Cabin Fever

July 25, 2019 8:15 AM

Why not escape, for a moment, from Britain's sweltering heat and febrile politics into a shed of one’s own? Perhaps a tiki bar, an artist’s studio, an allotment shed made entirely out of old pallets, or a mobile space agency – all from the 2019 Shed of the Year shortlist!

Related: 2017 shortlist, 2018 shortlist

Previously: Taking it out to the woodshed (Shed of the Year 2017 thread)

posted by adrianhon (17 comments total)

Perennial winner Arthur Jackson will, as always, be difficult to beat.
posted by Naberius at 9:18 AM on July 25, 2019 [13 favorites]

When I had a garden in England my shed belonged to the spiders. All of the spiders. So many spiders. We worked out a truce where I was allowed to take my mower out and put it back in so long as I didn't actually enter the shed.
posted by srboisvert at 9:45 AM on July 25, 2019 [9 favorites]

Ok so the Space Shed has : " fully programmable LED lighting rig, big screen and sound system"....and I saw the logo UNSA and assumed it was the beat unsa unsa unsa

I have now realized my dream office design aesthetic is: shed
posted by twentyfeetof tacos at 10:06 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

The rounded Ark one is neat, I would like to see a photo of the internal framing to see how it was built.

It might just be how the pictures were taken, but a lot of these look seriously short, only for people who don’t need much headroom.
posted by Dip Flash at 10:13 AM on July 25, 2019

I really long to have a shed in my life. I think I could live in our small flat forever, if only I could have a shed outside for extra storage and messy projects.

My dad has several sheds, and yes they belong to the spiders, but at least they're the long legged ones that remind me of daddy-long-longs, not the hideous giant house spiders. Those prefer the house (last time I visited my parents, a giant house spider trapped me in the bathroom by sitting in the middle of the narrow hallway entrance, so that I would have to step directly over him and risk him scuttling over my other foot. Bastard.

Sheds are brilliant. I've been trying to figure out if my neighbours would let me put one in my parking space, since I don't have a car but do need a shed. I suspect not, but maybe if I built it on wheels?
posted by stillnocturnal at 11:08 AM on July 25, 2019

I like the ones that are made from recycled materials.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:26 AM on July 25, 2019

I was all excited for sheds but now I can't take my eyes off Chris Smith's incredible mancleavage.

I'd like to enter his freaky tiki, if you know what I mean
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:38 AM on July 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

I didn't know sheds were a thing there. Based on these pictures I now want to watch a Great British Shed Show.
posted by dnash at 12:24 PM on July 25, 2019 [5 favorites]

And they can bake in their sheds!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:44 PM on July 25, 2019

The rounded Ark one is neat, I would like to see a photo of the internal framing to see how it was built.

There are a few interior pics here: The Ark.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:12 PM on July 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

In fact, more pictures of all of the sheds are available on Readersheds.co.uk, including the one for Hobbitses:

...we dug out the back garden in January 2018 to build a sunken hobbit hole. Unfortunately after hitting bedrock that we could not break through we ended up putting some of the 22 tonnes of wet clay back in the hole, which was a bit demoralising! After sourcing local reclaimed bricks and timber we finished the hole some 8 weeks later after working each weekend and evenings when possible.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:16 PM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Perennial winner Arthur Jackson will, as always, be difficult to beat.
posted by Naberius at 12:18 PM on July 25

Not if you can give McTeagle £50! He's expecting a postal order, and he can pay you back as soon as it comes.
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My fave on this year's shortlist is The Hut. Just a nice quiet place in nature. Calm colors. Just a shed. I approve.
posted by droplet at 4:32 PM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

There are a few interior pics here: The Ark.

Thank you! That has led me down a rabbit hole of looking at bow shed designs and construction techniques. If I ever build another shed, it will be one of these.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:18 PM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm reminded of the playhouse Dad built us when we were little. It was exactly big enough to fit in the back of his pickup truck. When we grew out of it it became a deluxe doghouse.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:54 PM on July 25, 2019

I feel Instant Karma is kind of cheating. It's more of a standalone cabin than a shed. I like the blue painter's shed!
posted by tavella at 9:03 AM on July 26, 2019

In South Florida. I do have room for a shed, and multiple uses for said shed. However, all sheds built on my property would have to meet hurricane-dictated building code requirements. I could myself build a “functional for me” shed out of repurposed pallets. No engineer would ever sign off on it though, due to the high probability of those sheds becoming wind-borne projectiles. So I remain shedless. (I could, however, park a travel trailer out back, as long as it remained moveable. But a trailer would never be as cute as these.)
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 10:15 AM on July 27, 2019

works for me...
posted by cabin fever at 9:09 PM on July 27, 2019