from Shed to Studio

A PREFAB BUILDING BECOMES A DREAM WORKSPACE IN THE GARDEN

- BY EMILY KELTING

A major upgrade

A customized shed replaced an old garage, providing a pretty, picture and comfy workspace.

When I moved into my 1915 cottage in East Norwalk, Connecticut, in the spring of 2018, I immediately set about transforming the tiny back yard.

I added four new raised beds for vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and a new garden bed with canna lilies that reached above the six-foot-tall fence and became the talk of the neighborhood. Three Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea trees resembled graceful ballerinas—their top panicles held upright like a head, their central burst of blossoms forming a solid body and the heaviest flowers drooping toward the ground, as if in a curtsy.

But one feature of my new property drove me crazy: A rat-infested, leaky-roofed, dirt-floored, falling-down ancient garage.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it had housed the first occupant’s Model T. The previous owners had tried to camouflage the side facing the back yard with climbing hydrangea and ivy. I went further by hanging two bright red geranium pots among that foliage. But in the end, I realized I couldn’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. The garage was unusable space and an eyesore for my neighbors. They were taking bets on when it would fall.

I dreamed of a garden studio that would fit seamlessly fit with my white-fenced back yard and complement my colorful new beds. I pictured the kids’ play area beside the old garage becoming a new outdoor dining room/secret rose garden.