Mama’s garden shed/girlie clubhouse in the backyard

Guest post by Amy

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After organizing the shed in my backyard, I took all of my girly fabric scraps, a can of spray paint, and half a can of latex interior white and made this plain old shed my girly getaway.

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With easy views of the garden and the kids fort, it is the perfect space for working with plants, potting, photographing product and relaxing in a space that is completely, fully girlalicious.

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The main piece of furniture in the space is this giant hutch. Found for $15 at my local thrift store, it works perfectly as a storage piece for china (girly picnics, you know!), pots and other gardening and crafting supplies.

Covering the file boxes with fabric and the addition of a little bunting was all it took to girlify the piece!

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That little rocker in the corner started out life as a dirty old $2 auction find. After sanding and painting the frame, I added Coke bottles in a matte blue to the back and my little Red bebe collected “flowers” for a little more whimsy.

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That bunting spans the entire back wall of the shed, and joins magazine cutouts, a vintage suitcase, various yarns and thread and garden tools and hats — all in shades of pink, white and natural brown.

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Where did all of this stuff come from? Well, I have a problem of collecting items that don’t go with anything in my house. Every time I see an incredible deal on an item that I love, it is hard for me to pass it up. Therefore, I had thrift store curtains, a book full of magazine prints, hoards of pink and purple thread and yarn and just a ridiculous amount of super girly fabric. Shifting my focus to the shed allowed me to create a space that welcomed all my girly stuuuuuuuf with open arms. The paint was all leftover paint sitting in the garage and not a single thing was taken out of the shed. It was all just rearranged and added to.

Why is everything all white? Two reasons. I have been wanting to do an all white room for a while now, but I like the paint colors in our home right now, so it would be foolish to paint just for the sake of painting. The shed however, greatly benefited from a wash of white. It went from practical and utilitarian to light, bright and inviting. The second reason is to provide a backdrop for photography. White is a favorite background of mine, and I designed the vignettes in this space specifically for photographing product.

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Comments on Mama’s garden shed/girlie clubhouse in the backyard

  1. I like white, it’s fresh and clean and looks great with any and all brightly coloured decorations, I don’t know what so many people have against it.

    Your little shed looks beautiful. very calming.

  2. As much as I love what you’ve done, I can’t help but think the white will invite SO. MUCH. DUST! And dirt. Sheds are places of dirt and grime and half open paint cans and pots-without-plants, etc. It looks lovely and not like anything that I’ve just said. But won’t it still attract dirt and dust?

    How do you deal with that problem? Personally, I probably would have painted it a light brown/beige colour with white highlights so that the dust wouldn’t bug me. But it wouldn’t have looked so pretty.

  3. Thor is a perfect name for a cat! You are my hero. 🙂

    I also love your idea of making a separate area for just you, with all your stuff you love but doesn’t have a place in your house. I will have to try to make a space like this for me…

  4. Shawna – my stuff like that is behind the screen 😉

    …and Thor thanks you very much…he’s quite the tiger in his own head… 🙂

    About the white…I used a bit of a gloss finish, so it is easy to clean if I want to, but honestly, I love (LOVE) the dirty finish white gets on it with a lot of use. I’m excited for the place to “settle in” and start getting scratched up and a bit dirty – you know what I mean?

    Anywhooo…thanks for all the comments – hugs and kisses – MMMMMMWAH!

  5. My god woman! This shed is fantastic. Right along the lines of my dream get away for sure. I used to think I wanted to build a cool little house in the backyard for the kids but now I’m thinking it’ll have to be for myself! Maybe we’ll have to share…

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