Interiors

‘Frankenshed’ comes back from the dead to win award

This colourful shed, which was rotting before it was turned into ‘a beautiful place to escape’, has won an award for creator Archie Proudfoot

Archie Proudfoot, from London, who was crowned Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2023 winner for his creation, The Frankenshed. Photograph: Will Ireland/PinPep/PA Wire

Sat Sep 2 2023 - 05:00

An artist and sign painter from north London who named his garden shed Frankenshed for its rotting exterior, has won the annual Shed of the Year award after he “brought it back from the dead” and transformed it.

Archie Proudfoot (34) won against 200 shed entrants and is the first winner of the new colourful category to feature in the Cuprinol awards, which celebrates beautifully designed sheds across the UK, with some Irish entrants also featuring.

The artist has been rewarded with £1,000 (€1,164) in cash and £250 worth of Cuprinol products for transforming his rotten shed into what the paint company described as a “creative haven”.

The artist was recognised for bringing his rotting shed back to life using recycled timber and old fence posts, while the interior has bright yellow and blue paint on the roof and walls, and the window has gold detailing featuring garden gloves, forks and troughs.

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Interior of the Frankenshed. Photograph: Will Ireland/PinPep/PA Wire

Proudfoot said the Frankenshed had become his “most elaborate and enjoyable” artwork to date.

He said: “What started as a bored attempt to save a rotten shed turned into the most elaborate and enjoyable piece of artwork I’ve ever created.

“The Frankenshed is now a beautiful place to escape and enjoy an afternoon sketching, writing, tinkering or potting plants for the garden.”

The independent sign maker said he was “over the moon” with the result and “delighted” with the interest it had received.

Proudfoot said: “Seeing the reaction to the shed has been amazing and I’m delighted that so many people have been as taken with this little project as I still am today.

“Rebuilding and decorating the shed was a very personal undertaking for me and to see it win not just the colourful category, but be crowned overall winner.”

Irish entrants

There were a number of Irish entrants to the competition. Mark Baker’s garden shed overlooking Bray Head, Co Wicklow, was in the “unexpected/unique” section. Designed as a gathering place for family and friends to hang out, with comfortable seating, lighting and a bar that encourages social interaction and relaxation, the Lodge, as Baker calls it, was a lockdown project, was built with ground screws to provide the foundations. Everything inside was hand-built from left over shed packaging (pallet wood), where possible, including the bar and sofa.

In Co Sligo, Annie West submitted her festoon-lit garden shed, which she has turned into a workshop where she can “chop things up and bash a few nails in and sit around with my feet on the table with my tea and my dogs as the rain hammers down on the tin roof.” – Additional reporting: PA