The shed

Sep 13

Today marks an exciting day, especially for Ben. Let’s makeover the shed.

As many of you know, Ben has not only self taught his skills in craftsmanship over the years, but has used the garden and patio as his workspace to turn our visions and designs into a reality over and over again. We both have a hardworking ‘let’s make it happen’ attitude towards every space we improve despite what skills, tools, funds or location we have to bring it to life. For years the shed has been a ‘holding space’ of endless paint supplies, materials saved from previous projects, tools, surfboards, gym gear and storage. It’s been a bit of a mess!

Ben has had dreams of having his own organised tool shed and workspace amongst his surf and gym gear for a LONG time. A ‘place for everything, functional, and simple’ in his words.

In all honesty, the timing of this shed is perfect. We would have not been able to do it any earlier, as over the years it’s been used for materials for all the other projects we have been doing and our collection of tools has also grown.

Oh, and of course it’s not going to be TOO simple, my motto has always been ‘it’s all in the details” after all.

A few weeks ago, we decluttered the items in the shed and decided to hire a small storage unit so we could work with a blank canvas for the makeover.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

This shed is multi- functional. Aren’t most of them right? There will be four zones.

Storage area with racks and boxes. You know, the things that are not kept in the house because we use them once a year Christmas decor ect.
A zone for gardening equipment, bikes and boards.
A zone for Bens tools, equipment and painting supplies, which will be have a bench space to work upon, racks and storage.
A workout zone, enough space for him to have his rowing machine and racks for gym equipment

It is not a large space to work with, but anything is possible right?!

SHED MEASUREMENTS AND LAYOUT

The shed measures- 7.0m x 3.8m and 2.4m ceiling height and 2.6m in the middle.
Storage area will be 2.6m x 3.5m
Workspace area 4.3 x 3.5m
The gym area will be mocked up once we have a detailed idea of the workspace which is a priority.

PLAN

Insulation, heating and cooling - Most workshop spaces have less than desirable conditions when it comes to the climate. But we can take the edge off the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter with proper insulation and a mini split air conditioning and heat unit.
Remove roof for the aircel to install
Install aircel to the interior walls by unscrewing the internal baton of the shed. (This allows us to slide the aircel up behind it)
Frame the Interior. For the interior framework we are being resourceful! Which includes using wood left over from fence palings and melamine chipboard wood from an old wardrobe in our home. 😜
Build a wall dividing the future storage area and the workspace
Electrical for down lights and power points and exterior lighting
Insulate the interior and ceiling with thermo reflective insulation
Install gyprock (we are outsourcing this process) and flush.
Paint the interior
Second fix electrical
Install black rubber gym flooring
Fit out the interior

Follow along on Instagram

INSPIRATION

Image source-@thefrenchfolk

Image source- Inbox solutions Garage organisation

Image source- Adore home magazine

Image source- @hausofcruze

Image source and home gym @nestingwithgrace

Drawing inspiration from our very own DIY outdoor kitchen, the interior of the shed will be painted black with a monochromatic built in workspace designed similar with grooves as seen below. We love the using black paint in our home to either define a space, make it feel seamless or even make it feel bigger! I have a great blog post on in here.

MOODBOARD

This mood board is for the main shed area which will be a workspace, gym and also store surfboards. We aim to have rubber black flooring, a mirror in one corner where the gym will be, (I can also use this area for pilates) a built in work bench along one side. Ben will make the cabinet, doors and drawers similar to how he made the BBQ. The top will be timber and everything will be painted Black (Black Ace British paints), with brass door knobs. Bens ideal workspace is for everything to be in cupboards and drawers and nothing on show. (we will see… perhaps a few shelves might be added later.) The other side of the shed which will be divided by a wall which will be for storage, bikes and garden equipment ect.