Hello Lisa.

Welcome back to another edition of THE PENCIL CASE! As always, each issue focuses on a theme to encourage a fresh look at garden design and graphics. This week let's discuss garden sheds so you can tuck away your tools for the winter...in a pretty way. ♥︎

GARDEN SHEDS

If you look up the definition of SHED you will find a straightforward description: a small building, usually made of wood, used for storing things (Cambridge Dictionary). Oftentimes our shed is exactly that...a place where we store "things" such as garden tools, flower pots, lawn mowers, buckets, watering cans, garden gloves, and maybe even furniture cushions, bikes and miscellaneous storage containers.

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Why not? This separate building is a great place to focus our garden maintenance activities by keeping the "dirty" part of gardening away from our living space. Sheds can be completely functional, but they can also serve other purposes and be a beautiful addition to our outdoor space.

FUNCTION + AESTHETICS

I am completely enamored with the idea of combining function and beauty...and sheds are the perfect way to combine both. We can use a shed to simply store things, or we can use it as a storage unit, plus make it an integral part of the garden design aesthetics. Below are some ways to use the shed beyond its storage function:

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As a focal point. Make your shed beautiful (whatever that means to you!), then place it strategically to draw someone into your garden or allow it to be eye-candy as you relax on your patio. At our previous house, we painted our shed bright orange and it served as a focal point at the end of our main walk between the house and garage to draw guests into the backyard.

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Use it as a garden wall. Landscape design is about creating outdoor rooms composed of walls, floors and ceilings. If you are lucky enough to have a shed, you can use it to create at least one wall of a garden room. Paint it a fun color, add window boxes, or hang some antique garden tools...and now you have an awesome garden wall.

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Use it as a hideaway. A fun trend the last few years is to use a shed as a special place to get away to read, work, and create. You can still store garden tools, but add a cozy chair, table and workspace so you can have alone time in the garden.

GARDEN SHED INSPIRATION

There are so many awesome garden sheds that I just had to create this PINTEREST BOARD.

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I wrote this post on THE NEIGHBORHOOD SHEDS many years ago to celebrate the beauty of these functional structures.

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To learn a bit more take a peak at the HISTORY OF THE SHED.

LET'S DO THIS! 

How do you use your garden shed? Tag me on Instagram or hit reply to this email to share a photo.

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Do you dream about designing gardens for your professional career...but not sure where to start? A great first step is learning how to draw the elements of a garden. This gives you the visual communication tools and confidence to dive into this amazing profession. Join me for GARDEN GRAPHICS TOOL KIT this January to start this fabulous journey. Click here to learn more or hit reply to this email to ask me questions. An FYI...I only teach this course once a year, so if this feels like the right time, please join us. 

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If you know someone that needs design inspiration, please feel free to share this newsletter. Anyone can subscribe right here. I also keep a VAULT of past issues in this secret location (we've reorganized the space a bit).

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Thanks for letting me visit your inbox this week! I can't wait to see you again soon. 

With warmest regards, 

Lisa 

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PAPER GARDEN WORKSHOP

Thank you to Mandy Orgler for designing the lovely graphics in all these newsletters.