How To Make an Unused Structure Your Destination Backyard Escape
Call it a She-Shed, Carriage House, Patio Home, Guest House or Green House ... An outbuilding in your backyard can be converted into an open air single room for quiet moments alone or a private space for the occasional weekend guest. Today, we’re sharing 6 easy styling tips that will help you transform the old shed in your backyard into a writer’s retreat, a place to host dinner parties, or the perfect afternoon retreat to read your book. With these 6 easy steps, you can have a place you’ll want to escape to again and again.
An Opportunity For Self Expression
Let the space be a reflection of you without limitations. If you adore vibrant colors but haven’t been courageous enough to use them in your main home, this is your opportunity. Enhance the space with a burst of color - blues and greens are always popular garden shades. Allow this extension of your home to be a place that lifts you up, even if you’re looking to create a space for quiet contemplation. Paint the front door a robins egg blue - reminiscent of the sky.
2. Repurpose Your Existing Pieces
Bring in the overflow of furniture and dishes from the main house. Mixing and matching allows you to love these leftover pieces all over again as they make their way out to the extended space. When you’ve relocated a piece into a different space it feels fresh and new again.
3. Enhance The Space With A Patio
Use brick or garden steppers to expand your outdoor entertaining space - this will make for a delightful al fresco dining experience. Fill the patio with large baskets of your favorite herbs and colorful scented flowers. Use a collection of aged terra cotta pots and glass garden cloches for added interest.
4. Make it Functional
Bring in a daybed with a mosquito netting for peaceful midday naps. A Slipcovered chair complements the peaceful retreat atmosphere and creates a relaxing invitation to your extended space. They’re easy to wash and can be removed during the offseason.
5. Create Interest by Mixing Textures
Add billowy summer fabrics using crisp white panels to ward off the late afternoon sun and to create a romantic feel. Bring in a nubby seagrass rug for texture and durability. The thickness of the rug will cozy up any wide open outdoor retreat. Seagrass is grown in water, which makes the material strong and non-absorbent.
6. Add Personal Touches
Adding personal touches makes it uniquely you. Whether it’s a collection of old botanical prints, driftwood or heirloom linens, include those special pieces that resonate with you into your quiet escape.
TBH, my favorite room in the house might just be the potting shed. It’s filled with vintage garden books, timeless terra cotta pots, some wicker chairs, a seagrass rug, of course, and has an extended patio and pergola that beckons me in every season. What name resonates with you for your own backyard escape? Penny for your thoughts?
Warmly,
Audrey
P.S. Wherever you are in life, remember to make your home the best it can be.
