"It's so much more than a shed to me" - meet the unexpected 2021 Shed of The Year winner
Garden sheds - no longer the preserve of Arthur Fowler types - are officially now cool. And nobody exemplifies this better than the overall winner of this year's Cuprinol Shed of The Year competition, model and blogger Danielle Zarb-Cousin.
The 29-year-old from Southend-on-Sea beat more than 300 other entries with her 'Creme De Menthe' shed, a luxe retro cocktail bar.
She was inspired to transform a shed in her parent's garden into a fun sanctuary, following the breakdown of her relationship with her former fiancé and the closure of her modelling agency due to Covid in 2020.
Nevertheless, the shed was very nearly pulled down - but it was saved by her creative vision.
Read more: 10 sheds to transform into a workspace
"I moved back in with my parents for the lockdown," Zarb-Cousin told Yahoo. "The house they had recently bought was very run down and they were planning on renovating.
"The shed was going to be knocked down, and the garden bulldozed. After some convincing, my parents decided to keep the shed and let me try to make something of it."
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"Although ugly and brown it was a perfectly good shed which just needed some TLC. I knew I wanted to give it some kind of authentic 1970s theme - I’m a huge lover of the era, the fashion and the music, and I’m also a massive Elvis fan.
"Once I had made a mood board I felt very confident and knew which direction I was taking it in, so it didn’t feel daunting at all."
Zarb-Cousin refurbished the whole shed in an eco-friendly style, on a thrifty budget. "The painting of the inside and outside of the shed took around three days and I had a little help from my mum as she’s good with the fiddly bits," she said.
"I then painted the bar, which was made from an old, unused chest of drawers."
"The next part was to source vintage-style bits and bobs to fill it with," she said. "I found a selection of beautiful coloured crystal glasses and decanters from a local charity shop.
"It was so important to me to bring back to life unloved and unused things, rather than buy new. I hate that our generation has adopted this throw away culture. I think the entire thing cost between £250 and £300."
Like so many of us, Zarb-Cousin found a slice of peace and purpose during a scary and unstable period via a creative home project.
"I wanted to make a place to relax that would be a form of escapism from the terrible year that 2020 was," she explained. "The shed became a real focus for me in a time of chaos and uncertainty - it is so much more than a shed to me."
Zarb-Cousin, who says she was hugely overwhelmed and proud to even be shortlisted for the competition, recognises that she's perhaps not the typical Shed of the Year entrant. "I think it’s so important to never put yourself - or let other people put you - in a box," she said.
"It has shown me I can do anything if I just put my mind to it!"
The proud winner plans to celebrate in style - in her shed, of course. "I’m planning to have a big party first of all," she said. "And then I’m looking forward to having the girls round for lots of cocktails."
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