A Riot Of Gorgeous, Green And Practical Sheds From USA To UK

There is boom in garden sheds and offices these days, and why not? It is a relatively cheap way of getting extra space and a little privacy. It isn't a new idea either; Mark Twain had one, and wrote about it to a friend in 1874:

"It is the loveliest study you ever saw...octagonal with a peaked roof, each face filled with a spacious window...perched in complete isolation on the top of an elevation that commands leagues of valley and city and retreating ranges of distant blue hills. It is a cozy nest and just room in it for a sofa, table, and three or four chairs, and when the storms sweep down the remote valley and the lighting flashes behind the hills beyond and the rain beats upon the roof over my head-imagine the luxury of it."

Sounds nice. Over in the UK, where the climate is temperate and for years, people lived without the luxury of central heating, garden sheds and writing rooms have been around for centuries. George Bernard Shaw and Charles Dickens both had them. The British have shed websites and books, and even an annual Shed of the Year competition, where I have the honour of being a judge for the third year in a row. As the shed movement catches on in North America, each year there have been more and more American and Canadian entries. My daughter Emma and I had a look at the office shed and eco shed categories and picked a few; Have a look yourself at WeHeartSheds and vote for your favourite.

Some office sheds are quite modern and architectural, like this one owned by Tim and Kristine Collins in Geneva, Ill. They say "it is a potential dry run for the cabin we would like to build someday in the Northwoods (the area north of Chicago and south of the North Pole)." For some reason they built it on 1-1/2 tons of concrete foundation. More at Readershed

In Texas, Pat & Janie Sullivan have built a shed "from old schoolhouse doors. We left the frosted wavy glass in part of them and used Plexiglas in the rest to let in more sunlight. The roof is made from old recycled tin and translucent corrugated fiberglass panels. Even the light inside is a recycled chandelier." I like it because I once designed a house of doors as well. More at Readershed

Jennifer Watson's LanternShed in Amherst, Virginia is a gem. "Not just a regular tool shed, LanternShed has two special features: it has a green roof and it acts as a glowing sculptural feature (japanese lantern) at night." More at Readershed

From Seattle, Cody presents a "Music studio formed with Durisol Insulated Concrete Formwork capped with a beautiful green roof to boot!" Durisol is a wonderful green building material that has never caught on like it should have; it is really soundproof so a music studio is a great use for it. More at Readershed

Back across the pond in the UK, Tim Massey built a really green shed "built totally out of reclaimed timber, even the glass came from Warrington College that was broken and I cut it down to size. The timber can from a roof in Rudheath and the flatroof is a left over piece of rubber epdm." It "has a 12v solar panel charging a 12v leisure battery to which I power 4 down lighters and a 12v converter to 300 watts. It is insulated roof, sides and underfloor with fire proofed sheeps' wool." More in Readershed

Then there are always the eccentrics, like Chris Anderson's Boat'arbour; he writes "This little hide away was made from the front end of an old ships lifeboat.The boat had been converted to a cruiser and we have used all the original features including the windows in the doors,the port and starboard navigation lights on either side of the doors are now candle holders that glow red and green and the door handles are the original brass bollards." More in Readershed

And of course, no Shed competition would be complete without the Tardis category, and as usual we never get to look inside. The owner of this one says it encloses his swimming pool. More at Readershed