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What's Your Dream Shed?

Compact and functional, or fun and fabulous? Discover the perfect outbuilding for your garden in this quiz

Kate Burt 13 March 2017

Houzz UK. I'm a journalist and editor, previously for the Independent, Guardian and various magazines. I'm now excited to part of the editorial team at Houzz UK & Ireland, bringing the best of British and Irish design, interiors and architecture to Houzz.com.

Houzz UK. I'm a journalist and editor, previously for the Independent, Guardian and... More

Once upon a time, the humble shed was just that – a little wooden hut for storing tools and, sometimes, facilitating a family member’s late-night quiet time, with a small-scale hobby or simply a tot of brandy and the Shipping Forecast. But beyond some wall hooks and perhaps a ledge and a little rudimentary lighting, the average shed was pretty basic. No more! The Cuprinol Shed of the Year competition 2017 launches this week, celebrating its 10th anniversary by going global, and shows just how much you can do – from an all-singing, all-dancing ‘shoffice’, to a cinema room or even a guest suite. But which style is right for you?

Fusion Living Room by Crowell + Co. Interiors

Crowell + Co. Interiors

1. At a party, where are you likely to be found?

Near the food, chatting recipes

In a corner with a good vantage point, chatting one-on-one

Leading the conga

Secretly nosing around the host’s home

Browsing the glossy coffee-table books on history and design

Examining the decorations to see how they’re made

Contemporary Exterior Outdoor Living, Gardening and Irrigation

2. How do you like to spend your free time?

Browsing photos on Houzz to save to your ‘dream home’ ideabook

Watching back-to-back episodes of Grand Designs on catch-up

Lost in a good book, with no distractions

With friends, trying out a new experience

Making things

Pruning, mulching and preening your plants

Industrial by Chris Snook

3. Favourite TV personality?

Max McMurdo (above)

Kevin McCloud

Monty Don

James Corden

Kirsty Allsopp

Mary Beard

Contemporary Kitchen by Trevor Brown Architects

Trevor Brown Architects

4. Which of these smells most appeals?

Fresh paintwork

Fireworks. Happy memories!

Newly mown grass

Your favourite smokey/woody/musky scented candle

PVA glue

That nice papery smell you get in secondhand bookshops

Industrial Deck by Crib Deluxe

5. Dream day out?

A big pub lunch with all your favourite people, and maybe a game of rounders in the park afterwards

Zandra Rhodes’ Fashion and Textile Museum in London

A trip to RHS Wisley

Nosing around all the interiors stalls and events at the London Design Festival

A tour of Palm Springs’ Modernist houses

Rustic Entrance by gda architecture

gda architecture

6. Best idea for a weekend away?

A remote rural cottage, with lots of nature walks nearby

Portmerion in Wales. A really interesting design history (and instagram-tastic!).

Copenhagen. Timelessly stylish

A forest glamping break with a woodcraft course thrown in

A kite-surfing course, staying in a cool coastal B&B

Your dream shed is … Fun!

Fun: Your dream shed might double as a rooftop garden complete with a freestanding bath (like this previous Shed of the Year winner); some of you might hanker instead after a shed-cum-outdoor-bar, or perhaps a mini home cinema, complete with vintage-style popcorn cartons and a fridge full of sweets; or perhaps you’ve had fun decorating a pretend shop for small family members to run, selling biscuits or imaginary cakes to the rest of the household (and secretly wishing you weren’t too old to enjoy the fruits of your labour). Either way, your shed isn’t what you use for garden storage. Or, if it is, you’ve got another non-fun shed for that.

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Rustic by The Shed Builder

The Shed Builder

Traditional Garden by Silva Landscapes

Silva Landscapes

Your dream shed is … A feature!

A feature: Whether you go for a rambling rose growing around your doorway and little curtains at the window of your pastel-painted garden retreat, or if you prefer less shabby chic and more trend led, coordinating its paint job stylishly to match your interior, there’s no getting away how much this shed is for show. Yes, you might use it to do a bit of gentle crafting, or to sit in it and listen to the radio on a Saturday afternoon, or even simply for storing garden paraphernalia – you need somewhere to help you to tend to your blooming garden and to plant the window boxes and hanging baskets for your shed – but in your mind, the reason it works is purely because it looks so good in your garden. And doesn’t it?

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Your dream shed is … A gardener’s world!

A gardener’s world: Sheds are for doing your potting in, aren’t they? And for storing tools, plant food, garden wire and seeds and all your other gardening essentials. For you, the primary function of your shed is that it helps you to make your garden beautiful. You want it to look good, but size, storage options and security all come first. In a dream world, you’d have one just like this, with seating and plenty of light and space, and a nice solid bench for potting (and for putting your cuppa down onto). You’ll look after it, diligently treating the wood annually, oiling hinges and keeping it clean and tidy but you don’t want it to be a feature. You’d rather it blended in with the rest of the garden.

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Country Garden Shed and Building by Theresa Fine

Your dream shed is … Architecturally impressive!

Architecturally impressive: You love adventurous architecture and you’ve run out of places you can make an impact inside the home for now. You dream of building your own house one day, but while that might not be on the cards any time soon, you can start in the garden! Your fantasy show-stopping creation could be something ergonomic like this, or perhaps instead a design that’s angular, tubular, spherical, fabulously futuristic or simply expansive – whatever you choose it’ll be a statement design that’ll become a real feature in your garden. It’ll be beautifully designed inside, too, most probably with specification so high it has a better finish than your home. Because of this, though you might use it for hands-on tasks, hobbies or garden storage, you’re more likely to turn it into a cinema room by night, office by day, a guest annexe, or a living space complete with patio and home bar. Members-only, of course.

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Contemporary Garden Shed and Building by Platform 5 Architects

Platform 5 Architects

Your dream shed is … A hobby room!

A hobby room: A sunny little wooden room, surrounded by greenery and nature, and separated from the procrastination temptations in the house – what could be more inspiring to your inner artist/crafter/woodworker? Here, in your fantasy shed, you will have large windows (or, dreamier still, glass doors onto your own weeny patio, as in this example) to provide the necessary natural light you’ll need to work on your practical pastime. You might even use it to work from home in, in which case it’ll have good artificial lighting, too. Ideally, it’ll also have electricity so you can boil the kettle and plug in your radio, since both are vital to your creativity and focus. Ooh. And some heating, too, for the winter – you’d enjoy this to come in the form of a woodburning stove. Some might go so far as to say it’s much more than a shed – it’s so well-appointed it’s more like an extra room.

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Eclectic Garden Shed and Building by JML Garden Rooms

JML Garden Rooms

Your dream shed is … A secret hideaway!

A secret hideaway: Your shed fantasy is all about escape; it’s a ‘room of one’s own’. It just happens to be in the garden. Perhaps you harbour dreams of writing that novel, or spending time having a bit of a think, or simply getting away from the hustle, bustle and to-do list of the main house with a good book or podcast. And a shed visible from the kitchen window just won’t cut it. Your dreamy shack will be buried deep in the secluded grove you also fantasise about having at the end of your garden and will have a little verandah, all the better for a small rocking chair to help soothe your mind. It might not have electricity, but nice-looking oil lamps will illuminate things and will tie in perfectly with your shed’s theme of slow living.

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Traditional Garden by Joanne Winn Garden Design

Joanne Winn Garden Design

What are you working on?

Renovating bedroom level with sloping roof

Renovating bedroom level with sloping roof

small bedroom decor

See all Design Dilemmas

Comments (21)

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Katherine Crouch Garden Design

my dream shed is a gardener's shed - I already have one of those but somehow I don't think my dilapidated hovel is Houzz-worthy....

Like 2 May 2017 at 10:24pm

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lizzieherb

Mine is a hobby room, but I already have one of those in the conservatory (/2nd lounge). Looks like I'll have to ask my hubby to do the shed quiz as his current being alone space is "the lounge" & I'm honestly sure he'd much rather be in the garden surrounded by greenery.

Like 4 June 2017 at 5:26pm

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Pam Thorburn

Mine is gardener's world. I didn't pick one garden related answer....bemused.

1 Like 1 July 2017 at 6:19pm

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