Women have annexed the midlife male territory that is the garden shed, creating chic outdoor studios and cosy sanctuaries decorated with pastel paints and Cath Kidston fabrics. Turns out the answer to Freud’s question — what does a woman want? — is simple. A lady shed.
There are several high-profile girl hutters: the novelist Wendy Holden writes from a pale-green cabin in the woods; the fashion and textile designer Christina Strutt, of Cabbages & Roses, retreats to a decorated treehouse; and Belle Robinson, Jigsaw’s creative consultant, has two 1920s painted gypsy wagons on her lawn. The lust for a pretty garden lair is one every woman can understand.
Suppliers report that some couples are commissioning two sheds — his’n’hers Lizzie Staples’s shepherd hut arrived at her home in West Sussex in the middle of May, and she lights up like a honeymooner at its mention.
“Staying in there is a tonic — you just shut the door and forget about the world,” she says.
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“There’s no TV, no wi-fi, just a solar-powered lantern and a Roberts radio.”
Staples, a fiftysomething flower-remedies practitioner, commissioned the Dorset blacksmith and craftsman Eddie Butterfield (from £11,500; butterfieldironwork.co.uk).
“It’s been such great fun sourcing products that are in keeping with the hut. I have a merino-wool duvet and pillows, organic ticking sheets and raspberry gingham. It’s heated by a stove that burns compressed straw and paper eco-logs.” This summer, in between family use, she will hire it out as a B&B (theshepherdsreturn.com).
While women are in touch with the importance of a garden room of one’s own, the boys aren’t giving up their dens entirely. Suppliers report that some couples are commissioning two sheds — his’n’hers. Fraser Weir, head of Cabinliving.co.uk, recently completed a two-unit garden building for a family in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, with one section kitted out for sewing and crafts, the other for television.
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Most garden rooms, as occasional accommodation, studies or hobby rooms, are built within permitted development rights and do not need planning consent. Examples on wheels are invariably exempt. You will need planning permission only if you are using a glorified shed as full-time accommodation or if it covers more than half the garden, is within two metres of a boundary or has a pitched roof more than four metres high.
And something for blokes
Fear not, gentlemen. The shed has not completely been taken over by ladies who like pastel colours and cushions. There are plenty of sturdy options for cultivating one’s misanthropy and compost — and fiddling with bits of string and bicycle. Crane has the classic tan shed from less than £500 (01553 617124, craneshedsandsummerhouses.co.uk), while DIY superstore options include B&Q’s Apex Shiplap shed (£329; diy.com). Old English Green, Wild Thyme and Natural Stone are all suitable shades of paint (from £10.99 for 1l; 0844 481 7817, cuprinol.co.uk).
The winner of Cuprinol’s National Shed of the Year competition will be announced this week; the shortlisted huts can be seen at readersheds.co.uk. In the past, entries have included a pirate-ship shed and a Tardis.
