Paula tells us a little more about the new garden office project for Big Holiday House which has reached the finals in the The Shed of the Year 2012 competition.
Visit readersheds.co.uk to view the 8 finalists for Shed of the Year!

Betty in the evening

Paula says, “We run a holiday website so having an office with a holiday beach hut theme just seemed perfect. After finding the large wheels, the project became a possibility, so the next step was to design a chassis and cabin that would not only work well but look great too. The Cottage style log cabin from Keops with its steep 42 degree roof pitch looked proportionally just right for what we wanted. The benefits of working with Keops were that we could choose exactly the measurements we wanted and have it tailor made to fit the chassis. We chose a 2200mm gable by 3350mm eaves depth cabin in 44mm logs with a 1m canopy on the front.

Building was pretty straightforward; once the steel chassis was in place and level, we built a timber frame to sit on top which would support the floor and cabin walls.  The cabin part fitted perfectly on top and was accurate to the millimetre. This was easy to construct and progress was quick. It was amazing how quickly the hut part began to take shape. We chose floor insulation which fitted between the wooden framework, with oak floor boards on top. Roof insulation was added on top of the pine roof boards and we chose to upgrade to double glazing in the door and windows.

The steel and timber chassis

Inside and out was given a coat of Cuprinol wood preserver, then outside we treated with a couple of coats of Sadolin Superdec in lovely bright blue ‘Shaman’. Fascias and porch railings were done in ‘Whisper Grey’ and the door and shutters in ‘Limestone’. Inside we’ve painted a just off white, which gives it a lovely light and bright airy feel. You can almost hear the sea! The woodburner is in place but has yet to be fitted – the weather is too warm at the moment to work up the enthusiasm. Inside there is a desk for working, day bed for naps, lovely blinds in deckchair stripes material, a shelf full of china cups and saucers for afternoon tea and a mermaid figurehead on the wall (a must for every bathing machine!) Pics of past relatives enjoying a day out at the seaside add a personal touch.

“The Ride is fun, Hold on!”

The whole experience of designing and building the hut was great fun and I am extremely pleased with how its turned out. We’ve met some great people along the way offering advice and help and I’ve learnt some new DIY skills too. For anyone contemplating having a go at building their own cabin, I’d say go for it! The final part of the project is to find out about solar energy as I don’t want to be trailing cables indefinitely. Will let you know how I get on!

Thanks to everyone who’s voted so far!”