Last New Years Eve, in torrential rain, three of us took the van, and we emptied and dismantled my beloved green shed from my ex-allotment plot
The grass beneath us had become mud, so the wheels pun and spun, until we improvised with boards borrowed from a neighbouring plot and brought the shed pieces back to the house, where we dumped them on the lawn, all of us exhausted and aching
These pieces lay there until July (for various reasons, not all entirely connected with idleness – we’ve had a lot to do this year) when it was assigned a new colour and identity, not as a storage area but as a smart and defined, if small, workspace for me
When we first assembled it some years back we were shed virgins so we closely followed the instructions, and it took a whole day. This time around the instructions were long since discarded, and Baz and I free-styled it in no time before heading to the pub to celebrate our success
We had cleaned the mud off the interior and I painted the inside with various bits of leftover paint so that it doesn’t feel like a sauna. I re-used my faded curtains and splashed out on a funky floor paint (‘Primrose Hill’ by Mylands) which will keep it cheerful through the winter. Oh, and I might just squirrel a bottle of my sloe gin somewhere…
Since it arrived the space feels bigger, as if the whole garden has been waiting for this shed to turn up. The new colour sets off the lavenders and the gorgeous old nameless pink rose, which often flowers vigorously into December
It’s not a big shed, but I’ve installed a solar light, shelves and hanging space. There’s even a shed alarm, although only a fellow lunatic with a fetish for steel wool would ever break in here (yes, you know who you are) and I am already enjoying the space
Entrance is strictly by invitation only, and my first visitors apart from the bugs (of which there are already many) are two of the set of six 1930s oak chairs I bought on Ebay. These two were wonky and needed repairs and have been glued and clamped. The whole set needs a good clean too, having been used for many years. It can be hard to see progress, so I took a picture of before and after to remind me of how worthwhile this process is and how much detail it reveals
The other visitor at the moment is the plucky little heater, ‘Stumpy’, which came to me with a limp. More of that in another post …
I’m still moving in really, and there is plenty more that needs doing to the shed itself before the weather really kicks in, but I’m getting a feel for what the space allows and for which tools and basic supplies I actually need to keep in here in order to work properly
So that’s what/who is in my shed right now. What do you use your shed for? I’d love to hear
Poshbird with Passion 
Just want to wish you a lovely Christmas- has been so lovely reading your posts over the past year. Look forward to more in 2017! xxxx
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Oh you are sweet. I’m afraid I’ve been feeling too stretched lately, but I hope to post soon. Hope you had a lovely Xmas and a good start to 2017 x
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Lovely shed and flowers.
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Am intrigued by sheds. Thanks for the glimpse into yours. Love the curtains- And Stumpy is amazing. Is it a predecessor of the famous two bar heater of student days? I’ve never seen anything like it.
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Adorable shed, and adorable stumpy, is it gas? Would love to see that working, I might just move into the shed if it did for some peace! Our only wooden shed we bought a couple of years ago and remodelled it into a chicken coop, adding perches and nesting boxes and side doors etc., It is home to the chickens and some enormous spiders. Now I’m thinking it needs a bit of a remodel, your shed is putting our shed to shame, can one have shed envy?!! I think at the very least it needs a paint job!
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I’m flattered that you are thinking about shed envy! It is a real luxury to have a shed that is not just for storage, and I just need a hammock to make it totally habitable. Stumpy is an electric heater but as all his ‘gubbings’ are broken, his future will be as an (other) electric light. I think he’d be a lovely room-mate
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What a beautiful shed! It is many years since I have had a shed but have an extra size garage to put all the gardening and other stuff. It is not as much fun as having a shed.
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Your shed is adorable!
We have three sheds, all quite small and all claimed by my husband. One is packed solid with ladders and building materials. One is for storing yard furniture in winter and charcoal for the grill in summer. And the other houses the bikes and the lawn mower. We don’t have a garage. So nothing fun at all, which, reading Osyth’s comment, might be a good thing!
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What an ADORABLE shed and what adorable guests you have …. I look forward to hearing more about their adventures on the road to recovery and new glamour. Here in Massachusetts we have a Groundhog who lives under the shed. She (we know she’s a she because Groundhogettes make their homes and then get visited by wandering lothario males in Springtime who spread their Groundhog seed all over the area and have illigitimate families by the score) is a source of endless and intense interest from The Bean. We will never dig her out and hold her aloft on Groundhog day. She’s part of the family in a curious way!
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How wonderful. I would love to have a guest like yours, but I am hoping that I can persuade some birds to nest here, at least. I bet the Bean is driven mad by her!
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