Everyone needs a place to relax. Man caves are where men play games, watch sports and hang out with friends. She sheds are where women craft, scrapbook or — if you’re like Chelsea — build things. If you want a she shed, but you’re not sure where to start, here are some ideas to create the perfect getaway.
But first, it’s important to understand more about man caves and she sheds, and why we need them.
Men and women thrive on spending time alone in their personal space with relaxed rules. This relieves stress, fosters creativity and improves mental health, according to clinical psychologist Dr. Libby Watson.
That’s just one reason why man caves and she sheds — which, typically, couldn’t be more different in appearance and function — have become popular ideas for modern homes.
From the furniture to décor, a man cave often looks nothing like the rest of the house. It may have a pool table, putting green and full-service bar. It may have antlers mounted on driftwood and framed jerseys and trophies on display. And you can bet there’s a huge flat-screen TV.
That’s all by design.
Man caves are more than a place to drink beer and watch sports, according to psychologist Sam Gosling, author of “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.” These spaces — which may resemble a dorm room or bachelor pad compared to the rest of the house — are necessary for men to express their identity.
Women usually influence the home’s design and decor, which leaves some men feeling restless. So, creating a space to indulge in their hobbies meets men’s emotional needs, according to some psychologists.
They’re not alone — professional women and stay-at-home moms also need a place where they can relax, unwind and pursue their pastimes without interruption.
The she shed usually is outdoors, but it could be a converted garage or even a spare room — anywhere a woman can be alone, or with friends, to craft, read, scrapbook, sew or garden.
Women, like men, have different pastimes, but here are some she shed ideas that should work regardless of your interests.
1. Add a Table
If you want to instantly give a she shed some function and versatility, add this to your list of ideas: add a table and a chair. Suddenly, you’ll have a place to pay bills, sew and wrap gifts.
Enjoy woodworking? This table also can serve as a workbench! And you can write, paint and make small home repairs here. Just a simple table can be quite the workhorse.
And furnishing your she shed doesn’t have to be expensive. Just grab a table from storage, purchase one from a thrift store or check neighbors’ garbage piles.
After all, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and sometimes, it just takes a little cleaning, staining or painting to make something look new!
Design is in the details, so look for opportunities to transform the table beyond its color or finish. For instance, just adding an inlay can take a table from ordinary to extraordinary!
A container garden is much easier to plan and maintain than its in-ground counterpart.
And the job is more forgiving on your neck, back and legs when you have a potting bench. This elevated area allows you to work comfortably with less physical strain.
Stylish potting benches range from $200 to $1,000 but repurposing old furniture — whether it’s from storage or someone’s garbage pile — is an economical, eco-friendly alternative.
All you need to create a functional potting bench — perfect for working with tall and small planters — is an entertainment, or media, center that you don’t mind sawing up.
If you’ve got a blank wall in your she shed, install some pegboard. It has all kinds of uses, whether you enjoy crafting, painting or woodworking.
Drill two hooks through some spread-apart holes, run a dowel through a roll of wrapping paper and hang it up for a convenient gift-wrapping station.
Your local home center has all kinds of hooks for hanging custom wood shelves, canvas paintbrush storage and PVC pipes for sliding in pencils and pens.
But before you install pegboard, consider making a stylish, beveled cleat so you can hang it up and take it down with ease.
Here’s a bonus idea for your she shed: Paint the pegboard, frame it and make it blend in with the rest of your décor!
4. Repurpose Old Cabinets for a Workbench
Upgrading your kitchen? Don’t discard the cabinets! You can repurpose them for your she shed and reduce the budget for outfitting the space.
Just secure the base cabinets to the wall and add a plywood top. If you do a lot of woodworking, the workbench will take a lot of abuse, so go ahead and stain, not paint, the plywood. That should hold up better.
If your she shed is more for crafting, painting or sewing, you can paint the plywood to match surrounding décor. Or, if you want to spend a little more, you can always top those cabinets with a laminate or granite countertop.
It’s your she shed, your budget and your style — so take these ideas and have fun with it!
Turning your outdoor space into an ultimate retreat for relaxation is the best thing you can do. Having a personal space for relaxing after a long day is priceless. On the other hand, you will have dedicated space for outdoor entertainment and al fresco dining. Adding stylish garden furniture will bring the holiday resort feel to your home. This post shares valuable tips on how to do it.
To recreate the holiday feel at home, you first need to remove any clutter away from sight. This is the best trick to feel relaxed and reduce stress levels. A bamboo screen will conceal the things you don’t want to be seen, like bins, garden equipment or abandoned kids toys.
When you clear out the space, it will feel so much better. Now you can consider where to place your sunloungers for the best views. We understand that not everyone has a gorgeous sea or mountain view. However, this does not have to mean that you won’t manage to have a great view. Climbing plants that stretch across a fence can become the ideal view for your seating area. Feel free to become creative and find the focal point that suits your style. For some, it can be a water feature or a garden sculpture for others. Wall art can also be considered, so feel free to unleash your creativity in the process.
Whether you have a patio or a deck, you can still add something to enhance the view. Potted plants are a great choice. Or, you could add a garden TV which will become the natural focal point and serve as an additional entertainment option.
Make it comfortable
Credit: FreshDesignBlog.com
Making your outdoor area feel more comfortable is your utmost priority. After all, you want to create a space where you can sit back and relax for hours. Plus, you might want to host guests in the day or evening, so comfort is crucial.
A vidaxl garden table is ideal for creating an al fresco dining setting. Try putting string lights over the table to achieve a cozy lighting atmosphere. Add flowers as a centrepiece to recreate the relaxed holiday feel. This will soon become your favourite spot for the summer evenings.
A cosy seating area will be an extension of your indoor living space. Make sure to get a quality set intended for outdoor use since it won’t get easily damaged under weather conditions. To provide more options, you can add a cosy bean bag. Don’t forget to get a parasol to provide protection from the sun’s rays.
Just because it is outdoors, it doesn’t have to mean that you should skip on the decor. Accessorizing the garden area will make it feel like an extension of your living space. Add throw pillows to your lounge area to make it look more welcoming. You can also anchor the seating area on your deck or patio with an outdoor rug. This will tie the furniture together and make it feel snugger.
A bar is an excellent addition to your outdoor entertainment space. It will bring the holiday feel without investing much effort. The simplest option for adding a garden bar is to get a bar cart. If you are a DIY enthusiast, you can go a step forward and make your bar using wood pallets. Add some fancy bar stools to enhance the design. This will become your ultimate spot for sipping good drinks with family and friends.
Enjoy Al Fresco dining this Summer with an outdoor concrete kitchen
How nice is the weather at the moment? Admittedly, it is more than a little worrying that we are seeing the hottest temperatures since records began and I’m sure that a hosepipe ban is imminent here in the South West. Whilst it has been ever so lovely to spend time in my garden, our decking is such a sun trap and by mid-afternoon, it’s almost too hot to sit outside. We have recently installed a shade sail to provide some shade for the kids, but it hasn’t really helped if I’m honest.
Summer Al fresco Dining
This photo above pretty much sums up what we did the whole weekend (obviously this isn’t us). We had a lunchtime BBQ with friends on Saturday followed by another BBQ for dinner on Saturday evening. Then on Sunday, we had yet another BBQ! It was a weekend full of sunshine, great company, fantastic food and generally feeling really grateful that we have such an amazing outdoor space to use.
However, all that sunshine and time in the garden did mean that my mind was buzzing with more updates that we could make to the garden to make it even more practical. The problem is we live in a first-floor flat and the garden is obviously on the ground floor. So al fresco dining inevitably involves a lot of running up and down the stairs to the kitchen to get food and drinks from the fridge and to collect everything we need for entertaining.
We have installed a small drinks fridge in the garden, but I’ve been dreaming of extending our brick shed so that we can store more equipment in the garden. I also can’t help but think how great it would be to have an outdoor kitchen. I’m not talking about anything too fancy here. Nothing like they have in America or Australia. There would be no point given how bad the weather generally is in the UK. But something simple that would provide plenty of storage and surface space would be ideal.
Modular Outdoor Kitchen
Something pretty much (read exactly) like the amazing WWOO outdoor kitchen. WWOO is a Dutch-designed modular concrete outdoor kitchen by Piet-Jan van den Kommer. The design is so simple but there are a number of customisation options on offer which allow you to design and install an outdoor kitchen that meets all your needs and works for your garden. You can add a Big Green Egg charcoal BBQ, an integrated fireplace or a braai, a sink, wooden storage boxes, and even wooden cutting boards.
Outdoor Concrete Kitchen
The outdoor concrete kitchen comes in three heights (1.3m, 1.65m, or 2m) and also has a degree of flexibility when it comes to length (the segments come in 1.5m lengths). Plus it’s super hard wearing, durable and weather-proof as it’s made from concrete. The maintenance is probably very minimal too. The only disadvantage I can see is the price (admittedly it is a tad expensive!) but given how long it will last, I personally think this is an investment worth making.
Now tell me you don’t want this outdoor concrete kitchen in your garden too?
Just in case you’re now desperate to order yourself a WWOO outdoor kitchen, the company is headquartered in the Netherlands, but the outdoor kitchens are also available in Israel, Germany, the USA, Belgium and the UK (the offices are situated in St Albans in Hertfordshire).
I’ve already got the perfect space for one in my garden and now I’m going to be lusting after one all summer. My husband is already sick of hearing about it!
Are you keen to create an urban wildlife garden? If you’re living in a town or city centre, even a tiny backyard can be transformed into a haven for wildlife.
You might think that if you live in a town centre there’s no point trying to attract wildlife to your tiny garden, but you couldn’t be more wrong! Local wildlife will be grateful to find a green oasis and will very happily move, whether on a temporary or permanent basis. Here are some practical tips to help you create an urban wildlife garden.
Urban wildlife garden tip 1: Plant as many plants as possible
Insects love traditional cottage garden plants such as sweet williams. Credit: Pixabay
This one might sound obvious, but it’s the most important. All wildlife likes cover, and if your garden is mostly paving stones and gravel they’ll feel too exposed. That doesn’t mean that you have to dig up all your hard surfaces and put a lawn in though – just maxmise what you have. Grow climbers such as clematis and jasmine up any fences.
If you do have any flowerbeds around the edges, then cram these full of plants. You can plant taller perennial shrubs such as buddleias and spiraea japonica at the back – just make sure you check how tall/wide they’re going to grow first! At the front, add bright, insect-friendly annuals such as cosmos, sweet williams and snapdragons. Depending on how much space you have, you could also let a corner of the bed go wild for a varied habitat.
If you don’t have flowerbeds, use pots! Larger pots are easier to look after and don’t need watering as often. You could try putting up a trough on legs and then filling the space underneath with terracotta pots, to get the maximum plants-for-space ratio.
If you don’t have a garden at all, even a windowbox can attract bees. Credit: Pixabay
All creatures need to drink, and in the summer local wildlife may be hard-pressed to find water. Adding a water source in your garden can be really helpful for them. Moving water such as a small fountain is ideal and will keep fresher for longer, but otherwise install a bird bath or just a large, shallow bowl of water such as an old baking tray.
If you have room, you could also consider adding a small garden pond – the wildlife would love it!
Urban wildlife garden tip 3: Add a food source
Birds will appreciate a food source all year round. Image: Pixabay
This can be a slightly tricky one if you live in an area with lots of cats! It’s still possible to put bird feeders out, though, just make sure you put them high enough. A tree is ideal, as it also provides cover, but otherwise you could position feeders on a high fence or the wall of the house. Top them up regularly with a varied offering of nuts, dried fruit, seed, suet and fresh fruit to attract varied visitors.
If you have space, adding a small cherry or crabapple tree will be greatly appreciated by wildlife – plus, they look and smell beautiful! Credit: Pixabay
Urban wildlife garden tip 4: Don’t use pesticides
It’s a little more work to garden organically, but as long as your urban garden is fairly compact it shouldn’t be too onerous. Pull weeds up rather than spray them, pick slugs off rather than use slug pellets and if you do have to use a commercial product make sure it’s organic and wildlife friendly. Using pesticides disrupts the whole food chain, not just the pests you’re aiming at, as birds can eat poisoned slugs and become ill themselves.
Urban wildlife garden tip 5: Create shady areas
You might even be able to attract a hedgehog, if your urban garden has plenty of cool, shady hiding places. Credit: Pixabay
Wildlife appreciate having shady areas, so try and include some in your wildlife friendly garden. Small shrubs and perennial plants can create shady areas in borders and trees are an obvious choice too. You could create some shady places for hedgehogs by making your own hedgehog hideaways.
Urban wildlife garden tip 6: Install bird and bee boxes
If you’re keen to have more wildlife in your garden, installing areas where they could take up residence is a good move. A bird box can be attached to any existing trees, the top of a fence of even hidden in a bush. If you’re a dab hand at DIY, you could make your own using recycled materials.
Likewise, you might want to put up some bee boxes to attract bees or other insects into your garden.
Urban wildlife garden tip 7: Make compost
If you have the space, then installing a small compost bin for food and garden waste is helpful for everyone. It’s better for the planet, as you’re reducing your household waste; it’s better for you as you’ll have some free compost to use and it’s definitely better for the wildlife! Compost heaps or bins, as long as they’re placed directly onto the earth, will quickly become an insect hotel with worms and woodlice moving in. This provides more food for other wildlife such as birds and hedgehogs. You could also try leaving logs at the back of flowerbeds to decay naturally, which will offer a haven for insects.
When it comes to garden pond edging ideas, there are various materials you can use to enhance the edge of your pond and make it attractive to look at, finished off nicely and appropriate for wildlife. Whether you’ve just installed a new pond in your garden, or want to improve the finish of an existing pond, here are our top tips for garden pond edging ideas.
Garden pond edging stones
Image credit: Ron Zmiri / Shutterstock
Stones and rocks are an ideal material to use for garden pond edging. Pebbles look natural placed around the edge of the pond and are often an easily accessible and affordable garden building material to purchase. In addition, placing stones around the edge of your garden pond can help enhance the shape of your pond and hide any signs of the lining material or pond base, whilst ensuring it’s kept securely in place.
Stones and rocks are available in a variety of shapes and colours, from greys and browns, to beige and whites, so you can choose the best colours to suit your environment. For a natural looking pond, mix the size of pebbles you use, including some large, medium and small. By using smaller pebbles around the edge, you can create a gentle slope, which could allow wildlife to get in and out of your pond. Any spaces between pebbles can be filled with plants to soften the look.
Image credit: Gardens by Design / Shutterstock
To create height or perhaps add a small waterfall into your pond, flat stones can be stacked together vertically.
For a more contemporary design, you may want to use pebbles that are all the same size, rather than a mix and match approach. Whatever stones you choose, try and opt for smooth finishes, as stones with rough or sharp edges could tear your pond liner.
Paving tiles are useful to use to edge your garden pond if you’re looking for a low maintenance option. They’re most commonly laid horizontally, but for a more unique look you can create a decorative pond edge using vertically positioned paving tiles.
Brick edging for garden ponds
Cute frog fountain in a pond with a brick edge. Image credit: Haddonstone
Like stone, brick works well for garden pond edging too. Bricks can be laid the entire way around a pond, or on one part of the edge to create a feature area. A brick pond edge can be useful if you’re looking to create a raised pond or incorporate raised seating areas around a garden pond. Plus, bricks are easily obtainable and affordable, and can be recycled from other garden projects.
Wooden garden pond edging
Wooden logs are another option for edging a garden pond. They can be positioned horizontally or vertically around the edge of a pond to create a rustic style garden pond edge. They’re not always so easy to use if you have a curved or round pond, but you can be creative with how you position them. Wooden decking is also a popular choice around the edge of a pond, particularly where you’re creating a walkway.
If you live near the coast, you could even try searching for pieces of driftwood to use to create a unique pond edge.
Trailing plants for pond edging
Stunning modern garden pond fountain, positioned next to trailing plants. Image credit: Solus Decor
Trailing plants can also work well as a garden pond edging idea. They add a splash of colour to the edge of a pond and shade for pond life, plus they help soften the edges of your pond.
Trailing plants can either be planted directly around the edge of a pond, or planted in pots and arranged around the edge of a pond. Good trailing plant options include lobelia, creeping zinnia, marsh marigold, and creeping Jenny.
Plants can be incorporated into any of the other edging methods suggested, or used in their own right for a more natural wildlife garden pond. Bog plants are ideally suited to use around a pond as they thrive in damp conditions – just take care to plant them so they’re on the edge of the pond, not in it.
Plants such as irises will provide a glorious pop of colour when they’re in flower, but also offer leafy shade for small animals and pond life. Other good bog plants to consider include watercress, canna lilies, heuchera, hostas, ferns and alchemilla mollis.
Concrete garden pond edging ideas
Traditional style cast stone fountain in the middle of a formal pond. Image credit: Haddonstone
Concrete can effectively be used as garden pond edging and can create a neat and sleek finish for formal garden ponds or contemporary designs. It’s not the most cost-effective choice, as it can be quite pricey, and neither is it the most natural, but the result is a long-lasting, flat pond edging that can look striking against a green grass backdrop. Plant pots and other decorative items can easily be placed onto concrete pond edges.
Grass edging for a pond
If your pond is situated in a part of your garden surrounded by lawn, you could just leave it with grass around the edge. This is a simple option if you don’t want to use other edging materials, but could prove slightly tricky when mowing your lawn! Grass surrounding a stone edge can provide a good contrasting colour and help a formal pond stand out.
If you’re just having a grass edge around your pond, you can help distinguish the pond from the rest of your lawn by leaving the grass long in the area immediately surrounding the pond. It will look more natural and be wildlife friendly.
Hopefully this has given you some ideas of how to edge your pond. Have fun, be creative and enjoy making a decorative pond or wildlife haven in your garden.
