SHED III - FIXTURES

Now that the interior decorating is complete, it’s time to give thought to the practical purpose of the shed which is not only to act as an Emporium of Curiosities but also to store garden furniture or craft equipment.

Will there be something in it for kitties?

An 8 ft x 6 ft shed whilst reasonable large is merely a cubby hole when compared to the 75 sq foot storage unit we currently rent at the local Lok n Store so clever use needs to be made of the space available.

 

Shelby's making clever use of the cat bed

To avoid unnecessary spending on fixtures and fittings, the shed’s interior has been kitted out with an eclectic selection of leftover cabinets ripped out from the kitchen or brought to Chichester in our house move. 

Along the back wall we’ve hung a row of double door cabinets from our old office, supporting the base of these cabinets with a sturdy bracketed shelf.  Black heavy-duty brackets purchased from Wickes blend in with the black wall making them almost ‘invisible’.

 

Recycling our old cabinets

Black heavy duty brackets from Wickes

For some unknown reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to chuck out the retro style sliding glass door cabinets ripped out from the kitchen.  

Vintage kitchen cabinets

A throwback to some bygone era with their peeling brown trim and matching doors, they’re perfect ‘museum style’ display cases for my collection of fossils enabling visitors to look but not touch.

 

My very own fossil museum

Don't you just love fossil hunting

Or shell collecting?

A black cube storage unit ‘acquired’ mysteriously by the other half during a workplace clear out sits under the shelf units.  Cube shelves make great storage units as you can cleverly fill the gaps with plastic boxes or baskets to hide clutter.

 

Clutter storage cubes & cabinets

And I’ve finally found a use for that random pine corner shelf that’s been languishing in the back of the garage for the past 12 months.  Taking inspiration from my brother and his latest glass bowl planting project, I’ve added a bowl of bulbs to brighten up the corner.

Glass bowl bulb planter

SHED II - WALLPAPERING

When I first thought of wallpapering inside the shed it suddenly dawned on me that this could be a bit of a hare-brained idea, the type to be dismissed as quickly as the suggestion not to impose a rise in national insurance contributions has been by the government. 

However, now the wallpaper is up I am really glad I decided to go with my gut and press on with my zany lemurs. 

Holden’s lemur wallpaper has a deep teal background colour displaying a wonderful quirky array of playful ring-tailed lemurs nestling amidst tropical foliage. 

So cute

They might make wonderful pets

Bluey purple hummingbirds dip their beaks into flowering hibiscus. 

 

The bluebird of happiness and sheds

Gorgeous colours and detail

Lazy lizards bask on large deep green leaves.  In your mind’s eye, you can clearly picture them absorbing any stray sun rays filtering down through the thick jungle canopy

 

Karma chameleon?

Working in the tightest of spaces to wallpaper the side shed walls isn’t easy.  It’s definitely a case of ‘now breathe in everyone’ and with my lardy bits it takes a supreme effort to squeeze into a gap the width of a footlong sub.

 

Bit of a tight squeeze

Pattern matching lemur wallpaper is even trickier than usual given the lack of space but as it’s just a shed interior then I’m not too worried about ‘VPL’ – visible paper lines.  Slight warping of some of the thin MDF panels lining the walls doesn’t help either but that’ll just help give it more character.

 

Working out the pattern match

Having purchased 4 rolls of this wonderful wallpaper, I only used a roll and a half to cover both side walls which means there’s probably enough left for a feature wall somewhere else. 

Finishing off the bottom edge with a length of black skirting that I’ll stick into place once the paper has fully dried.

 

Skirting pieces painted matt black

It’s already beginning to look completely different to the empty wooden edifice I started with.  I guess you could use the same interior design scheme in a living room or bedroom as all the colours go well together. 

 

Supporting shelf for cabinets in position

All colours co-ordinate beautifully

Once the skirting has been fitted, it’s on to phase III – fixtures and fittings.

SHED HAPPENS

The sun has got his hat on hip-hip-hip hooray

The sun has got his brush out

And is painting sheds today

Chichester is basking in glorious sunshine which means that shed revamp is finally underway.  Here’s the first instalment of the birth of the Emporium of Curiosities.

Walls and ceiling before painting

One coat of white wood primer applied to all surfaces

I wanted to capture that vibrant joie de vivre spirit of springtime, transferring it from the garden to the interior colour scheme for the shed so I’ve chosen a lime green and black colour combo to compliment Holden’s lemur wallpaper and put some zing into spring.

Ronseal - Lime Zest

Apply 2-3 coats for non patchy coverage

 

Two coats of bright lime green garden furniture paint have been applied to door, ceiling and window frames.

 

Less clinical than a white ceiling

Getting stuck into painting the door

The zesty lime has been toned down with a gorgeously rich shade of black. 

 

During - 2 coats of lime green paint

After - matt black applied to cross beams and supports

I’ve used a self-priming exterior paint from Zinsser called All Coat Exterior in matt black.  Moisture resistant and gives great coverage after one generous application on the woodwork.  Well worth every penny of my staff discounted price. 

 

Zinsser All Coat Exterior Matt - also comes in a gloss finish

Well absorbed by the wood cladding

After one generous coat of Zinsser paint

With most of the interior paintwork completed, its time to move onto phase II – wallpapering.

Bertie keeps a watchful eye from the patio doors

ONE DOOR CLOSES

When one door closes another one opens up to present you with a new and exciting opportunity.  Today we said farewell to our back door.  Adios amigo! 

 

Here today, gone tomorrow

The design for our new kitchen is mainly centred around a large L shape radiating out from the side wall and across the existing hob wall.

What our kitchen might look like

To accommodate this design, the existing back door has been replaced with a single bottom opening window in front of which the new sink unit and washing machine will be positioned.

 

Doorway bricked up and new window fitted

For privacy and to reduce the noise from neighbouring dogs/kids, I’ve opted for patterned ‘accoustic glass’ in the window as apparently this type of glazing has the power to repel sound.  Perfect for damping down the shrill screams of next door’s playtimes as the banshee like wails floating over the fence on a summer’s day are enough to make your ears bleed. 

Naturally, the cost of silence doesn’t come cheap but at £528 for peace and quiet it’s not beyond the bounds of my already ravaged bank balance. 

With the side door gone, access to the back garden is now through the lounge patio door until such time as the extension is built.

 

No more doorway

Poor Bertie’s been locked in the bedroom all morning whilst the builders have been busy downstairs.  He’s been such a good boy.

It's all so noisy downstairs

KITTY DAY BED

“Ticket for today’s Birdy movie, please.  I’ll take a front row seat.”

 

Cats can't resist a good birdy film

Bertie discovers YouTube

My life currently revolves around cats and sheds albeit shed is on the back burner since the weather turned colder and wetter.  Temperatures are not high enough to paint either the interior or exterior of the shed and in any case, it’s a bit tricky wielding a paint brush when you’re wearing a duvet to keep warm.

 

Brrr!  Too cold to go out and paint

I’m devoting my time to making cat beds although as every cat owner knows, the bugger’s never use them preferring instead to curl up on your old sweater or in a basket of freshly laundered clothing.  Cats never do anything other than what they want – what you want them to do is treated with polite disdain.  But as I have a rescue kitty then I’m making an effort to ensure its new life is as comfy as possible. 

Making kitty lounging pads seems remarkably easy even for people like me who hate sewing at the best of times.  (Give me knitting any day).  I’ve chopped up an old fleecy blanket and bought a metre of wadding (£5.50) from the local haberdashery shop to rustle up a snuggly bed for Bertie.  If you don’t have these things then you could always upcycle an old fleecy/woollen jumper for the outer cover and stuffing from an old pillow/cushion for the padding.

 

Upcycling an old fleece blanket into a cat bed

Here’s how I made my kitty bed.  Firstly, if you are using wadding dispensed by the metre then cut a rectangle or square shape large enough for your cat.  For those of you using stuffing, proceed to the next step. 

Take your fleecy fabric and either cut a long strip slightly larger than the width of your cat bed/wadding.  If your fabric isn’t long enough then cut 2 shapes slightly larger than the wadding.  You are going to sandwich the fabric round the padding a bit like making a cushion.

 

Cut fleece slightly larger than wadding

Fold the fabric in half with right sides facing each other if using a long strip or place your 2 pieces of fabric on top of each other with right sides facing. 

Using a sewing machine, sew up all side edges leaving one of them open so you can insert the wadding or fill with suitable stuffing. 

Turn the fabric inside out to hide your seams inside the kitty cushion.  Gently use a pencil or the end of a pair of scissors to poke out the corners from the inside to make them pointy. 

Fill your cushion cover with wadding or stuffing then sew up the last remaining edge to seal up the interior. 

Voila!  A wonderful snuggly lounging pad for your furry friend to ignore and at a fraction of the cost of buying one online.  My one metre of wadding has made 3 cat beds – 2 single thickness pads and 1 double thickness pad so well worth the effort.

 

Might take a nap on it myself

Needless to say, Bertie has completely ignored my wonderful little gift preferring to sleep under our bed on a random bit of fleece.  That’s catitude for you!

Cat bed?  I'm quite comfy as I am