I refused to rip down my rotting wooden garden shed so I transformed it… now one of the most beautiful in UK
A MAN who refused to rip down his rotting wooden garden shed has revealed how he transformed it into one of the most beautiful in the UK.
Archie Proudfoot, from London, named his wooden outhouse The Frankenshed after bringing it back from the dead.
He told the Mail: “It was a standard eight by four timber shed that had been left to rot at the bottom of a neglected garden.
“When I began renovating it, the floor was 80 per cent rotten, so was the roof and so was the window sill.
“By all rights, it should have been torn down and replaced. But I saw the potential for something special.”
Archie rebuilt the floor of the shed with recycled timber from old fence posts.
He replaced the windowsill with a single bed frame which he had found chucked on a skip.
Modelling the shed on Derek Jarman’s steel-roofed Prospect Cottage, Archie built a new roof from corrugated Onduline.
He swapped three cracked old windows for a large new one gilded with 23-carat gold leaf like a vintage pub mirror.
The professional sign painter also heightened the doorway to allow more head room as well as space for decorative glass.
Archie whitewashed the interior of the garden shed and added a desk, shelving and a gold altar piece.
The chipboard ceiling is decorated with four plywood panels celebrating each of the four seasons – with symbols including zodiac signs and Greek gods.
Now the Frankenshed has been shortlisted for Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2023 alongside 26 other entries.
The competition has been running for 17 years and comes with a £1,000 cash prize and £250 worth of Cuprinol products.
Archie’s shed has been listed in the “Colourful” category of the competition.
It comes after a pest control expert revealed the steps you must take when moving your barbecue out of the shed – or you could become seriously ill.