Shed of the Year: entries are open for the quest to find the best garden retreat of 2020

Could the judges dig your garden bolt hole? 
1/21

Humble outhouse no more, the garden shed has long outgrown its role as the shabby, spider-filled tool store that sees most action as a place to escape family tensions over Christmas.

Celebrated by the annual Shed of the Year competition, now in its 14th year, the garden outbuilding fulfils many different roles these days, from man cave or she cave, to garden bar, or games room for entertaining guests.

The rise in working from home has also caused a surge in garden offices and the trend could gain even greater momentum if the coronavirus escalates as expected. Perhaps next year’s contest could have an award for best self-isolation pod.

Back to this year, and the contest is now open for shed enthusiasts to enter their own garden retreat under one of seven categories.

Last year’s new category was Nature’s Haven, showcasing the growing trend for rewilding – letting the garden go unmanicured and creating or adapting existing outbuildings to fit into their setting.

The 2019 overall winner, Bux End, was chosen from this category.

This Middle-earth inspired sunken Hobbit hole with grass roof, birds’ nests and beehives, was built by Chris Hield in his Peak District garden. It took the Shed of the Year crown and Chris is on this year’s judging panel.

Bux End: the winning shed in 2019
Matthew Pover

“Since the competition started 14 years ago, we’ve seen some brilliantly creative uses of sheds across the UK,” said the competition’s founder and head judge, Andrew Wilcox.

“There has been a definite shift towards a more natural approach to the great outdoors but we are still loving seeing the amazing ways people use their sheds – from the complete out of the ordinary to the almost absurd.”

Other categories include Unexpected; Cabin/summerhouse; Workshop/studio; Pub and entertainment; Budget and Unique.

Shortlisted sheds last year included a tropical-style tiki bar, a live-in lorry and a Shakespeare-inspired writer’s retreat.

To enter the competition, send at least two photos of your shed, with an explanation behind the design and why it stands out, to readersheds.co.uk​

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in