The Potting Shed…a Solution of Function & Beauty

Earlier this week I introduced you to Brenda…my fast-talking, bigger-than-life mother-in-law…lover of her garden and all things beautiful.  Recently she took a trip to visit a friend out of town…and as you can tell by her post below, she was quite impressed by the beauty and functionality of her friend’s potting shed.  I think you will be too.  (Thanks Brender!)

On a recent visit to a dear friend of mine who now lives in South Carolina, I was most impressed with her very beautiful and functional potting shed.  Aesthetically it was quite sophisticated and most pleasing.  The outside is made up of traditional white beaded clapboard, grey double barn doors with great iron hardware, weathered copper lanterns, a cedar shake roof with a dovecote and weather vane on top.

The interior is equally as impressive. The ceiling and chandelier are stunning. But what I perhaps love most is the organization of the space – ease of utilization of materials, all at your fingertips. Really, a dream come true.  What could be a better place for arranging the bounty from your garden into inspirational masterpieces than a potting shed!  There’s a place for everything – a variety of vases, baskets, buckets, liners, mosses, floral picks and wire, raffia, oasis, floral food, anything that you might need close at hand.

I find that my garden and outdoor living spaces are a necessity, really, for relief from our rat race and wired age.  Having a space as beautiful and functional as my friend’s potting shed makes time outside that much more relaxing and life-giving.

As Brenda found during the visit to her friend’s house, a storage solution can be both functional and beautiful. Many of the folks I’ve worked with in my design business often want both a beautiful landscape and a storage solution for whatever…yard tools, kids’ toys, outdoor furniture and cushions, etc.  But they tend to think the solution to these two objectives as being mutually exclusive.  Clearly that doesn’t need to be the case – a potting shed such as this can pull double-duty.

Do you have a storage or potting shed? If so, have you relegated it to some inconvenient part of your yard because it’s an eyesore, or have you thought creatively and found a solution that is both functional and beautiful? If so, please share…we’d love to hear.

Take care,