Before and After: Two Sheds, Multiple Storage Solutions
Transform garden sheds into storage powerhouses with these makeover ideas that will help you get organized outdoors.
By Samantha S. Thorpe
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This store-bought shed lacked pizzazz and specialized storage for garden tools.
Designer Annette Joseph took a typical shed from a simple outdoor storage unit to a pretty and functional garden planting and prep room. Splashy yellow and red paint -- found in the discount closeout bins -- jazz up the exterior, while the interior includes storage solutions for tools, a garden hose, pots, and more. Even the inside of the doors becomes a place to hang garden necessities.
The shed's interior makeover focused on creating a garden work space, keeping garden tools off the floor and adding storage. The stylish facelift uses color as an organizational guide. The cheerful red paint from the exterior repeats on the inside as blocks of color to map designated spaces to hang rakes, pruners, and more. The red hue is paired with soft-gray blocks to help differentiate tools. Open shelving above the pegboard builds in a place to stack terracotta pots. A flea market chandelier lights the space with an unexpected sparkle.
The pegboard sheets are nailed to a framework attached to the studs to ensure there's enough space between the walls and boards to insert hooks and pegs. To keep the shed organized, tools used for a common purpose are given a dedicated space: Bulb planters, bulbs, and bulb food hang within easy read of each other. Turn a tote with handles into a quick and easy way to transport soil amendments out to the garden.
Turn metal bins and buckets on their sides to create deep, easy-to-see storage caddies. Brightly painted to coordinate with the shed's exterior, the yellow bucket acts as an on-the-wall garden hose holder and collects all the nozzles in one place. Garden gloves are easy to find when stacked in open-front bins.
Multiple shelves hung from the pegboard triple the amount of space to stash garden boots, compost bins, watering cans, hand tools, soil amendments, and more. They also free up floor space to set down items such as a trug packed with herbs harvested from the garden. Leaving a quarter of the wall next to the open shelving free opens vertical space to organize long-handled power tools such as trimmers and edgers.
A red-painted bucket filled with hand tools and a knee rest becomes a portable carrier for quick planting. Its cherry red color not only coordinates with the shed's color scheme but also is easy to spot in the garden. The painted wooden bins next to the tool bucket include chalkboard insets that allow for quick labeling and relabeling as the contents change. These wooden bins also feature built-in handles that make them easy to pull off the shelf.
When looking for storage space, don't overlook the backs of doors. Repeat the color block paint scheme of the shed's interior to line the inside door panels with tools. Add buckets on hooks and nail in boxes to keep garden tools such as pruners and trowels handy.
Wooden napkin holders get a new life as a storage solution when painted and hung vertically to cradle small hand tools such as trowels.
Flea market finds, including sap buckets, turn into fun, cheap tool organizers. Sap buckets are an especially smart storage solution for long-handled hand tools, such as a pruner, cultivator, and compact bicycle tire pump.
A humble mail-order shed needs a makeover to become a backyard organizing star.
This outdoor shed went from prefab to fabulous with a makeover that adds a garden potting bench and shelving to organize pots, soil, tools, and more. A soft gray-blue paint coordinates the outdoor shed with the house, while the cheerful indigo trim gives the shed a splash of color. A blue stain was applied to the deck and the shed's floor to match the trim. Decorative trim and sconces give the exterior a custom look.
To give this shed a custom look that is also hardworking, designer Brian Patrick Flynn nailed beaded-board paneling to the studs and painted it a crisp white. The ceiling is augmented with false trusses and covered with a coat of zippy green to give the formerly industrial-looking building a cottage feel. An aluminum shelving system builds in storage for pots, planters, and garden tools. An old chandelier -- sanded then primed and painted with metal-designated products to match the ceiling -- casts extra light over the work space and creates a festive mood during outdoor parties.
The adjustable closet shelving system works as well in a shed as in the house. It takes the clutter out of storing garden tools and planters. The open shelves also make the shed feel brighter and spacious.
The multipurpose shelving system uses metal bars that are screwed along the top of a wall. Pierced rods are suspended from the bars to hold brackets for a variety of storage components. We used wire shelves, but other options include solid shelves, baskets, and hanging rods. Similar systems can be found through ClosetMaid, the Container Store, and Rubbermaid.
Durable enough to stand up to the elements but light enough to be portable, galvanized containers simplify storing bags of soil and amendments. They can also be transformed into contemporary planters by drilling drainage holes in the bottoms. Look for galvanized bins, pails, trashcans, tubs, and watering cans at home and garden centers. Clear plastic inserts divide the multipurpose aluminum shelving system into compartments so items such as garden boots stay separate from the plants.
I just bought my first house and it came with a wonderful, fully insulated but EMPTY storage shed. Your ideas are absolutely perfect and will clear a lot of room in my garage once I move all my gardening supplies over to the shed. Thanks!
6/23/2011 10:08:58 AM Report Abuse