat (the Giant Rat of Sumatra from a production of a Sherlock Holmes play I wrote for the Polka Theatre), a saxophone, a guitar, dozens of masks of one sort or another, piles and piles of books and more books and still more books, a heater, an old armchair filled to capacity with yet more books, a filing cabinet that I haven't managed to open for eighteen months because of all the jiffy bags and books which have fallen in front of it in a sort of landslide, more manuscripts, more drawings, broken pencils, sharpened pencils, dust, dirt, bits of chewed carpet from when my young pug Hogarth comes to visit, stones of every kind: a cobblestone from Prague, a bit of Mont Blanc, a bit of Cape Cod ... On and on the list goes. It is a filthy abominable tip. No-one would go in there unless they absolutely had to. I enter it each morning with reluctance and leave as soon as I can."

This shed, which Helena de Bertodano described in the Daily Telegraph as a "tiny, dusty hovel" (the same article featured one of the very few published pictures of his shed), now passed on to illustrator Ted Dewan on the understanding that only creative work is to be undertaken in it by himself or by future users, was what Amanda Mitchison in The Daily Telegraph described as his ‘nest’. Dewan says the shed was duly blessed in a ceremony in 2003 which nearly set fire to it. Pullman no longer writes in a shed but in an extension at his home near Oxford which John Cornwell in The Times describes as "a luxurious alternative to the old garden shed. Bright, cool, book-lined, it has a raised desk-cum-workbench at one end."
Thanks to Alan at Notchcode for suggesting a post on Pullman in the politest possible way.

Shed of the year 2020 is the Bedouin Tree Shed

 

A nature-inspired refuge from lockdown has won the Cuprinol Shed Of The Year 2020, and the competition’s first ever Special Commendation has gone to a shed school.

The Bedouin Tree-Shed has been an eight-year labour of love for expedition organiser Daniel Holloway, who built it around two living tree trunks in his back garden in Blackheath, south London. During lockdown it became a sanctuary for the 55-year-old, his wife Beccy, 51, and their children Sam, 12, and 14-year-old Lyza.

“When lockdown arrived, the shed really took on a life of its own, bringing us closer together as a family," said Daniel. "Spending time in it taught us some valuable lessons about appreciating what is precious and provided solace for us all during those really uncertain weeks and months. We whiled away many an hour in there listening to music, playing games and quietly reflecting."

The build began life as a conventional garden shed but has been extended and modified to encompass three levels with a footprint of 5m x 5m. Inside are mementoes from Daniel’s travels through Africa and it is built around the trunks of an ash and an oak.

“Being in harmony with nature is incredibly important for us as a family,” said Daniel. “We’ve been absolutely committed to avoid impacting the root system of the trees as we’ve been extending the shed. There’s also willow saplings and jasmine on the exterior which makes the shed almost seem part of the landscape when they bloom in the summer.”

Alongside the African artefacts, the interior is decorated with vintage etchings and specimens of butterflies alongside finely carved ancient hardwood Indian columns. A wood-burning stove provides comfort during the winter with furniture rescued from skips and reclamation yards. The floor is made of oak planks and follows the contours of the trees inside.

The Bedouin Tree-Shed topped the Nature’s Haven category in a public vote before being awarded the overall title from a panel of judges. Daniel will receive £1,000, a plaque and £100 of Cuprinol products.

And in a competition first, judges also awarded a Special Commendation (plus £250) to celebrate the efforts teacher Ashley Bates went to in order to educate children while lockdown closed classrooms.

Winner of the Lockdown Repurpose category, he streamed maths and English lessons for five to eight-year-olds from his Shed School in his back garden in Hinchley Wood, Surrey. "With so many children potentially missing out on education because of lockdown, I thought I had to do something to help. I was stunned how it took off - going from a few hundred followers to over seven thousand in just a few weeks”.

Head Judge and competition founder Andrew 'Uncle Wilco' Wilcox said: “This year we’ve been blown away by the imagination and creativity on display from sheddies up and down the country, during these unprecedented times.

“But it was Daniel’s Bedouin Tree-Shed that impressed us most. We were really taken by how sensitively he incorporated nature into the design and the role it played bringing his family closer together during lockdown. We were also wildly impressed by Ashley’s efforts to educate the nation’s kids while coronavirus closed classrooms.”

This year’s entrants competed across nine categories - with two new lockdown-specific categories introduced - Lockdown Repurpose and Lockdown New-build. A public vote through readerssheds.co.uk decided each winner. 

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Shed Space: The role of the shed in the creative arts industry

Shed Space is a new exhibition running at the Old Fire Station in Oxford which "celebrates the role of the humble garden shed in the creative industries, past and present". It features a full-size shed in the gallery with green roof, while inside the shed there is a scale model showing an urban garden and shed scene, put together by art and architecture students from Oxford Brookes University. Among them is a ‘Sweetie Shed’ designed by architecture student Katie Reilly who describes it as “An edible escape for children in a yummy playhouse at the bottom of the garden where imagination runs wild and friendships blossom.” 

Co-organiser Jeni Burnell, who is also a researcher at Oxford Brookes’ Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP) said: “The humble garden shed has always featured as a backdrop in the creative industries being used by music composers and authors through to engineers and industrial designer Recently the shed has undergone somewhat of a revival with people setting up home offices and creative escapes at the bottom of their garden. This exhibition celebrates that creativity and captures the enjoyment around such endeavours.” There are ongoing details at the exhibition blog. 

During the exhibition, various 'makers in residence' are transforming the shed into a ‘making space’ for workshops including DaisyWebb next Friday and Saturday who will produce a series of illustrations which consider the identity of sheds as both domestic and natural (Click here for her workshop), furniture makers Jan Waterston, Sam Bolt and Freya Whamond in June who will be providing an insight into the workshop of a designer maker (Click here for their workshop)
and in July basketmaker Sherry Doyal will work on a collection inspired by Charles Darwin’s orchid research (Click here for her workshop).

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Shed and garden office insurance: latest figures

Now that we're close to the finish line for the Shed of the Year 2015 competition, Gocompare.com is urging owners to make sure they have adequate insurance cover for their shedlike atmospheres.

Sheds and other garden outbuildings are usually covered as fixtures and fittings under buildings insurance. This cover pays out for any damage to the structure arising from events such as fire, vandalism or burglary.

Moveable items such as garden furniture, cycles, garden and DIY tools are considered as household contents. Generally speaking, insurers impose restrictions on the amount you can claim for these items damaged or stolen from your garden outbuildings.

An analysis of over 350 home insurance policies by Gocompare.com revealed that:

* 3% of policies don’t provide any cover for contents left in outbuildings

* Of those providing cover for contents in outbuildings, cover ranges widely from £500 to unlimited

* Bicycles are treated separately – with limits on both the pay-out for an individual bike and the total amount payable.   11% of policies exclude cover for pushbikes

* Policies typically have a separate limit for theft from outbuildings (ranging from none to unlimited cover) with most policies providing between £1,000 and £3,000 worth of cover. However, insurers generally only cover theft claims if the items were stolen from a securely locked shed or outbuilding where there are signs of forced entry

Ben Wilson, home insurance spokesperson at Gocompare.com, said: “As the Shed of the Year competition illustrates, for many people a garden shed is much more than a place to house the lawnmower, gardening tools, or old decorating equipment.

“But whether you use your shed just for outdoor storage or as a garden pub, a studio or a home gym, you should stop to consider the value and security of your shed’s contents.  When you stop and add up the cost of replacing items housed in your shed, you might be surprised by their collective value. Thieves target sheds because despite some containing a range of valuable contents, security is often overlooked, making them an easier target than a house. 

“Home insurance policies differ considerably in terms of cover, excesses and exclusions for sheds and other outbuildings. To make sure that you have the protection you need, it’s important that you compare product features, not just prices.     

“Insurers will also expect you to take care of your possessions and may only settle a theft claim if the shed was securely locked, with good quality locks and where there is evidence of forced entry. So if you have particularly valuable items, such as an expensive bicycle, you need to check that it is covered by your insurance and whether there are any other requirements such as locking it to an immoveable object inside the locked outbuilding.”       

To help you estimate the value of your contents, including in your shed/outbuildings, you can use Gocompare.com’s  new home contents calculator. ----------------------------------------------------

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UK shedlife revealed in new report

New research released today reveals 65% of British adults own a shed and the average shedowner spends more than a year of their life in their shed. In fact Brits love their shed so much that 6% would like to be buried in them.

The research forms part of the Shed’onomic report, an in-depth study of the nation’s shed behaviour commissioned by Cuprinol to mark the official launch of the annual Shed of the Year competition.

When it comes to shed-love:
- 6% of men admit to getting frisky in their shed to spice up their love life
- A similar number want to be buried in their shed
- Almost half of owners admit they would be lost without their sheds
- More than one fifth of men admit to having spent time in their sheds to avoid arguments
- 7% escape there to make private phone calls
- Around 12% of shed owners prefer spending time in their shed to being with their family

In terms of shed economics:
- Two thirds of the adult population are shed owners, bringing the UK shed-tally up to nearl 16 million
- The under 25s spend the most on their sheds, an average of £493 compared to the over 55s who fork out £360
- Londoners splash out the most on their sheds - an average of £508 - compared to the national average of £396

As for shed uses:
- About a third of Brits take after Damien Hirst and paint in their sheds
- 11% use their shed as an office
- The shed is not just a place to store the garden tools with sheddies admitting to storing children’s toys (28%), fridge/ freezers (11%), books (16%), sunbeds (12%), desk (10%), TV (6%), old gym equipment (18%), bikes (45%) in their sheds

Kathryn Ledson, Cuprinol Marketing Manager, said: "It’s clear that sheds are vital to the British identity and that they are an inspiration to so many of us. At Cuprinol, we’re delighted to be the official sponsor of the annual Shed of the Year competition which celebrates the best of British sheds. If you think your shed is worthy of this prestigious title then you can enter at www.readersheds.co.uk from now until May 3.”

The Shed of the Year competition sponsored by Cuprinol is of course the brainchild of Uncle Wilco who launched the national competition seven years ago. Competition categories include:
• Normal
• Eco
• Garden Office
• Cabin/ Summerhouse
• Workshop/ Studio
• Unique
• Pub
• Tardis

Winners will be announced during National Shed Week (July 1-7).
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Shed of the Year 2024 won by ‘Wrinkly, Rusty and Retro’

Wayne Dawber, an artist and school art technician from Crewe, has been crowned champion in this year’s Cuprinol Shed of the Year competition. His shed ‘Wrinkly, Rusty and Retro’ beat 160 other entrants to claim top spot after being voted king of the ‘Unexpected/Unique’ category by the general public, and selected as the winner by a judging panel.

This year’s victor built his winning shed by combining unusual and disregarded materials, such as corrugated metal from a torn-down stable roof, and windows from a recently demolished chapel. Most striking, however, is the colourful hand-painted vintage signs he has decorated the shed’s interior and exterior with, using paint to perfect a style he likes to call “industrial, ghost town chic".
 
Many of the mural paintings are from or inspired by 1950s magazine adverts, with the indoor walls embellished with old product labels and matchbox graphics. These vibrant paintings, alongside the weathered effect Wayne has given to the metal was done to bring texture and a sense of age to the shed, stylishly capturing the essence of mid-century design.
 
Wayne describes how the shed’s concept evolved to become the winner it is today: “The plan for the shed has always been for it to be a little hideaway for my wife and me. We love spending time in nature and watching the world go by from our garden. This shed gave us the perfect space to do that.
 
“As I began constructing the shed, I started to get a bit carried away. The finished product brings together everything I love to work with, from the rusty metal to the old wood, it’s feels very special to give all these old materials a new lease of life with a touch of paint, while still encapsulating that old-fashioned feel.”
   
Wayne is the first Cuprinol Shed of the Year winner to receive an overnight nature getaway as part of his prize, allowing him to indulge in his love of nature while being at the very heart of it. This is alongside £1,000 in cash, and £250 worth of Cuprinol product.
 
Founder and Head Judge of the competition, Andrew Wilcox, said: “As we near the 20th anniversary of the competition, it's astonishing to see the incredible new heights our entrants have been reaching year-on-year. At the peak of and just after the pandemic, we saw the revival of the pub shed and people getting inventive with their outdoor workspaces. This year, we’ve seen a real trend of pushing what’s possible with upcycling and getting bold with structures."

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inShedulous: UPDATED

A step-by-step photo diary by Andrew Holmes of his garden office build which he's called 'inShedulous'. See the rest here and follow Andrew on Twitter where he's also tweeting the build. Here's what he says:

"I've been working from home for a number of years, moving from a cupboard in the bedroom (no elbow room), to the conservatory (too hot, too cold, too bright, too noisy, and I'm too messy), finally to the garage (no longer welcome - it's my wife's escape room).  Following the current trajectory seems to send me outside, and with my old friend Tom's (Fred the shed) encouragement, and with the blessing of Mrs H, the plan is to construct a shed which I can clutter up, without her having to look at it (the clutter, not the shed).

"Looked at a couple of different shed suppliers, and then ran the idea past my carpenter brother.  The original plan was to put an 8'x6' shed into the corner of the garden, and move the old tin shed around to make some space. But, after visiting an 8'x6' shed and imagining the junk I had to fill it with, the total outlay seemed huge compared to the gain. So, we looked again. In the end we decided that it would be better to fill the space on that side of the garden, so the shed is to be 16' along the back, with a depth of 8', and the front will be 12' long. The odd shaped left hand side will be used for storage, and the right hand side will be my space.

"Design and construction were handled by PlaygroundToys (part of Sawtry Cabinets) where my brother works. There are a few more days' worth of work to go before it's finished.  Recently we've added insulation to the office side in the roof, floor and walls. Electricity has been brought in via armoured cable (pig to work with), and network via outdoor grade cat5e.  Next up; plasterboard for walls, wiring in sockets, painting, fitting glass to the door (I smashed the first unit), and finding something warm for the floor.  Hopefully by the end of half term I'll no longer be cluttering up the house."

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10 entertaining uses for your garden room

This is a guest post by OECO Garden Rooms

The she shed and the man cave have become popular in recent years, as many people begin using their garden structures to create their own private space or sanctuary away from crowded family homes. A step up from a dusty spider filled shed where you would store garden tools you’d hardly ever use. These dens of peace and tranquillity, pods to indulge in your favourite hobby or pastime have a multitude of uses as well as adding value to your property.

Do you have the space for a garden room? Contemplating on getting one, but are not sure what you would use it for? Here are some useful tips and slightly some unusual ideas:

1: Work – Whether you want to be more creative with work or produce more efficient results, then escaping away from distractions of the main house will be a huge head start. If you want to skip the commute or run your own business from home, a garden room offers you the space and peace you require. This would also be a good idea for your kids school work, bringing them out away from their distractions and into a peaceful office/library based garden room, allowing them to focus, achieve and improve overall results.

2: Airbnb/guestroom – Garden rooms are perfect for adding an extra room to your home for family and friends to stay in whilst they visit. Another idea is you could set up your own Airbnb, perfect for making some extra money on the side or gain your initial investment of the garden room back.

3: Home spa – Want to get that same spa experience at home, use a garden room to create your own. Fit a home sauna or steam room, or both, as well as a rainfall shower and somewhere to relax. You can add your own spa touches with oil burners or incense and you could even extend the spa experience outside with a hot tub.

4: Your own Yoga Ashram – It’s important to focus on health and wellness, and a garden room is the perfect space to create your own Yoga Ashram. Add some ambience with mood lighting, cushions and pillows and of course a yoga mat. You will have your own little space to escape to, to keep calm, clear and collected.

5: Helping hand – It could be a very productive idea to set up the summer house for your son, daughter or a close friend to stay in whilst their on the hunt to save money. Introduce the facilities they need, set up any extra necessities they require and charge them an affordable negotiated rent. This would be a great way for youngsters to save money, whether they’re currently studying or only working part time.

6: Your own local - As UK pub numbers dwindle, why not turn your garden room into your own little bar. If you brew your own beer, make your own wine and enjoy making your own flavoured spirits, expand your hobby into your own bar. Get together with family and friends without having to leave your garden.

7: Vintage game arcade – Long gone are the game arcades of the 80’s and 90’s, but if you’re feeling nostalgic and enjoy retro games, why not use a garden room to make your own vintage video game arcade. Set up old and new consoles, dance and music games and even arcade machines for a blast to the past.

8: Gym – Have your very own gym, add different work out equipment to the garden room, leaving an area for floor work... Add in mirrors down one side, so you can watch your form and build in a music system to keep you motivated. Garden rooms also have enough space to add in a shower and changing room too.

9: Hobby room – If you and your family all share a number of hobbies, why not turn your garden room into a hobby space. Whether sewing or crafting, to beer making or furniture restoration, garden rooms make great areas to enjoy your favourite pastime. Keep the equipment, smells and dust out of your home.

10: Memorabilia room – Ever wanted to collect and horde your own memorabilia collection? With the space from your garden room you’ll be able to finally build up your dream collection. They’re literally anything you can collect and display, being either showing your passion to your favourite TV show or video game. For an example, if you have a passion for Game of Thrones, fill your garden room up with collectibles. Hang up pictures/posters or any signed autographs, get your hands on the clothing and replica weapons from the show, build shelving for your character figurines, or display maps on the walls like ‘Weteros’. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Sheds in offices

This is a guest post by Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk

From Walt Disney to Bill Hewlett and Dava Packard, IKEA to Harley Davidson, many of today's most famous companies were founded in a garden shed. And the humble shed is not finished yet, in fact it has become the new must-have accessory in London’s trendiest workspaces.

Workspace sheds have much in common with their garden counterparts. Yes, the old chair has been upgraded to a comfy sofa and the tool chest replaced by an ‘immersive collaboration suite’. But it’s still recognisably a shed. A place where men and women will feel right at home. We have trendy workspaces in Soho with phone booths and fake grass because people do their best thinking in private spaces, and the trendy offices in London are recreating these areas for their smartest workers.

And such is the flexibility of the shed that it has been adapted to serve a variety of purposes. The Foundry in Hammersmith has turned sheds into a series of funky meeting rooms and phone booths. While Spaces Victoria has created some cool co-working pods where employees can work together to design a new interstellar moon lander or an electric tin-opener that works.

And sheds have even been used to solve that age-old problem of the open office: the person who talks too loudly on his iPhone. Thanks to ROOM, they now have a soundproofed space of their own, where they can talk as loudly as they like. 

So if you thought shedpreneurship was dead, think again. The shed is all set for another century of building, inventing, thinking, gossiping and drinking cups of tea. The shed is back!

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Confessions of a Chatroom Freak virtual book tour

Shedworking is proud to be a part of the virtual book tour for Confessions of a Chatroom Freak by Mr Biffo (not, you'll probably have guessed, his real name). If you're old enough to remember the Henry Root letters or more recently The Timewaster Letters, then Confessions is a similar premise but cleverly updated to the 21st century for the internet generation. And rather ruder. Essentially, the book contains transcripts of genuine conversations between 'beautiful' chatroom addict LoopyLisa21f and various would-be suitors. For our section of the book tour, we asked LoopyLisa a few questions about sheds, garden offices and shedlike atmospheres...

- What does your garden office/shed look like?
I’m not sure what you mean, dear. It looks like a shed. You know: like a little wooden house, upon which my dad has roughly scrawled the word “SHED” – in fox dirt! Also, what is a garden office? Is that when people go outside to do work, “al fresno” style? I think that would be lovely. You could sniff the lawn while you filed your office stationary acquisition forms. However, when it rained it would probably interfere with the photocopier. Although I suppose if everyone was working outside you’d always have a robust “tarp” to hand with which to cover any electrical items in the event of rain, hail, snow, or “sleet”. Thinking about it, it’s probably a better idea to work indoors. I’m not sure even a robust “tarp” could protect from very intense “sleet”!

- Why do you like your garden office/shed so much?
To be honest with you, it’s really my dad’s shed. I’m not sure why he likes it so much, but he does spend a lot of time in there. One time, me and Craig followed him down there, and peered in the window. He was just standing there in the middle of the shed, huffing and puffing, and occasionally stamping his feet, laughing and tossing his head from side to side, and chattering at thin air. He doesn’t even have any tools in there – just a load of scorched segs he’s been looking after for a friend. He keeps them under a “tarp”!

- Who would you most like to show around your shed? And why?
I’d like to take Yorkie Peters on a tour of the shed. Do you know Yorkie Peters? He’s my favourite singer: “A song, a smile, and an organ”, that’s his motto. One time I saw him performing on the back of a flatbed truck as it hurtled out of control through the town of Cerne Abbas. Although I should point out that incident only ever happened in a dream. And it wasn’t even a dream that I’d had – it was a dream that was vividly related to me by my friend Craig. And it wasn’t even a dream he’d had! If I ever had the chance to show Yorkie around my shed I’d lay on a special tea for him; I’d serve him Yorkie bars, Yorkshire puddings, and other things from Yorkshire, if I was able to think of any. What a shame Yorkshire isn’t called “Porkshire”, because then I’d be able to serve him pork pies, pork chops, and other thinks made out of pork, if I was able to think of any.

- The German philosopher Martin Heidegger was very fond of his hut and it played a central part in his philosophical outlook - how has your shed influenced your own philosophy of life?
I have never heard of Martin Heidegger, or of the country from which he comes, but I do know what a hut is. I think the way in which sheds have most influenced me is in the way they have influenced most people: my parents locked me in one when I was a child, while they hammered against the windows, and forced an excessive amount of dough through the crack beneath the door.

- Are sheds just for men or can women enjoy them too?
I think sheds should be for everyone – men, women… literally everyone. The best thing about them is that they don’t discriminate. I often think that public lavatories are quite sexist, because there are some that men can go in, and some that women can go in, and some that disabled people can go in, but none that everyone can go in. I have never seen a shed with a sign on the door that restricts entrance to one or other of the genders. Thank goodness for sheds!

- Er, do you actually have a shed?
No.

Confessions of a Chatroom Freak by Mr Biffo is out now from Friday Books and you can buy it here.

Shed of the Year 2025 shortlist announced

The shortlist for Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2025 has been announced which means it's time for the public voting to begin.

This year’s competition attracted 84 entries, and now 22 sheds have made it through to compete for the coveted title of Cuprinol Shed of the Year and the prize of £1,000 in cash, a one-of-a-kind nature’s getaway experience, and £250 worth of Cuprinol products.

“19 years in, and I’m still constantly amazed at how much passion and imagination people pour into their sheds," said Andrew Wilcox, founder and Head Judge of the competition. "Behind many of them lie powerful stories, sheds that connect generations, bring families together, and serve as hubs for communities. These aren’t just garden buildings; they’re meaningful spaces full of history, purpose, and connection."

Voting is up and running now at readersheds.co.uk and ends on July 31. The nominated builds are:

    •    The Beach Hut At The Bottom Of The Garden

    •    Nanna’s Cabin & Bampa’s Shed

    •    Redondo Trading

    •    Cast Away

    •    Cosy Cabin 

    •    Bird Song

    •    Colourful Cuban Cabin

    •    The potting shed

    •    The Plotting Shed

    •    The Gnome's Rest 

    •    The Bombardier Arms

    •    Cushty’s

    •    The Ticking Tappet

    •    The Melon Shed 

    •    The Homeshed

    •    Grottoloo

    •    Far Meadow Cabin

    •    The Garden Room

    •    The Old Stable Potting Shed

    •    The Tiny Workshop

    •    SHEDstudios

    •    Pottery Shed



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Shed of the Year 2021 finalists announced

It's that time of the year again when the finalists are announced for the annual Shed of the Year competition, run and organised as always by Uncle Wilco from Readersheds.co.uk and sponsored for the 15th time in a row by Cuprinol. As always there are plenty of marvellous entries, although sadly no specific category for garden offices (this year’s categories are Budget Cabin/Summerhouse , Pub & Entertainment, Unexpected/Unique, Workshop/Studio , Nature’s Haven , and Lockdow). The nearest is the Workshop/Studio section in which the Shedworking staff were very taken by Nicholas Pointing's Chitty Inventor's Workshop on the Isle of Wight. Here's what he says about it:

"The workshop was constructed solely to build from scratch a full scale road going Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it has then evolved into a Chitty inventors workshop, where we went on to build a mini Chitty Chitty Bang Bang based on a ride on Lawn mower, and a pint sized split screen camper on a mobility scooter! The walls now support a Tardis waiting its next time travel! The workshop has become a collection of newspaper cuttings and memorabilia all things Chitty and of the year we drove Chitty overland to Australia! The workshop is an ongoing project we have just added a Red telephone and post box and small extension is on the cards making room for the Powered deck chair!"

There has been a record-breaking 331 entrants vying for the top shed spot, more than double the entries compared to 2020. Now we're down to the 22 finalists, including one of our favourites, The Oratory Of St Joseph. This is a finalist in the Lockdown category where Catholic priest Father Len Black, from Inverness, is proudly championing the summerhouse where he has held Mass since 2011. Over lockdown, he streamed Mass every day from the shed though his website, attracting viewers from Essex to Australia. 

Remarkably, it's not the only place of worship in the final mix. Below is Martin Anderson's atmospheric Balnaird Chapel in the Highlands. Here's how he describes it:

It is based on an old towing cabin and clad and steepled in corrugated iron to replicate the old tin chapels of which a few are still about bought in the 19C from catalogues, also similar to alpine churches, echoed in the colours The steeple has a finial incorporating a cross, star of david and crescent moon to make it multidenominational. It's purpose is to bring the community together, all welcome, for ceilidh, music, reading, any creativity. Internally is ongoing task as we source suitable items. There is a stained glass window and pew from John o' Groats and a 100 year old american pedal organ in working order inside just now

As in previous years, a winner from each category will be decided by public vote (you can vote here), before a panel of shed experts decide on the overall winner who gets the giant golden crown, £1,000, a plaque and £100 of Cuprinol products.

Head judge and founder Uncle Wilco said: “The past year has been an incredibly challenging time for all of us and, now more than ever, we’re aware of how important the humble shed can be. Sheds are not just unloved, brown structures at the bottom of the garden that house tools and household junk, they are vital spaces where you can go to relax, work on a project or burn off some steam. The high-calibre entries this year really prove why we set up the competition in the first place - to highlight the valuable role sheds can play in our lives, in our businesses and the positive impact they have on our wellbeing.” 

Kirsty Woodbine, Marketing Manager for Cuprinol, added: “We are overwhelmed by the amount and quality of entries we’ve received this year. The level of innovation, imagination and creativity we’ve seen has been incredible, as has the number of people using their sheds as dedicated spaces to help others in their community. This year’s contest has been truly life affirming.” 

Public voting is now open and will close on Monday, July 12. 

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Scottish Men’s Shed of the Year announced

There are shed of the year winners wherever you look at the moment. As well as the Shed of the Year announced last week, Aberchirder & District Men’s Shed has won the inaugural Scottish Men's Shed of the Year award (pictured left to right are James Paterson, secretary of Aberchirder & District Men’s Shed; Derek Keiller, SMSA chairman; and Mike O’Brien, chairman of Aberchirder & District Men’s Shed).

The Aberchirder branch was set up in 2016 by a group of seven friends and the shed was built the following year thanks to a land grant by Aberdeenshire Council - it features five cabins with toilets, kitchen, computer and social areas and was officially opened earlier this spring by the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire Clare Russell.

A spokesman for the shed said: "The Shedders have worked with local schools, charities, businesses and residents to provide planters, fencing, garden seats, hanging baskets, firewood and chicken coups in addition to being the envy of the community with its homegrown fruit and veg." Aultbea Men’s Shed and Cromarty Firth Men’s Shed tied for the runner-up places and each receive a £250 cash prize and gift vouchers from Axminster Tools.

The event was held at the Carse of Gowrie Men’s Shed in Dundee and the trophy was designed by Derek Keiller, made using mahogany from a 100-year-old billiards table.

Jason Schroeder, executive officer at the SMSA and co-founder of the first Men’s Shed in Scotland in Aberdeenshire  in 2013, said: “Today’s event celebrates the success and growth of the Men’s Sheds Movement in Scotland.  By showcasing the award nominees and their life-changing impact it is hoped that more men will access Men’s Sheds to connect with their communities, to improve their health and wellbeing, and that new Men’s Sheds will continue to be developed across Scotland.” ---------------------------------------

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Clare Dudman: shedworker

We featured Clare Dudman's 'appearance' on Lead Balloon just before Christmas and so here is the feature on Clare which appeared in The Shed magazine 15 for those of you who missed it and wanted some more detail about her garden office:

I am a writer and I work from home. I have a perfectly good office: it is warm, quiet, with a view of the street so why should I need somewhere else? The problem with my office is it is too well-connected. It has a phone and I love talking to people. It also has broadband. Blogging, twittering, emailing: I love it all - rather too much. I needed to escape. I needed somewhere I could go to be alone with my old unconnected laptop and write.

I had the idea of a shed a few years ago but I really became inspired after I interviewed Sami Rintala in Oslo about his Boxhome - a tiny space for one person. What do we really need to live? Very little it seems to me. And yet we fill houses with stuff. I was also inspired by reading about Daphne DuMaurier in Justine Picardie's novel 'Daphne'. Even posh old Daphne DuMaurier worked in a shed - wrapped in blankets when it was cold - so why shouldn't I? In fact there seemed to be all sorts of famous writers who worked in sheds - Virginia Woolf, Roald Dahl, George Bernard Shaw. There was obviously an excellent precedent.

So one wet day in March my husband and I toured a few garden centres. This one seemed ideal. It is 8 feet by 8 feet and it had a good thick skeleton supporting its outer cladding. We elected to have treated bearings and floor and we decided to have toughened glass in case something hit the window. There are five windows altogether, the diamond leading is standard.

We stood in a Welsh garden centre and listened to rain pounding on the roof and looked around us. There is something comforting about listening to the rain in a shed. Yes, we thought. This will do. We put the shed at the side of the house which was already paved for a washing line. It is a sheltered spot and has a good view of our small garden. After it had been delivered and assembled in early in early April, we went to the DIY store for supplies: we decided on recycled polyester fleece for insulation, and fibreboard, already treated, for the lining.These were attached using brass screws and caps - attractive and functional. My husband also wired in a couple of sockets and a florescent light from an adjacent shed. The floor was varnished several times with dark oak floor varnish. I have added a mat (for added insulation), a table-like desk, a chair and a light. It works well. Not only have I already produced a chapter of a book, but I have learnt things too: birds do not sing their own songs any more, but imitate the trappings of modern life: mobile phone trills and car alarm squawks.

When I sit inside I feel like I have left everything behind, and all there is left to do is write.

You can read more about Clare and her excellent novels at www.claredudman.com and read her equally smashing blog Keeper of the Snails
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Disco Shed

One of the stars of this year's Latitude Festival according to shedworker Nikki Spencer was the Disco Shed. A garden office atmosphere that's truly individual, it is the brainchild of
club promoters and keen festival goers Patrick 'Peepshow Paddy' Bickerton and Aidan 'Count Skylarkin' Larkin who were inspired by parties in their own shed. The Disco Shed is a converted 8 x 6 ft Billy Oh garden shed which is completely mobile and as the chaps say:

"takes the best elements of modern clubbing but disguises it amongst all the stuff you‘d find in your Dad’s old shed, to make a truly unique entertainment space and novel curiosity, guaranteed to intrigue & interest, amuse & amaze at all times. By day, chill out and enjoy the good-time garden party vibe, with classic garden games, and Jane Fonda workouts. Then dance the night away to top quality DJ sets, with a full light show and live visuals on the shed's giant rooftop screen."

They'll next be performing at The Big Chill August 1, 2 and 3. Have a look around in the video below as Patrick is interviewed by Rufus Hound from BBC3 at the Reading Festival.And a quick search reveals that, naturally, it's also on readersheds.co.uk.

Eoin Colfer: shedworker

Author of the Artemis Fowl novels for children and most recently Plugged for adult readers, Eoin Colfer lives in Wexford, Ireland, where he writes in a garden office. In an interview with CITV he says: "Usually I spend my day writing in my shed at the end of the garden. I sometimes call it the Bat-Shed, which no-one finds amusing but me and other comic book geeks." Elsewhere he has spoken about how he used to write in an office in his house but when a new baby was born, he had their garden shed converted into an office. This is how he describes it to Boyd Tonkin at The Independent: "I've just got a new room: an old stable that we've converted. It's a palace of a writing room, with its own bathroom - a step up from the shed where I worked for ten years."

Lifehacker also has a marvellous quote by the writer from the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. "He says that as he gets older, working in his office, rather than wherever the possibility arises, becomes more important. “I’m 44 and unless I’m in my shed with my own chair and my music and my own banana and my own bottle of water, it’s hard.” And here he is on his commute to work: "I write in my office in the garden. It is close to the house but even crossing the garden is enough for me to feel I am going to work."
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Bob Flowerdew's shed/garden office

Organic gardener and garden media chap Bob Flowerdew, has his garden shed - essentially his garden office - featured in the Daily Telegraph. Here's what he says:

"The garden shed is man's last refuge... and it's my tranquil haven, the furthest away from the neighbours and my three-year-old twins, where I don't have to be tidy or have a mobile phone with me. It's not particularly modern, there is nothing glaringly new, no sharp corners or smell of fresh paint.... This shed is where I sort things out, make notes of what I will plant, and store and dry seeds. During the growing season I spend several hours a week in here; on warm summer nights I take my mattress and sleep out there. It's like camping without the hassle."

Key to numbers
1. Bee-keeping outfit
2. Tools
3. White string made from horseradish
4. Wooden table/ long bench
5. Wicker baskets

Debney Watkins Shed

I had the pleasure of meeting the writer and Canterbury Laureate Patricia Debney at the recent Your Messages event which I posted about last week. I was even more delighted to discover that she, or to be more precise her partnerRoderick Watkins, is a shedworker. Here's what Patricia says, a lovely short essay about the delights of shedworking and co-shedworking:

"Roderick is a composer (we've done an opera together) and over our 20 years together he has gradually become more and more dedicated to silence - and more, to 'not having anyone around' while he works. We have always had work spaces in our houses, luckily, one each. However, as the children got older and more able to occupy themselves, he found himself with a couple of hours on his hands but no way to write or work, as he hated being around anyone else. Whereas I can always concentrate, at least on the small pieces. I'm sure it's something about sound worlds for him, needing real emptiness.

"This conundrum floated around for a couple of years. In the end, neither of us could really work, because we couldn't figure out how to split our time and space, were rather paralysed. In addition, for years he had occupied the largest room in the house because it was the only one big enough for the old grand piano and the famed hand-made desk. His father is a retired GP, but always loved wood, and one of the first things he made was this beautiful mahogany desk with green tooled leather. Flipping massive, with the most enormous drawers on either side.

Anyway, hence Roderick had the largest room. Okay while the kids were little, but again, as we started to spread out, the playroom/sitting room next to the kitchen just felt tiny, and I began to feel this space, this hole in the middle of the house, where his study was. Like we weren't even living here, but existing around the edges. Four years ago I woke quite suddenly and uncharacteristically in the middle of the night, and was struck by an idea so utterly it was like being possessed: he needed a shed in the garden. It was like a puzzle piece slotting in, and I could see the rest of the house falling into place around it, the rest of the way we lived and he worked....I had not a moment's doubt that this was the way and the truth.

"He took a little convincing (too expensive, surely not all for him?), but then set about it with gusto. He designed it to the exact proportions of the room in the house, put in double-glazed windows all over the place, added a small front deck, and found a British company that would cut the wood off-site, then come and build it. And six months later, in September 2004, they did. Everything slid together (again, like a puzzle). The only nails in it are those holding the wooden floor down. Roderick himself dug the trench for the electrics, the ethernet, the phone....

"And he loves it. He comes back in from it cheerful, relaxed. He watches the local foxes slink across the back garden, and has seen kingfishers, pheasant, rabbits, ducks, voles, etc from his desk. And as predicted, it completely changed the way we are able to use the house. We now have a sitting room with an old upright piano for the kids, space to sit together not facing the tv etc. I like small spaces, and stay in my attic room with a couple of bookcases and a desk, the old nursery. Roderick likes big spaces, and in the summer his space is so big that with the french doors open it's the whole back garden. When I've had huge jobs to do in the holidays, I've occasionally used it, but do find it a bit...echoey!

"We've always called it a shed. None of this garden studio stuff. Our friends laugh: it is the size of a little cottage. But it's only one room. And is a shed. And from it, he sees and hears no one, nothing human. Which is just how he likes it. R's shed marks a real shift in our working lives, in so many ways. It also marks a time in our relationship when we so thoroughly acknowledged our differences, what we needed or didn't need in order to be happy -- and our acceptance of these things in ourselves and each other. A big deal!"