Garden Sheds & Hideaways

Out with the Tool Shed!

Once you've taken a quick look at this book, you'll never again recommend a lean-to potting or tool shed or one of those abominations that they sell in the big-time lumber and hardware stores.

In Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations (Clarkson Potter 2008), author Debra Prinzing demonstrates that yesterday's garden shed has been converted into ... well,take your pick:  a yoga or writing studio, a guest-house, a playroom, a glass conservatory, a a tea room, a solitary retreat, an entertaining nook -- you name it.

"Today's shed," says Prinzing, "is a small structure designed and built for one's personal enjoyment."  The new shed is a free-standing structure with architectural charm and style that can transform any garden, from a tiny townhouse to a huge suburban estate.

Prinzing profiles more than 30 garden hideaways around the country, each with its own story and personality, from the 50 square foot garden shed in Santa Cruz, California that is now the office of a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter to a Southampton, NY garage that has morphed into a serene and spacious guest-house.  For each project, Prinzing notes the designer and construction company, and she also lists the major materials used in the structure, which gives everyone a good idea about the costs.

Sunni Rudd, a greeting card illustrator in Seattle, has a 10 x 20 foot garden shed with character.  "Here's where I keep everything I want to save and love.  This is my little comfort zone, my quiet place," she says.   On Long Island, John Barham reproduced a  turn-of-the-century fisherman's house in tiny scale to fit his two acre garden. Now, he says, "There are moments in my garden when I am overwhelmed by happiness."

Prinzing paves the way for an entirely new way to think about garden structures --  to make them very special places that fit the owner's personality and add a touch in the garden that no one else can duplicate.

This book belongs on every designer's bookshelf for inspiration ... easily gained from the scores of photos by William Wright that illustrate every project.  And for more on sheds, see Prinzing's blog, Shed Style.

(click on image or link to purchase book)
 

Comments

[garden sheds enthusiast]

From your article it seems these days certain garden sheds can be used for far more than only the purpose of storing ones garden tools.

The right sort of shed could also possibly make a nice enviroment for arts and crafts hobbyists or woodworking enthusiasts for example.