Sheds are are functional, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be pretty. In fact, studies have shown that an ugly shed will actually cause you mental stress and physical pain. This study was conducted by me, when my husband brought home a shed he bought on Craigslist one day. He figured since it was very heavy and already assembled, there was really no need to, you know, TIE IT DOWN in his truck bed.
Now, please get this picture in your head. This was a full-size metal shed. Several adults could easily stand up inside. It didn’t even fit entirely in the back of his long-bed truck. So, you can probably guess what happened next. As he was driving home, the pristine pre-assembled shed flew out of the back of his truck and cartwheeled down a hill. Wheeee!
I’m so glad no one was hurt. Other than my husband’s pride, when he (and concerned passerbys) had to drag it back up the hill and load the now mangled mess of metal back in.
Why he didn’t drive it straight to the dump at that point, we’ll never know.
He showed up at home in a steaming and sweaty state. Meanwhile, I had no idea he had even been out and about procuring a shed. So as I am standing there wondering why my husband is so angry, this horribly ugly and beaten-up shed appears in the backyard, as he literally deadlifts it up and over our fence. (For all he lacks in tie-down skills, he is very freakishly strong). Then everything starts to make sense. But not really.
“What is that?!” I say.
“It’s a shed. We needed a shed,” he seethes.
“And did you … pay money for this so-called shed?” I ask.
“It was brand new when I bought it,” he glares off in the distance.
“Right. So when was that? Like, twenty years ago?”
And that is how I became the lucky lady who got to gaze out of her kitchen window every single day at a buckled pile of shed-shaped scrap metal. It was so nonfunctional. The roof leaked. The doors wouldn’t open OR close. They just dangled somewhere in between, a big gap-toothed grin of worthlessness. I was nice enough to live with this stupid shed for over a year, (because hey, it was brand new when he bought it) and one day I just couldn’t handle it anymore and gave it a makeover.
Yeah right. I introduced it to a sledgehammer until it was laid flat, and sent it to the scrap yard with a contented sigh and a happy dance.
The End.
Now let us enjoy some sheds worth looking at.
Better After reader Kristen knew there was more cuteness lurking somewhere underneath this playhouse’s faded facade. A little paint and landscaping proved she was right. How fun!
When Better After reader Stacey had a beautiful backyard pool installed, it awakened an urgent need for her shed to get with the program too. Luckily, the pool required rerouting the 80 year-old sewer line and taking down an old fence (I’m not to the lucky part yet) which provided her a big stack of weathered wood, perfect for giving her shed a little taste of Nantucket.
Didn’t she accessorize it so well? The faux windows are actually original windows from her 1929 home, she used leftover pool tiles for the planter boxes, and I love her little chandelier too. She stuck $1 solar lights in it so it actually works at night! Brilliant.
