London artist who brought workshop ‘back from dead’ wins Shed of the Year award

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 celebrating beautifully designed sheds across the country.

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

To mark the award’s 17th year, the paint company also introduced the Simple But Effective category to find sheds with the most distinguished designs.

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.

Mr 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.

It’s wonderful to see such artistry and craftsmanship triumph in this 2023 Shed of The Year. A true labour of love, Archie’s shed shows how it’s possible to bring anything back to life with a bucketful of passion and a lick or two of paint

Mr 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 – well, I’m over the moon.”

Marianne Shillingford, creative director and colour expert at Cuprinol, said the Frankenshed was a “true labour of love” and uniquely expressed Mr Proudfoot’s artistry.

She said: “It’s wonderful to see such artistry and craftsmanship triumph in this 2023 Shed Of The Year.

“The extraordinary mural work in the interior of Archie’s Frankenshed are such a unique expression of his individuality, skill and love of colour, whilst the bold rich black painted exterior makes what’s inside even more alluring and delightful.

“A true labour of love, Archie’s shed shows how it’s possible to bring anything back to life with a bucketful of passion and a lick or two of paint.”

Founder and head judge of the competition, Andrew Wilcox, said he was “pleased” to see Mr Proudfoot crowned best shed of the year.

“The quality of entries in this year’s competition were incredible and the final results were tight,” he said.

“There were less than 50 votes between each of the shortlisted workshops, which is the closest any category has come before.

“This didn’t make the judging easy, particularly as we’ve seen lots of charitable and community-supporting sheds entered this year, which goes to show just how far just one simple shed can reach.

“I’m so pleased Archie has been crowned 2023’s winner – the Frankenshed is unlike anything I have seen before in the nearly 20 years of running this competition.

“His artistic flair takes centre stage, but the way he transformed his sorry shed into something so elegant has to be seen to be believed.”