Debra Prinzing is a Southern California-based writer and lecturer who specializes in interiors, architecture and landscape design themes. Author of four gardening books, including "The Abundant Garden" (2005), Debra's articles have appeared in Fine Gardening, Sunset, Better Homes & Gardens, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles, Cottage Living and Romantic Homes magazines, among others.
Announcing:
STYLISH SHEDS AND ELEGANT HIDEAWAYS
Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations
By Debra Prinzing | Photography by William Wright
The “sublime shed” has moved far beyond its quaint utilitarian origins to represent something much more dynamic in the 21st century landscape. These freestanding garden structures inspire us to express our creativity in a three-dimensional medium. Highly individual, today’s shed is a vehicle for showcasing one’s personal style: Escape, retreat, sanctuary, art gallery, dining room, or even a whimsical playhouse for all ages.
Clarkson Potter | Hardcover | April, 2008 | $30.00 | ISBN 978-0-307-35291-0
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William Wright
Kathy Fries converted an ugly 20-by-20 foot aluminum shed into a fanciful Doge's Palace-inspired garden house and embellished the facade with verdigris copper sheeting, vintage medallions, hardware, and figures.
A Stylish Shed - All Your Own
10 Design Tips
Creating the Backyard Shed of Your Dreams
Do you dream about a place of escape? In merely one-hundred-square feet or so, you can design and create a private garden retreat, a tranquil space to pursue your heart’s desire.
Working with Seattle photographer William Wright to create Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, I have visited close to 100 sheds occupying city gardens, suburban backyards, and quiet country fields. Each of these highly personal destinations provided design inspiration, revealing many possibilities for creating a tiny building with big impact. There are infinite ideas to explore, depending upon your space and ambition. Here are my top design tips:
1. Check local building codes for zoning guidelines. Sheds usually categorized as an “accessory building” or “temporary building.” There may be a maximum size (often 100- to 200- square feet) under which you can build a backyard shed without a permit. Adding electricity, water or other utilities will likely require a building permit. And be sure to ask how close to the property line or main residence you are allowed to build.
2. Identify the activities that draw you outdoors: Are you creating art, making music, writing poetry, growing flowers, playing with children, stargazing, entertaining friends, or meditating? Virtually any personal passion can find a home in a small, but distinct garden shed.
3. Consider the shed’s architectural role in the landscape. Is it a design focal point or intentionally hidden from view? Will its outer walls support vines and climbing roses? Or will the shed be a backdrop for displaying flowerpots or artwork? Will it camouflage an unsightly view? Is it for pure function or pure folly – or a little bit of both?
4. Choose its placement in the landscape: Where will you site the pavilion, potting shed or garden house? Can you orient it to allow sunlight to stream through the windows and French doors? Or will it be nestled beneath a shade tree to provide a cool summer respite? Is the ground level enough to accommodate the structure or will you need to excavate or add fill?
5. Think carefully about the interiors. So many people build architectural wonders and leave the inner spaces looking rather ordinary. Treat the interiors as you would any room of your house. One couple in Austin, Texas, built a tea house to echo the measurements of their dining room, because to them, it had comfortable proportions.
What about the walls? It's fine to expose the rafters and studs, but can you paint them or mount shelves and hooks for displaying collections? A San Diego gardener lined the walls of her potting shed with pegboard, where she hung antique gardening tools as “art.”
6. Add home-like details that emulate those of your primary residence. Windows should be operable so you can adjust temperatures, create ventilation and -- most important -- hear the sounds of your garden while inside. Make sure there's a deep ledge for displaying potted herbs or anything else that makes you happy. As with your home, make sure the doorway linking your “inner sanctum” with the "outdoor world" is symbolic of shelter, safety and haven. Don't settle for an ordinary door from a big-box home center when you can find something special. A salvaged door, especially one with multi-paned glass, is a nice choice. Coat it with a brilliant color or allow it to weather with time.
7. Remember this is an outdoor structure. It's okay if you have a cement floor, but consider staining it with an accent color and adding a drain in the center for easy cleanup of gardening projects. Sheds floors can be finished with wooden plank flooring, vinyl tile, terracotta pavers, flagstone, wall-to-wall carpeting and colored concrete. We’ve even seen sheds elevated on stilts, making them feel like grownup tree houses!
8. Give yourself a work surface. Add a counter or potting bench, using the dimensions and proportions of your kitchen counter. Allow depth to accommodate stacks of terra cotta pots or a row of gardening books. Are there enough shelves overhead or storage cabinets underneath? Cover the countertops in a durable material, such as copper or galvanized metal sheeting. One Seattle gardener found a discarded bank of classroom cupboards (probably from a high school wood-shop or science lab), complete with countertop and storage bins -- voila! It is the perfect potting bench for her garden house.
9. Add ornamentation: Artwork – inside and out – will adorn “a shed of your own” and make it a personal expression of your style. The freedom of moving this private room outdoors means that anything goes, including mirrors, stained glass, vintage artifacts, retro pottery, hanging plants, birdhouses, a weathervane, chandeliers, collections and more!
10. Make it comfortable: Even if your shed is mainly home to your gardening projects, designate one corner for R&R. Include a bench with cushions or a wicker chair and good reading lamp (of course, this means electricity), a desk for your reference books, correspondence, or even a small tea party. Create a sacred place that nurtures your spirit and feeds your soul.
In the end, your shed should be designed for your private and personal delight. It is the place where you will feel safe, free to create and contemplate, and take refuge from the everyday demands of life