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Ways to Jazz up your Shed

Jayne1 Comment

A shed is a main focal point of your garden and can sometimes look a bit boring or out of place if not maintained properly.  Instead of being something picturesque to look at, it can become a bit of an eyesore. In reality – it doesn’t need to be that way.  When people look around your garden shed, they should be looking at it because it looks great and ties in with your garden and personality.  We have put together some ways in which you can jazz up your shed and make it your own.

First Step is, Choose the Right Shed

There are lots of sheds out there, so make sure you choose the right one for your project.  Wooden sheds are usually the most popular.  These are easily adaptable, and have a traditional, rustic feel that people seem to like.  You can check out Buy Sheds Direct’s range for some great and affordable options – and this will also make sure it is of the highest quality and incredibly durable as they’re one of the top recommended companies.  A shed is an investment in your garden, once you have put all that work into it – you don’t want to have to go changing it.  Once you purchase your shed, it will be with you for a long time.

Don’t be Afraid to Be Bold

Don’t be afraid to be bold when it comes to selecting a colour.  Wooden sheds are easily painted, and you can choose whatever colour you like.  You can choose a colour that reflects your personality, and or go with something vibrant to make it stand out.  Although traditional wood can look beautiful and traditional, a lick of paint to mix things up definitely won’t hurt.  Alternatively, you might want to use your garden shed as a bit of a haven, in which case – you might want to select a nice cream or pastel colour if you are more traditional.  The good thing is, you can always repaint – the look isn’t permanent.

Add a Window Box

A window box is a lovely touch to a garden shed and can definitely jazz it up.  Choose your favourite flowers – and use them to fill up a lovely decorative window box.  If you have chosen a light coloured shed, you may want some vibrant flowers to offset this and add character and colour.  This could also be a nice gardening project for you in the summer time and give you an excuse to spend more time outdoors.

Include Some Lighting

To create a nice atmosphere, it could be a good idea to add some lighting to your shed.  You can get some great outdoor lights that can be used, however an increasingly popular trend has been fairy lights.  It will have the Hansel and Gretel approach – and look like something out of a fairytale.  If you are having a garden party or a barbeque in the evening – this can be a great way to set the tone and draw attention to your beautifully decorated shed.

Create a Pathway

People will be more likely to look at your creation if they can see something leading up to it.  A beautiful pathway can be a great way to draw attention to the focal point of your garden. There are lots of different options when it comes to this.  You can get some great stone pathways that will define the shed even more, and they are also relatively cost-effective as well as easy to maintain – so there is little work for you to do.  This can also improve the look of your garden in general.

Create a Landscape around your Shed

If you want to make your shed stand out, you need to make sure that the surroundings are right.  You could do things simply like mowing and shaping your lawn, or else you can go for something a little different and create your own vegetable patch.  There is nothing better in terms of a garden project like growing your own vegetables.  You can cook food with vegetables from the garden, and it can be a great activity for the kids too!

Showcase a Workspace

If you like a little bit of DIY, or some great garden projects – there is no reason why you can’t showcase this outside your shed.  It could be that you are potting plants or doing something else that will place focus on it and show off your lovely plants!

A shed doesn’t need to be a simple storage solution for your garden, it can be much more than that.  Put your own stamp on it, and it can be a great talking point for guests and visitors.

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Climate Control: Protecting Your Stuff No Matter Where You Store It

Jayne1 Comment

Many people use a shed or other small outbuilding to store their extra belongings or supplies on their own property. This is a great way to save money and have a convenient way to get to the items you need whenever you want.

But if you store items that are sensitive to temperature change and moisture, you need to make sure that the shed is climate controlled. Furniture like wooden tables and couches, or decorations like painting, can very very susceptible to changes in the climate, so you need to take precaution. Here are a few things you can do to make sure prefab sheds are secure and your stored valuables are protected from heat, cold and moisture.

Insulation

If you want to have any hope of controlling the climate in your shed without breaking the bank, you must insulate the walls, doorways, and windows of your shed.

Typically, sheds only have one outside wall that is built around the frame of the shed. If you want to protect your valuables, you’ll need to add insulation and then an inner wall so that the inside is separated from the outside, just like your house is. This will allow you to control the temperature inside, no matter what the weather is like.

Also, make sure to use weather stripping around the windows, doors or any other type of openings. A lot of heat can escape through small cracks.

Heating and Air Conditioning

Next, you’ll need to install a heating unit and an air conditioning unit. The good news is that neither one needs to be that large or that expensive.

If there is a window already build into the shed, you can buy a small window-unit to cool the air in the summer. If not, you plan on creating a space for it to go when you are adding the inner wall. As for heating, having just a small heat lamp, like one you can find on this website, is plenty for a small shed.

Once they are installed, the smart thing to do is to hook both of the units up to a cheap thermostat. This will save you money and energy, as the heater and air conditioning will only turn on when the temperature rises or drops below the temperature you set it at.

Moisture Control

To control the amount of moisture in the shed, a small dehumidifier will work perfectly.

The best part about using a shed as a storage space is that they are usually pretty small, so purchasing an average dehumidifier should be enough to keep the moisture at a good percentage; the insulation will help keep moisture out as well. You will have to change the pan in the unit every so often, especially during the wet summer months, but it’s very easy to do so.

Rather than paying someone else to store your stuff every month, why not try using your own shed as storage space?

Ethan Cameron is a man who can turn his hand to most DIY projects; the bigger the better within reason! Most recently he has finished creating a dedicated craft studio for his wife, and a garden room for his Mother-In-Law.

Closer to Nature

Closer to Nature – Meet the Robins

Jayne9 Comments

Something very exciting has been happening this week…we’ve just found out we’ve got babies! Baby robins, that is! Let me set the scene…

A few weeks ago, I was on the phone (probably to my Mum) and I was gazing out of our patio doors when I noticed a robin, standing INSIDE my garden shed.

“No”, I thought, “I must be hallucinating…” (like that was a FAR more reasonable explanation)

I put the thought out of my head until last week, Husband proclaimed “A robin just flew into our shed!”

“Aha!”, I thought, glad not to have been in the early stages of a psychotic break.

So, we’ve been watching two robins flying in and out of the shed for a couple of weeks, watching them frantically searching for food, knowing that there must be babies in there and on Monday, Husband managed to sneakily get this snap through the window:

Isn’t he a beauty? We’ve learned that robins don’t get their red breast until they reach maturity, although you can see the beginnings of orangey patched on this little dudes’ chest. He’s not alone either, we’re pretty sure there are two babies in there as we’ve seen them hopping around together. Mr. and Mrs. Robin work tirelessly to feed their young, we’ve sat and watched them for whole afternoons, zooming in and out, hopping through the hole above the shed door with worms and berries in their beaks.

On Monday, Husband and I decided that we’d help our lodgers along in their daily toil to feed their young and we bought a variety of bird food, which we’ve secreted in various locations around the garden. Suet pellets, mealworms, soaked raisins and robin museli have gone down a treat! We didn’t want to put a bird table up, as we’ve heard that they attract cats as we had to come up with some other, impromptu ways of dispensing the food. Husband came up with the great idea of getting a carton from a dozen eggs and cutting it into sections, which we then taped on windowsills and outside the shed, and we even hid one in our trough of strawberries!

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed observing the robins and getting a little bit closer to nature (did you see what I did there?!) and we’ll be sad when our babies fly the nest, something that we think isn’t far off, given the size of them. We’d love to see your nature photos too, so please get involved by linking up any recent nature-related posts and you can even stick one of our badges on there too, if you like. (code in sidebar)

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