Shed of the Year 2016: Episode Four

After weeks of anticipation and shed loads of breathtaking, inspirational and ingenious sheds, at last, it’s time for the grand final!

So far we’ve seen six category winning sheds make it to the final and there are still two more places up for grabs. Before we see who was crowned the winner of Shed of the Year 2016, let’s meet the amazing sheds in the final two categories…

What happened in episode 4?

The Budget shed category finalists:

This is the thriftiest category ever as the sheds in this category cost no more than £300! This just shows that even with the tiniest of budgets and the biggest imagination, you will be amazed at what can be achieved and we certainly found this out with our first entry…

Peter Sedo relied on his creative flare to design his dream workshop with a tiny budget in rural Worcestershire. Originally a 100-year-old disused outhouse in his friend’s garden, Peter heard that it was going to be torn down so he volunteered to renovate it to use as his art studio. He used 70 old timber pallets from local businesses who were throwing them out and a ton of artistic touches to create this modernist style beautiful workshop for his art named ‘Art Studio Peg’.

The 24 x 12ft structure is made entirely of recycled and salvaged materials; even the nails have been re-used! Peter bought second-hand doors and insulation and used a mismatch of salvaged windows to emphasise the glorious views of the countryside on the south facing wall. Not only a thing of beauty, but this window wall maximises the views and allows plenty of light to fill the space inside.

What a stunning place to work! Peter built this handcrafted labour of love almost entirely on his own but what is most impressive is how little he spent. His budget was so low it pushed Peter’s levels of creativity to a sublime level. For just £300 he’s not just built a shed to create art in, it's art in itself!

Next, we were taken to Lincolnshire to meet ex-lorry driver Ilona who has created the ‘Beach Hut’ shed in her garden without using any power tools.

What anyone throws away, Ilona will use! This motto is used within her colourful artwork which she creates inside her shed as well as the shed itself. The beautiful 8 x 8ft structure was built from salvaged wooden pallets, old doors and painted with a spectrum of coloured paints donated by her friends. Every panel is painted with a different colour, creating a bright and colourful shed adorned with beautiful things.

Inside it is even more playful, everywhere you look you are surrounded by beautiful bright colours and all forms of artwork. Ilona’s creativity really shines in this space. The best part about this shed is how much it cost and as this is a penny-pinching category we were over the moon to discover that Ilona only spent £20 on this entire shed! This £20 was for the polycarbonate roof which the cost was donated to charity, amazing!

This incredible creation just goes to prove that when it comes to budget sheds, one person’s trash is another’s treasure!

The next shed finalist in the budget category is ‘The Walnuts’ and we were taken to the middle of an allotment in Bedford to see this little gem of a shed. Chris Bustin, a landscape gardener is the proud owner of this spell bounding allotment retreat.

Sitting under a Walnut tree is the ultimate budget shed as Chris was actually paying £125 to take it away from a client who wanted to scrap it! The shed is built entirely out of salvaged materials and incorporated the structure of the original building underneath.

When Chris’s wife put a ban on any more clutter in the house, Chris decided to keep his collection of beloved trinkets in his shed! Inside it is filled with little treasures Chris rescued; full of old trinkets and collectables this place has a lovely ascetic. A true space for relaxation and a getaway from the outside world, everything is placed so perfectly and not what you would expect from an allotment shed!

Chris even salvaged a wood burner which was too big to fit in the 8 x 8ft shed so his ingenious solution was to build a shed extension. This is now the perfect spot for a brew, a truly blissful space.

Three sheds down and just one to go, next we met Brian Clark from Hastings who you may recognise from last year as he entered his incredible hand-built mock Tudor townhouse. Being extremely creative this year retired carpenter Brian is back with an enchanting garden shed constructed on a shoestring – The ‘Old Garden Shed’.

Budding artist Brian has created a bijou bolthole which oozes a level of craftsmanship rarely seen in a garden shed, let alone a budget one! This gorgeous fairytale-esque shed has been constructing entirely using material cut-offs from Brian’s last shed creation! By recycling the leftovers he has managed to keep the cost down and only spent £250 on this charming shed.

There is a dorma window made from decking and the structure is held up by a central tree trunk in the middle of the shed, it may be a little inconvenient and take up room but using an existing tree to keep a shed standing, almost like a tent is a masterstroke of design and what’s more, has helped Brian to keep costs down.

With entry through a hidden door, Brian uses the 10 x 9ft shed to house his art memorabilia and is the perfect space to begin work on his next creation! When we met Brian last year we fell in love with his shed but this new shed is simply stunning a gorgeous masterpiece.

The budget category has shown that a tiny budget doesn’t have to limit your imagination or your ingenuity and all four of these sheds have proven this but we can only have one winner. The public has voted and have chosen Ilona’s Beach Hut shed as the winner, well done!

The Cabin/Summerhouse shed category finalists:

With 7 categories down and one left to go before we see the overall winter there is just one space left to be in with the chance of winning the converted title of Shed of the Year 2016. This category celebrates the peaceful and ingenious hideaways people have created at the bottom of their gardens.

The first finalist in the Cabin/Summerhouse category is based in Norwich and is certainly a summerhouse with a difference! Steve Alleyne managed to combine a problem with a passion to create something quite incredible – the ‘Austin Camper Shed’.

Steve had an original 1970’s classic Austin pick-up truck which he couldn’t sell and wanted to create a unique space he could enjoy when he went to car rallies. Builder Steve spent £6,000 transforming his vintage left-hand drive Austin van into a shed on wheels with a top speed of 60 MPH. This creation is a thing of beauty! Steve spent months beating panels and sourcing spare parts to transform his classic pickup into a mobile summerhouse.

Here you have everything you need for a life on the road. Inside the 9 x 5ft shed is a toilet, kitchen, dining room and even a mezzanine which holds a double bed. This shed is cute, unique, packed with character and beautifully built. Is it a shed or is it a van? Steve’s creation certainly is a driving force in this category!

The second entry in this category is based on an allotment in Warwickshire. Teacher and craftsman Oliver Renison who was not content with the ordinary built himself what he calls ‘The Shed of dreams’ which certainly stands apart from the rest.

The dreamy curved form of the 12ft high shed roof is made from large wood struts that have been bent and screwed together, beautiful and almost boat like. The striking shingles on the wall are made from scraps of wood from Oliver’s furniture making workshops and the Gothic ‘trefoil’ is made using washing machine doors – Gothic meets modern domestic! This stunning 8 x 12ft shed combines practicality and the use of recycling. The roof has a noticeable seam curving along which Oliver explained is to help the rain water to flow off and to be collected in his water butt.

Oliver glued stones to the ceiling to make it fireproof surrounding the wood burner and used reclaimed tiles on the walls. Oliver’s creative flair ensured his dream shed didn’t cost a fortune, his ingenious use of reclaimed and recycled materials meant he spent less than £500 on his wonderful, perfectly hand built allotment cabin.

Next, we headed over to Chelmsford and was introduced to the ‘Talliston Cabin’, a place where we discovered it’s not just about the quality of craftsmanship but authenticity too is a vital ingredient. After falling in love with a photo of a 1940’s Canadian log cabin, John Trevillian decided he had to have one. It took 3 years and £15,000 to lovingly create a slice of Northern America in his garden.

Completed in 2015, every detail adds to the authentic experience he wanted to create. In his quest for authenticity, he used high-quality architectural salvage which closely matches the wood typically used in Canadian cabins. John has such an eye for detail as there are beautiful peg details and painted rafters to create a truly accurate representation of a traditional Canadian log cabin.

Inside is a mezzanine which he named ‘the snug’ which houses a double bed and is a cosy space which benefits from a window with beautiful countryside views. This extraordinary Canadian cabin represents an entirely new frontier for shed making! The eye for detail is staggering and really makes you feel as though you’re in the wild of Canada. John’s cabin takes authenticity to the next level!

Abstract shed

The final shed fighting for a place in the grand final has a noticeable nautical feel, ‘Boatcrash’ is the brainchild of former architect Jo Candy in Lancashire. Jo spent £5,000 and 7 years building a shed which looks good enough to sail away.

Inspired by a boat’s hull to keep water out and to be durable, this creation is an ongoing work of art. Constructed using a trampoline as a template and building around with all natural materials this 15 x 20ft creation gives the impression of organised chaos. To build the unique form Jo used locally sourced silver birch and cut oat floorboards and lashed it all together with rope. There is a truly rustic feel inside as the building materials are left exposed and it has the feel of a mud hut meets shack!

Inside there are flat panels mixed with irregular shapes, all organic and finished off with plasterboard. A true authentic space which is continuing as a work in progress. The two stunning boat hulls as a roof set off this unique and quirky build. Jo’s maritime hideaway is a truly authentic and organic garden shed which we love!

The Cabin/Summerhouse category is certainly last but no means least, this category is a celebration of craftsmanship and ingenuity. We have seen four truly beautiful creations but the public have voted and the final shed to get a place in the grand final of Shed of the Year 2016 is Oliver’s ‘Shed of dreams’ and we couldn’t have agreed more!

The overall winner of Shed of the Year 2016:

We now have 8 worthy category winners but only one can take home the ultimate shed accolade. The top team of sheddie judges put their heads together and decided on this year’s winner and we were thrilled to see that the winner of Shed of the Year 2016 is ‘The West Wing’!

We’re sure that choosing the winner was no easy task for the judges as this year the entries were amazing! But the judges chose Kevin Herbert’s beautiful Eco creation as their favourite this year. The fairytale West Wing takes the crown, it was built for £1,500 and is a magical eco-treat for the whole family and made entirely from recycled materials and is surprisingly Kevin’s first building project!

What a competition it has been, there were almost 3,000 entries this year and over 12,000 public votes online. The creativity, ingenuity, eccentricity we’ve seen shows how the once humble garden shed can be transformed into a home for our hobbies, hidden passions and dreams.

We’ve seen some truly amazing shed creations, cutting edge design and some rather surprising new uses and this competition has been a joy to watch, a true celebration of the wonderful British garden shed by the shed-load!!

We can’t wait to see what next year’s show has to offer…

If you’ve missed any of this year’s episodes then check out our Shed of the Year hub where we’ve put together everything you need to know about the show and our previous episode overviews.