Garden sheds don’t have to be boring, writes Elly West, who explores how you can make yours exceptionally special.
As many of us already know, garden sheds don’t have to be boring utilitarian storage spaces. A shed can become a personal sanctuary where we tinker, create, dream and escape the chaos of everyday life. Man-caves and she-sheds offer the chance to enjoy a personal retreat away from the house that extends our living space and, with a bit of imagination, expresses who we are.
A new shed is generally plain and functional – a blank canvas offering a great opportunity to really make it unique, whether it’s a hobby workshop, cosy writing nook, pool room or even a mini pub. Unlike house renovations, sprucing up a shed is budget-friendly, doesn’t need planning permission, or to suit the whole family’s taste. It’s a chance to experiment with colour, decoration and a theme, can be quickly installed and easily transformed as needs alter, for example from a child’s playroom to a teenage hang-out zone.
Sheds have been around throughout civilisations, used as storage or living quarters aside from the main home. In ancient Greece and Rome, there were sheds built from timber, clay and plaster, used to store straw, food such as olives and grapes, or house animals. In the 18th and 19th centuries, sheds became common as people began gardening as a hobby. The word shed probably derives from ‘shud’ – the Anglo Saxon word for ‘cover’, the first known use of this word being around 1440.
From humble beginnings, sheds are now available in a range of materials including composite, metal and, of course, wood. Fully functioning home offices or garden rooms with insulation and electricity saw a massive surge in popularity during the pandemic, when working from home became the norm, and sales have continued to grow. A garden room provides a great solution as it provides some separation between work and home life, offering fewer distractions and the chance to close the door at the end of the day and walk back to the house.
Garden rooms that are incorporated successfully into the garden can bring well-being benefits related to natural light and being outside. I recently designed a garden that included a room with a green sedum roof, that was to be used as a counselling studio. The journey via a winding path through an area of meadow was almost as important as the room itself, to make clients feel relaxed and at one with nature, before they entered the therapy space.
Green roofs are a good way to make a shed or garden room feel like part of the garden, as well as being beneficial to wildlife. If your shed isn’t particularly attractive, then a carefully positioned trellis covered in climbing plants makes a good screen, or use shrubs, ornamental grasses or flowering perennials around your shed to soften the edges and help it blend with the garden. Scented flowers, such as lavender or honeysuckle will also add to the appeal.
If you’re wanting to make your shed into an attention-grabbing feature of the garden, there are lots of easy ways to inject personal touches. You might choose a theme, for example a beach hut, with pastel stripes, a flag and wicker furniture. A mini-pub could include a small bar, fairy lights, quirky old signs, coasters and pub paraphernalia, or you may you may want your garden shed to be just that (!) but with some vintage potting-shed appeal, such as rustic shelving, antique tools and old terracotta pots. A fresh coat of paint can transform a shed from bland to bold. Bright colours will make it stand out, while soft neutrals will blend with the garden.
Our love affair with sheds even extends to national competitions, notably Cuprinol’s annual Shed of the Year, which has been running since 2007, and celebrates the Great British Shed in all its forms.
Bristol-based Peter Lawson’s Tea Room was a finalist in the 2023 competition, and provides a peaceful haven at the end of his garden. It started life as a children’s playhouse, before becoming a rabbit hutch, then store room, and it’s now a quirky Japanese-style retreat, inspired by his love of Asia. Made primarily from recycled materials, including doors, fence posts, pallets and free timber from Facebook Marketplace, the only items he bought new are paint, preservative and screws. He describes it as a “reflective area”, saying: “The interior is very basic, just some cushions and incense. We make our drinks in the kitchen, take them to the bottom of the garden and simply chill with a book, or a phone or a friend. Sometimes, I simply sit there looking out of the doors and watching the wildlife feed on the flowers or berries.”
The online gallery of past winners shows just what can be achieved with some hard work and imagination, from a mini ski-chalet to the poop deck of a pirate ship. If you’re feeling inspired, visit readersheds.co.uk for details of how to enter. The deadline this year 31 May.
Plant of the month: Hellebores
Plants like hellebores encourage us to step outside regardless of the weather, as you have to get up close to appreciate their beauty. The flower heads hang towards the soil, encouraging us to interact with them and lift the flowers to see what lies within. Some are single, some are double and others anemone centred, with smaller rows of frilly sepals around the stamens. Patterns vary as much as the form, from a pure colour, to heavily veined or spotted, delicate with freckles, blotched, or with a picotee (darker) edge. They’re among my long-term favourite plants and are found in shades of green, yellow, cream and white through to pink, purple, the darkest plum and even black.
Hellebores are easy to grow and long-lived. Remove tatty and old leaves in winter to make way for the new growth, and they’ll flower away happily with very little more than this in terms of care and maintenance. They also grow well in shade, and suit woodland-style planting as well as modern cottage schemes, and are perfect partners for spring bulbs and early flowering plants, such as pulmonaria and anemones. Plants readily cross-pollinate leading to new varieties popping up as they self-seed, in varying colours and forms.
