Cottage Garden Shed Makeover – Vision and Plans

I cannot wait to get started on our cottage garden shed makeover! Today I want to share my vision and plans for our backyard space, and hopefully you guys will see the potential just like I can! 

This cottage garden shed makeover is something I have dreamed about for a very long time. Since our home was a bit of a fixer upper, the shed and outdoor space was sort of put on the back burner these last 8 years. 

If you were following along on Instagram last summer, you know that we took on the mammoth task of installing a fence all on our own. It took over a month to complete, but we are so happy with the way it all turned out. 

Here are some pictures I took after we completed it last summer.

Cottage Garden Shed Makeover Plans…

Ever since finishing the fence, we knew we desperately needed to show our little cottage garden shed some attention. It was leaning to one side, and the roof was leaking in a few areas. 

My husband has always said that he wants to tear it down, but personally I think it is just so charming and quaint, and I convinced my husband that it truly could be so so beautiful. 

Last fall we decided to put a new roof on the shed and add some supports inside to improve it’s structure, and this year I have so many dreams of what the outside of it could look like. 

The first thing I really want to address is the ugly garage door. It is extremely difficult to lift, and it is adding a lot of weight to the beams inside of the structure as well. I had this vision of removing the garage door and adding two beautiful carriage doors, but they were so extremely expensive brand new.

Like I do in most cases when I’m trying to save money, I turned to Facebook marketplace. I couldn’t believe it…within minutes I had found two beautiful antique doors that were only an hour away. 

They definitely needed some repair, scraping and sanding, but I knew they would be so perfect for our shed. 

Our plan is to refinish the doors and install them this spring, and I know that the doors alone will do wonders for our shed. 

Another thing I would like to add to the shed is cedar shake. I’m not sure where it would go, maybe under the arch on the front? And of course we need to paint the sides of the shed and the board and batten along the front as well. 

To the right of shed is another huge project that we tackled last year. I have always dreamed of having a vegetable garden, and this little area seemed like the perfect spot. We were given a ton of wood and white stone last summer and I decided to utilize it for raised beds. 

What I didn’t realize is that pressure treated wood is actually a no no for garden boxes bc of the chemicals that can leak into your soil. 

To all of my avid gardeners – is there a way that I can still make these boxes work? I would hate to have to tear them all out. I have done a bit of research and some people use plastic stapled all along the insides of their pressure treated boxes, others have used all natural sealers.

I also saw one gentlemen use gravel and mulch on the bottoms of his beds so that any drainage from the lumber would settle there instead of the soil. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Either way, I love how this little area looks and I can’t wait until it’s cleaned up and filled with greens. 

Our DIY pea gravel patio needs to be tidied up as well, and once we pull our DIY outdoor table out from the shed and the flowers begin popping up around the boxelder tree, this space is really so charming.

I’ll share a few photos I took last summer when everything was starting to bloom…

Cottage Garden Front Yard Plans…

I’m sure you already know what our flower beds look like in the summertime, but right now they are very dead looking and bare. We need to touch up the paint on our DIY window boxes and shutters, pull leaves out of our beds and add fresh mulch. 

At the end of May I usually buy flowers for our boxes, and I can’t wait to take you guys along! 

We also need to show our porch some attention…my plan is to strip it all down and start fresh. Some new rockers and flowers will be so beautiful once the weather warms up. 

You may have noticed our new storm door from HMI doors! It is absolutely stunning and I will be sharing all the details about our new door in a future blog post, once our porch is all cleaned up and ready for summertime. 

So what do you guys think about my cottage garden shed makeover plans? If you live in the same planting zone as me, I’d love to hear any tips or tricks you have for vegetable gardens! We’ve never had one before so I am definitely a bit nervous about it. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today friends! 

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