More Than Just A Garden Shed

When people talk about garden sheds we automatically think about a basic wooden shed which is used to store garden tools and sometimes a place to plant seeds.? “She Sheds – A Room Of Your Own” is the title of a new book by Erika Kotite which is all about an entirely different type of structure. It may look superficially like a shed, but it is really a garden retreat for “She” as Becky Harris explains in her article which I found over on the Houzz website.

It has been almost two years since our inaugural story on ?she sheds? ? backyard escapes women have created for themselves where they can work, make art, putter, daydream and whatever else they feel like doing. Author Erika Kotite has a new book, She Sheds: A Room of Your Own (Cool Springs Press, $25), that?s full of practical information, tips, advice and dreamy inspiration for setting up one?s own special getaway right at home.

The book explores different types of sheds, from repurposed outbuildings to tool shed kits-turned-potting sheds, and from semicustomized kit sheds to completely customized mini cottages. There are tips for choosing the right kit, questions to ask when choosing a designer, builder notes, advice and information on materials, and more.
However, what?s even better is the wide variety of structures Kotite shares. Each one includes information about its owner and highlights choices she made in the design. Learning how each woman spends time in her shed is inspirational. So is learning how and where a handful of them managed to score free windows.
Kotite did her own case study, joining a team of friends to help her sister-in-law construct a shed from a kit. Here are some tips and ideas she gleaned along the way.

Photo by Sarah Greenman

Get inspired by far-flung places. Tymmera Whitnah loved the look of the homes on Bali that perch atop poles. While she wanted her ?spirit house? to feel open, she decided that this would require windows because of Oregon?s wet climate.She scored the windows by stopping by construction sites and asking after old windows that were being replaced. With lots of careful planning and help from a carpenter friend, the 10-by-10-foot structure was done in two years, where it serves as a favorite meditation spot.

Photo by Judy Weiss
Embellish with a trellis. Although Judy Weiss already had a dilapidated shed on her property, all that remained of its porch was a footprint. She and her husband decided to fix up the outbuilding by upcycling leftover, salvaged and donated materials. The small porch holds vintage garden items, while the trellis provides structure for climbing plants.