Sheds are having a fashion moment now and they are no longer an ‘alternative solution’ or a last resort, people actually want to put a shed in their garden!
One of the main reasons for this shift in perspective is the idea that a shed doesn’t have to be a dark, cramped and slightly smelly space that’s really only suitable for a spade and someone’s old bike. Sheds can be painted and decorated much the same as any interior.
Recently, ‘she sheds’ have become fashionable, touted as a great opportunity for women to regain a little independence from their family with a private space for their own uses. If Virginia Woolf were writing now, she would probably be suggesting that all women have ‘a shed of one’s own’. But this can’t be the only reason that sheds have suddenly sparked excitement in the whole nation.
Easy Way to Increase Space
Houses are only so big and if you can’t afford an extension, a shed is a logical route to go down. You can use a shed as a storage space but you should also think about alternative uses. Many people convert sheds into home offices so that they can work comfortably from home, or you could use it as a play area or den for your kids.
Sheds are also surprisingly easy to fix up and make habitable. You can connect them to the electricity and have lights and heating as well as add a sofa and other soft furnishings to make it feel more homely. Plus, since they are usually quite small (unless you go for something from Armstrong Steel) the space is a cosy little area to relax.
Planning Laws Are More Relaxed
There are few ways to build that don’t have lots of planning restrictions set on them, but the humble shed has remarkably few planning restrictions attached. Indeed, the vast majority of homeowners can put up a shed in any style or design without any planning permission required at all.
This it seems is why so many people are using sheds to express their own personal tastes and eccentricities. You only need to look at the sheds entered into the Shed of the Year competition to see just how much you can get away with – and how far away from the original shed concept you can really get!
Run a Mail Business
If you have plans for running a mail business from home, finding space can be quite difficult – especially if you have a full house already! A shed is an ideal solution because it provides a secure space for you to store your wares out of harm’s way and you can optimize the space with lots of shelves and other storage solutions so that you can cram in as much as possible.
So there you have it. With so many opportunities and a little imagination, you can see why the masses have thrown out the old trowels and broken pots in favour of something just a fraction more exciting.
