Bring your shed out of the shadows

Our sheds are more than just stylish – they are secure, high quality, customised to your needs and built to last.

If we’re prepared to invest in a lovely garden and well maintained home, how come the garden shed often gets such a low priority? They might be functional, clutter-clearing and beloved of henpecked husbands everywhere, but still many a shed lurks in the tatty end of the garden, the cheapest we could buy and now quietly rotting. It’s time to bring your shed out of the shadows.

 A quality shed, or what we affectionately like to call Posh Sheds are solid, long-lasting, secure, easy to customise for work and storage, and above all, they just look good! As part of a garden design, an attractive traditional or contemporary timber building can be as strong on looks as it is on usefulness.  

So whether you’re retiring a veteran shed or planning new storage for your garden, here are a few things to think about.

Where to put it

Your choice of site depends upon what you’ll use your shed for. A new shed is an opportunity to think about how you work and play in and around your garden and plan accordingly.

We’re always on hand to offer advice, but the questions you’ll need to think about include how much storage you need for frequently used items or occasional bits and bobs, their sizes, value and seasonality, the need for easy access to the house, the gate or the greenhouse, and how much you might use your shed for tasks such as potting or woodworking.

These things will dictate how close you want your shed to your house or vegetable patch, for example, whether you’ll want mains electricity or all-weather paths, and so on. Consider the view from your house, gate or patio and how you’d like your shed to fit into it.

Generally, planning permission isn’t required for standard sized sheds in rear gardens but some size and siting restrictions may apply, for instance in conservation areas. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to advise.

The basics

When you’ve decided on the real estate, it’s time to put down the foundations. All sheds require a solid prepared base. These can be constructed from concrete or patio slabs, or a timber deck base works well.  All our buildings include pressure treated joists that the shed will sit on, creating a space between the floor and the wet ground for effective ventilation.

Treat it well & it will pay rewards

Whichever design you choose, you’ll be getting a good strong shed. Like all timber structures it needs to be properly treated, (read our blog article on painting your shed) and then it will survive the very worst of the British weather and look great for years to come.

These garden sheds are much more robust than the traditional “overlap” panel timber sheds and are designed to be hard-wearing, watertight and secure.

Security

It’s a sad fact that security is a consideration – your bikes, power tools and garden equipment could be rich pickings for a thief. Here a robust garden shed really scores over a basic panel shed. All our buildings, posh sheds included, come with door and window hinges, locks and seals that meet domestic security standards. For a shed used purely for storage, having no windows at all reduces the chance of a break-in, and you could consider fitting shed alarms, security lights and wooden shutters.

Inside, think about building in space-saving storage such as wall brackets for bikes or surfboards, shelves and hooks for tools, an edged work surface with storage below for potting or a workbench for DIY.

So which shed is for you?

Your shed’s chosen functions will start to guide your choice of design, like whether you need windows to "shed" light on your hobby, or prefer secure storage out of sight. Few of us have space for multiple garden buildings, so sheds often need to serve multiple purposes.

Then of course your posh shed needs to fit into its surroundings. Is your garden design crisp and urban?  or more traditional?  Think about echoing local architectural styles, colours and roofing materials. Our robust log cabins are perfect in a cottage or woodland garden, or you could work the beach-hut look even if your garden is miles from the sea!

Small gardens have a special need for good storage which looks attractive in full view of the house or patio. Our Fifth Avenue corner shed, makes great use of wall space and the smallest model measures just 1.8m square.

If your shed takes up a fair proportion of a small garden space, remember the option of a green roof, available on several shed designs. A waterproof membrane underpins a planting bed on the shed roof for low-maintenance plants. It looks wonderful from an upstairs window, and the local wildlife will love it too.

A made to measure log cabin like the one shown above is the perfect option 

Specific needs can be designed for too. We recently customised a shed for a client’s ride-on mower, creating a building resting on its own concrete floor, with wide doors and a drive-in low threshold. Customers needing dry storage of items such as books and work materials have chosen 44mm timber and extra insulation, and several customers wanting a garden office or summerhouse have asked us to customise them to incorporate some shed space too. Tell us what you need and we’ll get creative.

Don’t forget, you can also tailor your chosen design with a variety of window and door options – frosted, half-glazed, tilt and turn or casement, there are plenty to choose from.

A visit to our show site will help you put your perfect shed together in your mind. Then to make strong, stylish storage a reality, all you have to decide is between self-assembly or having our craftsmen construct it on site for you!