Shed of the year 2024, Sponsored by 
Our shed is a little bit of Greece at the bottom of the garden. It's a haven, a party pad, a home office, a dinner venue and a cinema. It's delightful to look at. To Spitaki means "The Little house" in Greek. Inspired by my spending 14 years living in Athens and visiting islands with their beautiful little blue and white sugar cube houses. Built during lockdown as we couldn't get to Greece or anywhere else we now have the perfect get away from it all shed, complete with a mural of Santorini. Everything in the shed has a Greek theme or is Greek - bottles of Ouzo and Metaxa adorn our small bar area, the pictures are all Greek words and their meanings, all the cushions on the seating are Greek photos and even the books on the shelf under the table are all Greek - cookbooks, The Odessy, Mythology, travel books etc. It was so much fun to build and complete and we just want to share it here and maybe even win a prize!
My husband build the shed from scratch without having done anything like it before. The floor frame is 3m x 4.8m and was built with a wooden frame and insulation blocks with floor boards on top before the final laminate floor at the end. Walls and ceiling are all wooden frames covered with a waterproof membrane, insulated with rockwool and finished with hardwood ply before being painted. The roof is also insulated and has a waterproof felt finish in light green. It has guttering and a waterbutt at the side. It also has power from the garage which has been fed through metal pipes along the garden fence to a consumer unit. The seating inside was was made with 12mm plywood with reinforcements and they each measure around 2.10m x 50cm. One section of seating has a lid and we can store things inside it. I made all the seating cushions using firm foam, a gorgeous blue velvet fabric, carpet glue and a staple gun. All the seating is adorned with cushions featuring Greek island scenes.There are 5 power points inside the shed which are used for heating, lighting, a projector and the all important door bell which links to the one for the main house. Lighting is over 2000 led lights on the ceiling and walls which can be colour changed at the touch of a button and we also use a lot of candles. Heating is a flame effect electric fire in white plus an oil heater and they keep the shed cosy even when it's snowing outside so it's in use all year round. The blue paint on the doors and shutters is called "Greek Blue" and was specially mixed to give the desired colour. There are double doors at the front which have been fitted with a lock and can be fully opened and held in place with hooks. There are also two windows one on the front with shutters and one on the side of the building - both can be fully opened. We had a sign made for the house which says "To Spitaki and the whole shed was painted with Sandolin white paint and then made to look pretty with artificial ivy. It's just a fabulous addition to our home. We can seat 12-16 and still leave plenty of room for dancing :)
