Do you think sheds are for lawnmowers and old plant pots? If you do, you’re far from being alone. That’s what most of us use our sheds for.

But some canny people across the country use their sheds for far more interesting things than that. If you’re wondering what you could use yours for, we’ve put together a list of 10 suggestions for you to ponder over.

1: home gym

Gym equipment takes up a lot of space, and few homeowners would find room for it to be permanently set up indoors. Create a home gym in your shed, however, and you’ll find it much easier to accommodate.

2: pub shed

Mine’s a pint! Yours could be too if you convert your shed into a miniature pub. Some people have really gone to town with this idea, searching for pub signs, building their own personal bar and buying second-hand bar stools to create a lovely space to enjoy.

3: home cinema

Avon 2.7m x 2.5m Newhaven Log Cabin with Veranda

Doesn’t everyone dream of having a home cinema? If you purchase a good-sized shed or log cabin, you could make that dream come true, without adjusting the layout in your home. Make room for chairs or sofas and a wall-hung screen, and decorate the room with movie posters to add atmosphere.

4: games room

If you’re fed up tripping over games equipment strewn all over the house, transforming your shed into a games room could be the ideal answer. If you have kids, their games and toys could be kept in the new space. On the other hand, if you have your own games equipment – whether it’s console games or a snooker table – it would fit nicely in an appropriately-sized shed or log cabin.

5: home office

Working from home is becoming more common all the time. Not every property is big enough to allocate an entire room to a home office though. Fortunately, there are lots of sizeable log cabins to choose from that would be ideal as home offices. Take a look at the Adley 3.3m by 3.4m Newhaven log cabin for example. It even has a veranda for those lazy office lunches…

6: DIY workspace (workshop)

If you have a thing for DIY, it’s good to have somewhere you can keep all your tools, not to mention all those odds and ends of wood and other items. A large workshop would be ideal for this, much like the Adley 10’ by 15’ double door overlap apex workshop for example. It’s surprisingly affordable for a good-quality workshop, and it’s great for storage too.

7: model railway

How’s this for a more unusual idea? Plenty of adults count model railway building among their hobbies, but finding a space to create a layout can be tricky. The attic isn’t always a possibility, but a shed could provide enough space for a great layout that won’t be disturbed. You could even run it out into the garden and through the shrubs…

8: she shed

Sheds aren’t just for men. She sheds are really in vogue at the moment, and there are plenty of things you can do with a shed that provide a feminine space to let your character shine through. Armchair and bookshelf, perhaps, or an arts and craft space?

9: indoor play room/adventure playground

How big is your imagination with this idea? You might have room for a ball pit or lots of shelves with toys on them, leaving the kids free to play without getting under your feet.

Larger spaces, such as a log cabin or summer house, might just be big enough to allow for an indoor adventure to be had, with climbing nets and dens in every corner.

10: living space/den

Greenway 3m x 2.5m Elizabeth Log Cabin

This works in lots of ways. You can create a guest room for visitors if you’ve got something larger such as a log cabin. Alternatively, you could create a den for younger kids so they can have a fun sleepover with a difference.

How will you use yours?

With all this inspiration, it can be very easy to get overwhelmed when considering the wealth of opportunities available to transform the humble shed into something very different.

But people create superb things every day, and some people have ended up with sheds they really love. The Shed of the Year competition is designed to highlight the best of the best, and while the entries might make you feel envious of what others have done, they can also provide oodles of inspiration.

If you’ve achieved something worthwhile with your shed and it’s too late to enter the competition this year, why not tell us all about it instead? We love to hear what our customers have done with their sheds, and you might just be the one who inspires someone else.