10 Creative Ways to Make the Most of Your Garden Shed
Get inspired to make more of your garden’s storage with these clever tips for prettifying the humble shed
Egon Walesch
4 August 2016
Houzz UK and Ireland Contributor. Interior Designer and Proprietor of Egon Walesch Interiors and Flowers. Passionate about how good design can improve quality of life. I love colour, calmness and bringing the natural world into the home. Owner/Designer of Ireland's Home of the Year.
Houzz UK and Ireland Contributor. Interior Designer and Proprietor of Egon Walesch... More
We all need a space in the garden to store our tools and furniture, but often our sheds end up standing cluttered and unloved in the corner. Change all that by following these nifty tips for jazzing up your shed and making sure it’s a storage space to celebrate.
Make it a feature
A nicely proportioned garden shed can be just as stylish as other more expensive garden structures.
Use exterior paint to make a feature of it. This blue-grey shade works beautifully with the surrounding green foliage and the grey of the galvanised containers. The restrained colour palette makes the scene feel natural and restful, while the orange chair brings a dash of zing to the scheme.
A nicely proportioned garden shed can be just as stylish as other more expensive garden structures.
Use exterior paint to make a feature of it. This blue-grey shade works beautifully with the surrounding green foliage and the grey of the galvanised containers. The restrained colour palette makes the scene feel natural and restful, while the orange chair brings a dash of zing to the scheme.
Dress it up
If you’re stuck for space, make sure your shed is very much a part of the garden. Window boxes, hanging baskets, a framework for climbing plants, pots and tubs dotted around it will prettify your shed while also showing off your green fingers.
Here, the side of the shed has been turned into a verdant living wall. This has great advantages for the insulation of a building and helps to maintain a lower temperature inside. Living walls can be expensive to construct and have specific maintenance requirements, so do your research beforehand.
This approach is ideal if you feel your shed is less than beautiful, as the plants will distract the eye from the structure and, in time, disguise it. It also makes sense to use every available space for the main purpose of your garden – growing plants.
If you’re stuck for space, make sure your shed is very much a part of the garden. Window boxes, hanging baskets, a framework for climbing plants, pots and tubs dotted around it will prettify your shed while also showing off your green fingers.
Here, the side of the shed has been turned into a verdant living wall. This has great advantages for the insulation of a building and helps to maintain a lower temperature inside. Living walls can be expensive to construct and have specific maintenance requirements, so do your research beforehand.
This approach is ideal if you feel your shed is less than beautiful, as the plants will distract the eye from the structure and, in time, disguise it. It also makes sense to use every available space for the main purpose of your garden – growing plants.
Control clutter
Many sheds are let down by their untidiness. Too often we use them to store things we don’t want lying around the house but can’t bear to get rid of. In time, it’s almost impossible to find the tools you need and the prospect of sorting it all out seems much too daunting.
With a small space, you have to keep on top of any clutter before it becomes a problem. Only store things in the shed that belong there, such as garden tools, pots or power tools, and be disciplined about it.
Many sheds are let down by their untidiness. Too often we use them to store things we don’t want lying around the house but can’t bear to get rid of. In time, it’s almost impossible to find the tools you need and the prospect of sorting it all out seems much too daunting.
With a small space, you have to keep on top of any clutter before it becomes a problem. Only store things in the shed that belong there, such as garden tools, pots or power tools, and be disciplined about it.
Go modern
If you have a streamlined, contemporary style of garden, it makes sense to ensure that your shed enhances that look.
Here, the shed is clad in cedar timber slats to match the fencing, bringing a clean, harmonious feel to the garden.
Cedar is an excellent choice of wood as, left untreated, it fades to a delicate silver finish over time. A stronger coloured timber might have overwhelmed the scheme.
Overlooked in your urban garden? Find out how to create privacy
If you have a streamlined, contemporary style of garden, it makes sense to ensure that your shed enhances that look.
Here, the shed is clad in cedar timber slats to match the fencing, bringing a clean, harmonious feel to the garden.
Cedar is an excellent choice of wood as, left untreated, it fades to a delicate silver finish over time. A stronger coloured timber might have overwhelmed the scheme.
Overlooked in your urban garden? Find out how to create privacy
Promote harmony
A shed, like any feature, always works best when it looks like it belongs there. This one perfectly suits the garden in which it’s placed. Its traditional shape, natural colour and the way the garden has been designed to lead the eye towards the shed all create a harmonious composition.
Try to avoid a situation where the shed looks as if it’s been placed as an afterthought. It’s always better to incorporate it fully in your garden scheme from the outset.
A shed, like any feature, always works best when it looks like it belongs there. This one perfectly suits the garden in which it’s placed. Its traditional shape, natural colour and the way the garden has been designed to lead the eye towards the shed all create a harmonious composition.
Try to avoid a situation where the shed looks as if it’s been placed as an afterthought. It’s always better to incorporate it fully in your garden scheme from the outset.
Keep it simple
This potting shed may be unassuming, but the combination of natural materials and colours is a winner.
This look is ideal for those on a budget. The key principles of good design become even more important in a modest space: maximise light, ensure that it works for its intended purpose, avoid clutter and keep it simple.
By making the space uncomplicated and balancing the work-a-day elements with splashes of colour and greenery, you can create a shed you’ll be happy to potter about in.
This potting shed may be unassuming, but the combination of natural materials and colours is a winner.
This look is ideal for those on a budget. The key principles of good design become even more important in a modest space: maximise light, ensure that it works for its intended purpose, avoid clutter and keep it simple.
By making the space uncomplicated and balancing the work-a-day elements with splashes of colour and greenery, you can create a shed you’ll be happy to potter about in.
Consider bespoke
Sometimes it’s worth getting a tailor-made solution. This shed was custom built as part of a garden redesign. It’s hard to imagine an off-the-shelf structure working so well.
The advantage of this approach is that you can specify the exact size and shape of the shed to meet your storage requirements, and you can ensure it fits in seamlessly with the rest of your garden.
Sometimes it’s worth getting a tailor-made solution. This shed was custom built as part of a garden redesign. It’s hard to imagine an off-the-shelf structure working so well.
The advantage of this approach is that you can specify the exact size and shape of the shed to meet your storage requirements, and you can ensure it fits in seamlessly with the rest of your garden.
Grow a green roof
This unique shed doesn’t just have a living roof – it’s also got a vegetable garden and a bathtub for soaking in after all that heavy digging!
Green roofs have lots of benefits. They absorb rainwater, provide insulation, create a habitat for wildlife and help to mitigate the island heat effect (when roofs absorb heat during the day and release it at night when the environment should be cooling down), as they absorb less heat.
However, a shed needs strong structural support to withstand the weight of a garden above. Get a professional in to advise you on the precise requirements for your design.
Fancy a green roof? Get expert advice on how to install one
This unique shed doesn’t just have a living roof – it’s also got a vegetable garden and a bathtub for soaking in after all that heavy digging!
Green roofs have lots of benefits. They absorb rainwater, provide insulation, create a habitat for wildlife and help to mitigate the island heat effect (when roofs absorb heat during the day and release it at night when the environment should be cooling down), as they absorb less heat.
However, a shed needs strong structural support to withstand the weight of a garden above. Get a professional in to advise you on the precise requirements for your design.
Fancy a green roof? Get expert advice on how to install one
Go stylish on the inside
This beautifully designed interior shows that it’s possible to create a stylish shed.
Apply the same rules you’d use when designing a room in your home. Coordinated storage in wood and plywood, plus a strong but limited colour palette are used here to great effect.
A simple framework using peg boards creates an extremely flexible storage system.
This beautifully designed interior shows that it’s possible to create a stylish shed.
Apply the same rules you’d use when designing a room in your home. Coordinated storage in wood and plywood, plus a strong but limited colour palette are used here to great effect.
A simple framework using peg boards creates an extremely flexible storage system.
Make it dual-purpose
As well as fulfilling the usual functions of a shed, this one also cleverly incorporates storage space for keeping logs dry. You could also use the space for storing terracotta pots in a frost-free environment over the winter months.
Another way to make your shed dual-purpose is to create a bug hotel containing various-sized compartments, where creatures such as bees, lacewings and newts can hibernate over the winter months in a warm and safe environment.
TELL US…
What do you think of these ideas for pepping up your garden shed? Share your thoughts in the Comments below
As well as fulfilling the usual functions of a shed, this one also cleverly incorporates storage space for keeping logs dry. You could also use the space for storing terracotta pots in a frost-free environment over the winter months.
Another way to make your shed dual-purpose is to create a bug hotel containing various-sized compartments, where creatures such as bees, lacewings and newts can hibernate over the winter months in a warm and safe environment.
TELL US…
What do you think of these ideas for pepping up your garden shed? Share your thoughts in the Comments below
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Some of those sheds are so enticing, I can see why one would want to spend more time in them!
Wow, heaven in a shed!
This story makes me want to try to build my own she-shed, & I couldn't pound a nail straight if I tried! Very inspiring!