A shed load of ideas for your summer house

Are corner sheds naff? I need a new shed for my small but magical garden. It needs to act as a tool store and potting shed while being attractive at the same time, as it is the focal point of the garden. Alternatively, would a small summer house look Wendy-house-ish? What do you suggest?

I don’t think corner sheds are naff but, as you say yourself, your shed will be the focal point of your garden. If I were you, I’d embrace this and fully commit. Build something impressive that you will enjoy looking at. After all, this new structure will have to be pleasant to spend time in, naturally, but you will spend an awful lot of time peeking at it from inside your house, and while enjoying your garden.

I know exactly what you mean re “Wendy-house-ish’”. Standard garden buildings can end up having this appearance very easily and, although sometimes charming, it is possible to do better.

Before taking a lease on my new studio in the country, I contemplated building a large summer house-cum-workroom at the end of my garden. I had grand plans. For inspiration, I looked to Clough Williams-Ellis, the architect and designer known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in north Wales. I’ve not yet managed to get to Portmeirion, but I am an enormous fan of Williams-Ellis’s designs for garden buildings, with their baroque detailing and simple corrugated iron construction.

I wanted to build a fairly straightforward shed and stick on the front a corrugated iron facade, shaped like billowing swags of fabric, to give the appearance of a tented structure pitched in our meadowy patch of garden. I was dreaming along the lines of the Turkish Tent, which marks the final spot on the historic route through Painshill in Surrey, one of the finest remaining examples of an 18th-century English landscape park.

The whole thing would be set on wheels, meaning I’d be able to take my portable studio with me when we eventually leave our rented cottage. For various logistical reasons it wasn’t possible to carry out my fantastical plans, but I hope I might persuade you to think outside the box.

If you can find a local builder or carpenter to help, the options really are endless, and you’ll be able to avoid the cookie-cutter off-the-shelf Wendy house look. Think of the fun to be had: choosing timber and paint colours, finding doors and windows. Look to reclamation dealers such as Retrouvius and English Salvage as well as local yards for wonderful old examples.

I could spend hours trawling the web for stained glass panels. How lovely would it be to set some of these into your potting shed walls? I’ve currently got my eye on a pair being sold by Lassco: they feature a greyhound’s head in the centre, and a very good shade of mint green glass.

Do good research and see what styles take your fancy. Trew Turner Ltd, based in Somerset, is a small company that specialises in building all manner of garden sheds, studios and buildings. I’m a fan of the ceramics studio the company made for the ceramicist Pip Hartle, with its black-painted cladding.

When I was looking for a workshop to help with my project, many friends and friends of friends suggested I contact Rollo Dunford Wood, who, as Dunford Woodwork, builds all kind of wondrous things, from furniture to cabins and tree houses. He also often seems to have the odd old wagon for sale. I love the idea of one of these getting a new life as a potting shed.

I noticed on Instagram recently the writer Fiona Golfar’s new garden building, which was constructed by a local carpenter and features a highly satisfying undulating roof and veranda. The veranda provides the perfect spot for pot plants and a blanket-covered chair or two.

This particular shed is a superb example of the classic Wendy house upgraded: the thought spent on those extra details along with the materials used give the whole thing a very elegant look. Yet it’s all still pleasingly rustic enough to pass as a proper shed — no doubt about that.

If you decide you’d prefer to buy something over commissioning, I suggest a company such as Wooden Workshop, which in the past has designed buildings to sit on staddle stones, complete with cedar shingle roofs. I absolutely love this idea: with a bit of extra height you’d get a fantastic perspective over your garden, and the stones keep the structure dry.

Whatever route you end up choosing, enjoy the process of designing your dream shed. Even though I couldn’t pull off my folly, I loved those hours spent doodling and researching, attempting to conjure up something magical (and practical). And, hey, if anybody in the Cotswolds has a field they’re not using, I’m ready. I still dream of that trompe l’oeil corrugated iron tent — veranda, stained glass, flags and all.

If you have a question for Luke about design and stylish living, email him at lukeedward.hall@ft.com. Follow him on Instagram @lukeedwardhall

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