As some of you may recall I have been doing a lot of home improvement over the last year or so. It started when we moved our fence and reduced our driveway a little to rearrange our garden layout, which then allowed us to move the shed, a new one from www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk and then create a new patio area where the old shed once stood, which still needs the slabs laying properly.

Our conservatory is finished and erected over the area of our old patio so we haven’t lost any space really and in fact gained some much needed sitting space in the sun as the afternoon gives way to evening. Before this shift around you’d have had to be sitting with the spiders in the shed with the door open to get the last few glimmers of sun.

The decking has had a clean and the mould and garden muck has been scrapped away, although I cannot for the life of me find the decking stain I was going to use on it to give it an extra couple of years life. I bought it, I know that much, but I have either left it at the hardware store or it’s been pinched or tossed away, although I find the last two accounts of where it would be a bit hard to believe as firstly our garden is now like Fort Knox and secondly you wouldn’t throw a brand new tub of stain away. The shed needs to be organised properly and you never know it might just turn up under the old tarpaulin behind the boxes, next to the lawn mower. A bigger shed seems to mean more junk, but that’s my fault not the sheds.

The sprinkler system is in.  The system consisting of one pop up rotating sprinkler which has a reach of up to twenty feet that happily soaks the conservatory windows, much to my wife’s annoyance, all the way to the pergola at the bottom of the garden, the boundary fences and the new patio (to be finished) where the old wooden shed used to be.  The bushes and shrubs around our garden are thriving from the twenty minute consistent watering they get on a daily basis now. Before we left it to the rain Gods to do most of the work, but I put the sprinkler in to the lawn to try and regenerate the scrub land that we had created from all of the construction materials we had left on it during the two or three months of building.

We decided to re-seed the lawn instead of re-turfing it due to the expense, but it is a slow process as we are doing it in sections to allow us and our highly active child to be able to use the lawn whilst we do it. So we have large areas of browned lawn that should have grass sprouting through it anytime now, before we move on to the next dead patch. Once this has been done the back garden will be nearing completion, which is a relief. It’s amazing how much hard work and time you need to put in, but it is worth it. Then next year we move on to the front garden and drive way and the veranda that clings to the front of our property, which needs stripping and staining.

And it all started by my wife saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if the shed was at the other end of the garden so we could actually sit in the sun in the evening?’ Thanks Sweetheart.      

My son had a birthday just the other day, he is now three.  He’s now at the perfect age to bring a playhouse in to his life and therefore a new garden building in to our outdoor living space. Since all of the work we have done on and around the house in the last couple of years is now close to completion we have found the perfect spot to erect the playhouse where his imagination can develop new worlds for him to explore and he can invent new games to play within it. It also has a slide which is over twice as long and twice as fast as his previous plastic based tower, which has been given to a friend’s child who will be able to use it for at least another couple of years, so we are saving the planet in our own little recycling way.

When the plastic tower was dismantled and lay in an unrecognisable mess on the floor the first thing my son did was walk all over it and laugh at how it wobbled under his feet. After three calls, in ever ascending tone and volume, from me for him to get off it, he finally did. I was amazed at how he took the news of the towers demise so well, although we had told him that he was getting a shed for himself (he likes visiting Daddy’s shed a lot although tools, nails and the like do not mix with three year olds ). His shed would be on legs and have a much better slide. So from just that short description he was sold on the idea of the ugly grey tower being extracted from our garden never to be seen again. It always amazes me what a three year old can understand. 

Without so much as being shown a picture of what my son’s shed (playhouse) would look like he was still very excited when the building arrived in our back garden. Although in pieces and without being told what it was he instantly said, ‘Is that my shed, Daddy?’ ‘Yes, mate. Daddy has to put it together first though.’ He smiled at me and then said, ‘Okay, put it together for me.’ There’s nothing like being told what to do to annoy you, even a three year old as cute as he is has his demands.  So for the next couple of nights after work I desperately tried and succeeded in getting it built and painted (preservative) for him for the weekend. Of course he was always saying, ‘Play with me?’ and I’d responded, ‘Daddy’s putting your playhouse together, darling.’ Our time together is precious to us both and working long hours can sometimes get in the way of the quality time (God I hate that sort of term) that we both desire from one another. But for the greater good I pressed on until completion.

By the weekend the playhouse was up and running and my son was up the ladder and down the slide ten or fifteen time in about two minutes flat and in and out of the door over and over again almost like he was testing it in some kind of European car testing facility, all that was missing were the crash test dummies and the black and yellow stickers.  The playhouse passed all of his tests and he hugged me, not because his Mummy told him to but because his world was that much more exciting and even bigger than before. He now has that place of his own to play and develop that was lacking in our home before. He has a new perspective on the garden, or is it the ocean or maybe the moon that he is looking out on to. Whether it is his castle, pirate ship or space rocket the playhouse has become in his mind for that particular time all I know is that I was sceptical that he would use it, but not now, I now understand the pleasure that a playhouse has given to my son and would give to any child.

Check out the range of playhouse available from www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk   

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The BillyOh 5000 Greenkeeper Premium Tongue & Grove Workshop (16x10 version pictured)

A little while ago I wrote a piece on my parent’s next door neighbour getting a shipping container dropped into his garden to use as a workshop. Luckily the metal beast was placed out of sight, which shows how big his garden is, away from the road and hidden by old out buildings and trees.

The shipping container probably does the job he needed it for with a few modifications no doubt, but whatever you think of his recycling endeavours I can’t help but think that it is a hideous thing to drag yourself into each day to tinker, tamper and bodge whatever he is doing in there. I’d much prefer a more natural aesthetically designed garden building to peddle my trade from. A beautiful wooden workshop would be much more my cup of tea, if I drank the stuff that is, with natural light, great access and the amazing feeling of being outdoors whilst inside working.

With the strongest frame work of all of the www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk buildings and the highest eaves and ridge height of the BillyOh range the BillyOh Greenkeeper would be my choice for a workshop, wooden workshop or otherwise. With the option of a tongue and groove floor and an extra personnel door to give even great access this garden building develops from a modest 8’ x 10’ structure up to a wonderful working space of 20’ x 10’.  The opening windows gives you the best choice for ventilation and the front windows and the abundance of side windows gives the building the airy and bright space that any artisan would naturally want.

Forget the shipping container, next door neighbour mate, get yourself a BillyOh Greenkeeper, save your health and your money.

Also guys - make sure you check out facebook page - now with some very special pictures of this wonderful workshop!

Our mate @unclewilco runs a wonderful competition each year called the Shed of the Year on www.readersheds.co.uk. Anyone who has a shed for whatever purpose they deem fit can enter the extravaganza by posting their shed images and info on the www.readersheds.co.uk website and hopefully contribute to all the fun.

As a day job I photograph the products that www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk and our sister websites produce and sell. A lot of the time the garden buildings fall in to obvious categories such as wooden sheds, summerhouses, log cabins and playhouses, among others.  All terms that pretty much give rise to an all too common idea of what the innards of said garden buildings would look like when furnished, furbished and occupied.

However, @unclewilco and the readersheds massive brings your eyes to full focus, even if some of the images are a bit blurry, to the fact that not all sheds and summerhouse are for storing lawn mowers and escaping the, (uh-hum) summer sun in. There is a myriad of different uses and forms of decorative display that adorn these wonderful garden buildings and I’d just like to run some of them by you (with full permission from @unclewilco of course).

The pub shed is probably the best way of escaping your wife’s need to watch Coronation Square and Eastender Street fifteen times a week. You not only get to slink off and have a swift half or two, but you also get away with it because you haven’t actually gone out and left the missus on her own. (Please note that the roles are easily reversible and it could be the wife escaping the football, if you are looking for a second stereotype to complain about).   

There are those fanatics that love all things Doctor Who and Tardis sheds seem to be on the increase in numbers. Maybe they are all the same Tardis, but just at different times in the universes timeline, all converging here and now in so many back gardens. They do highlight the fact that the garden shed isn’t just a sterile building, although cleanliness is mainly pushed out the window in most sheds, but sometimes a fun and entertaining feature of the home.

A home cinema is something I’ve always wanted and a shed that fulfils this dream is just another one of the amazing things that some sheddies have been able to create with their out buildings.  What’s next, ice cream parlours, health spas, whatever it is I come back to the question that has been bugging ever since I started writing this entry (which wasn’t long ago) where do they keep all their lawn mowers, strimmers, deck chairs and wheel barrows?

Go and check out www.readersheds.co.uk and see what the nuttiest sheddies have done with their garden buildings and be inspired yourself to make much more of your garden shed than you may have thought of before.

www.gardenbuildings.co.uk

All images courtesy of @unclewilco and www.readersheds.co.uk

Mabel, Colden Common,Winchester,Hants Owned by: David Ashford

Our mate@unclewilco runs a wonderful competition each year called the Shed of the Year on www.readersheds.co.uk. Anyone who has a shed for whatever purpose they deem fit can enter the extravaganza by posting their shed images and info on the www.readersheds.co.uk website and hopefully contribute to all the fun.

As a day job I photograph the products that www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk and our sister websites produce and sell. A lot of the time the garden buildings fall in to obvious categories such as wooden sheds, summerhouses, log cabins and playhouses, among others.  All terms that pretty much give rise to an all too common idea of what the innards of said garden buildings would look like when furnished, furbished and occupied.

However, @unclewilco and the readersheds massive brings your eyes to full focus, even if some of the images are a bit blurry, to the fact that not all sheds and summerhouse are for storing lawn mowers and escaping the, (uh-hum) summer sun in. There is a myriad of different uses and forms of decorative display that adorn these wonderful garden buildings and I’d just like to run some of them by you (with full permission from @unclewilco of course).

The pub shed is probably the best way of escaping your wife’s need to watch Coronation Square and Eastender Street fifteen times a week. You not only get to slink off and have a swift half or two, but you also get away with it because you haven’t actually gone out and left the missus on her own. (Please note that the roles are easily reversible and it could be the wife escaping the football, if you are looking for a second stereotype to complain about).

Shark Shebeen, Shadoxhurst, Kent Owned by: Tony Warren  

There are those fanatics that love all things Doctor Who and Tardis sheds seem to be on the increase in numbers. Maybe they are all the same Tardis, but just at different times in the universes timeline, all converging here and now in so many back gardens. They do highlight the fact that the garden shed isn’t just a sterile building, although cleanliness is mainly pushed out the window in most sheds, but sometimes a fun and entertaining feature of the home.

BlueBox Type 40, Newport, South Wales Owned by: John Williams

A home cinema is something I’vealways wanted and a shed that fulfils this dream is just another one of the amazing things that some sheddies have been able to create with their out buildings.  What’s next, ice cream parlours, health spas, whatever it is I come back to the question that has been bugging ever since I started writing this entry (which wasn’t long ago) where do they keep all their lawn mowers, strimmers, deck chairs and wheel barrows?

reelwood, garden w.mids Owned by: pj   

Go and check out www.readersheds.co.uk and see what the nuttiest sheddies have done with their garden buildings and be inspired yourself to make much more of your garden shed than you may have thought of before.

www.gardenbuildings.co.uk

All images courtesy of @unclewilco and www.readersheds.co.uk

At present my house is having somewhat of a face lift or bum lift if you like, due to the regeneration of a second hand conservatory being constructed at it’s rear. I won it on Ebay, as at the time, it seemed like a bargain. But with all bargains there came a price to pay and the roof had to be totally replaced. Thankfully the new roof, timber framed and beautifully stained, has given the construct more of an extension feel and you might even think it reminiscent of a barn conversion, if you squint a bit.

The glass is going in at the weekend and the doors will be hung as well. This has prompted my wife, seeing as it is potting up time, to commandeer the concrete floor space, which one day will be lovingly covered in oak (effect) wooden flooring (laminate). Placed delicately, but all to messily on said floor are rows of plastic trays filled with the smelliest of dirt and plugged with, God knows what kind of, seeds.  She seems to think that even in the presence of the frame and roof the greenhouse effect will take place upon these, not even, germ lings.

She is enthusiastic to say the least, but does this mean that my lovingly built conservatory is now to be a greenhouse rather than my relaxing cinema room (at night times, when it is dark. The rest of the time the TV screen, I fear, may be obscured by the rays of the sun). You can see where she gets it from when her mother handed over a lemon tree when she came by the other day.  We had been thinking of trying to grow a fruit tree, lemon or orange in variety still to be decided, within the conservatory / greenhouse, but why’s everyone jumping the gun? And why is this, what can only be described as an, invasion taking place with all things grow-able. Do I look like Alan Titchmarsh? Do my thumbs look slightly discoloured? No so please stop trying to turn my conservatory in to a greenhouse and get my surround sound system ordered as my birthday is coming up soon and the conservatory is nearly done.

Artists impression of the shipping container to be used as metal shed by a country mechanic.

Dropping my son off at my mother’s this morning I was told it was all going to be fun and games on the quiet leafy country road that she lives on as her next door neighbour was having a shipping container delivered to his front garden. I can see the drama unfold in my mind as a large crane blocks the traffic for a good hour or so as it’s goliath sized arm drags the hulking steel box to it’s new resting place decimating the local tree population as it does so.  

‘A shipping container?’ I recoiled in astonishment. ‘Full of what?’ I asked my mother. ‘Nothing’ she told me. It turns out that the neighbour is going to use it as a workshop.  Once he’s removed all of the Chinese immigrants that have survived the long trip in this soon to be metal shed to my neighbours front garden (this I am kidding about) the neighbour is then setting up his home based mechanic shop within it.  He has been working from his dilapidated old shed for years tinkering with racing cars of all things.  He was once a racing driver himself, albeit at a low level, but his front room is full of shiny silver trophies and plates from those battling days on the asphalt.

I have seen shipping containers before and they are huge things and a metal shed of this kind placed in the front garden of your neighbour might just be a bit of an eyesore. But what a noise the firing up of racing car engines in the mechanics new metal shed will be. Revving engines on a quiet country morning will obviously raise a few eyebrows and annoyed stares. I have to say that the metal shed to be is going to be hidden in the side of the slight hill that his property is built on. I just hope that it isn’t a garish colour. Imagine a humungous bright pink or yellow metal shed nestled in the trees and shrubs of the estate slightly self-consciously thinking  ‘Can anyone see me?’.   

It has been quite some time since I sat down and wrote an entry to the Garden Buildings Direct blog and that’s because we have been so busy getting the 2011 range of garden buildings and garden furniture set up, photographed and launched.  My hands have been tied to the camera and photo editing for a long time now and as this is the busiest time of the year for garden building and associated goods retailers I am glad to say that everything has been done.

The big push has brought us out at this time of year with the Royal Wedding and an extended Easter holiday quota plumped in our laps, although we are a hardy and diligent lot and most of us our working our little behinds off trying to satisfy our customers and allow them to be able to buy what they want during their extended breaks from our websites (http://www.simplygardenfurniture.co.uk / http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk / http://www.flamingbarbecues.co.uk)

So as summer marches ever closer and the garden is coming to life, even if the garden furniture and the old wooden shed may not be looking their best anymore, we look forward to pulling out a folding chair from the shed and sit and relax in the sun.

For all of your garden furniture needs: http://www.simplygardenfurniture.co.uk

For all of your garden building needs: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk

For all of your barbecue needs: http://www.flamingbarbecues.co.uk

Some of you may have been following my attempts to make my garden a bit more user friendly. First off I moved my garden fence to expand our garden and reduce the amount of unused driveway we have. We only have one car and did have a driveway that could fit three cars, it made sense.

Then my gate blew off in the high winds a few weeks ago. The gate then swelled in the damp conditions and didn’t fit properly and my wife kept complaining about it being stuck and she couldn’t get her bike out.

I’ve finally put the post tops on and put on the anti swing through wood strip on the outside of the post, so hopefully the posts look finished and the gate won’t blow through any more.  I’ve also fitted a few cover strips to disguise the butchery job that I had to do to trim it down to fit once it had swelled.  These all still need painting though.

I’ve also been working on a sliding flap to close the hand hole that we needed to be able to reach the combination lock on the gate so it can be unlocked from both inside and outside, by those that know the magic number that is.

Next spring we intend to lawn the extra land we have acquired by moving the gate and fence and finally getting the new 8 x 6 shed and put it on the area of slabs that I have already laid. Once the shed is in place the old decrepit wooden shed will be removed and burnt or made in to shelves for the new shed and in it’s place a we will install a nice little raised seating and barbecue area next to the grape vine that has taken full hold of the pergola.

The snow has halted most garden activity and the lawn is now white and fluffy. The garden is really pretty in the coverings of winter and even the unfinished dirt space that has been left after all my hard(ish) work has a uniformed look with the rest of it.

If I had any sense I would have taken a lot of pictures this year as we made the transformation happen. Unfortunately I did not. So there is nothing to document that I-none-D.I.Y.-man has done all of this on my own with only my wife and son watching me muddle through the whole process.

For all new projects I must remember to take pictures.  Well, that’s next years plan.

For all of your garden building needs.

Winter has a way of dragging you down. The weather is bad which means you need to wash your car more often (a pet hate of mine) and the days don’t seem to have any light in them. So there is no time to get in to the shed to snatch up my bucket and sponge.  The summer holiday you had (don’t mention caravans) seems so long ago that it never happened. The only thing to look forward to is Christmas, but you know that there will be an awkward moment with the relatives that couldn’t be bothered to see you all year long, but with the whiff of a turkey dinner and the knowledge of a gift that they know you can’t afford with their name tag on it waiting for them they still all flock to your door.

And now there is the snow warning (At the time of writing this article the UK has been warned of a nationwide blanket of the white stuff landing all over the place causing chaos and much disruption).  I love the snow and love watching my son try and wade through it, which is hard work as he is only 2.3 years old. Last time we had a decent sprinkling of the frozen water kind we were on holiday (log cabin this time not caravan) and it came up to his middle.  It was fun for about one minute before he got too cold and began crying.

Times are hard and money is tight, everyone knows this, and when the calendar ticks round to January the powers-that-be have made the decision to put up VAT by 2.5%. Yippy! How this will save the economy I, a simple man in his shed, has no idea.  Surely this will put prices up and therefore people will become more selective with what they buy or rather can afford to buy.

Garden centres and DIY stores will feel the hit next year, of that we are sure.  Given the short length of time we all have left before the belt is tightened another notch, we should consider what we might be thinking of buying in 2011. I, for one, will be getting the new garden shed I’ve been threatening for the past year, pre the Janruary madness .  We may even dig deep to get our son his birthday present a wooden playhouse. His birthday isn’t until July, but we think that we will be priced out of most things next year and should either commit to these considered purchases now or forget about it completely.

Whatever happens this winter has brought with it a darker presence than before with the malevolent and impending price hikes to come.  You can, however, beat the VAT rise and grab a bargain at: www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk. Luckily garden buildings and wooden sheds are exactly what I am looking for.