Fabulous Ways to Customize a Prefab Shed

Fabulous Ways to Customize a Prefab Shed

A shed doesn’t have to be an outdoor eyesore! A stylish place to hang your hat, store garden tools, and even do some potting isn’t just for those who can invest in an expensive custom build. A prefab shed can be brightened up in a jiffy with some simple and stylish DIY ideas.

To see all of the Garden and Storage Sheds, click here.

You may not think of it, but adding a bright and happy color to the walls of a prefab shed will change it completely. Look around the garden for inspiration and ideas. You could mimic the sunny yellow of the sunflower patch, nod to summer skies with bright blue, or add a pop of bright red poppy.

Paint the siding, the trim, or the doors, customizing as little or as much as you want. If you are feeling artistic, you could also stencil a design or paint a mural.

Nothing says dreary like a windowless space. Adding a window or two to a prefab shed will transform the space and make it much more loveable, both inside and out. Look for old windows or window kits first, as custom windows are much more expensive.

Adding some flower boxes to the shed makes it seem more in place in the garden. Without plants, it simply stands out. With overflowing baskets of flowers, herbs, and vegetables, it takes its place as the centerpiece of function and fashion in the garden.

Add some sparkle to the shed with a funky light fixture. If you are close to a power source, you have a multitude of options from a farmhouse pendant to a sparkly chandelier. If your shed stands alone, you can still add light with either battery-powered LED lights or a solar fixture.

Don’t just use your shed as a dumping ground. Instead, add some storage solutions like pegboard tool racks, hooks, and shelves to keep your space organized. A table-height counter on one side can double as a potting bench for rainy days when you still need to garden. Organizing hand tools by hanging them above lets you find what you need with ease.

Don’t forget the ceiling! You can hang some hooks up high to keep lesser-used items out of the way until you need them.

Now, Pick Out Your Shed!

Are you ready to make your shed into a garden haven?

First, have a look at all of the Garden and Storage Sheds. Then, check out my collection of Stylish Shed Accessories and turn prefab to fabulous!

Original article and pictures take www.ebay.com site

Everything, including the kitchen sink!

Everything, including the kitchen sink!

Kitchen sink fountain

About three weeks ago, some friends asked if I would stop by and give them some planting ideas. While looking over their newly cleared hill, they mentioned the 1916 kitchen sink taken out of their Victorian house and how it was taking up too much room in the garden shed. Well, thirty dollars later (and they delivered it too!) I was the proud owner of a very heavy, cast iron, porcelain kitchen sink.

Of course when I bought it, I really wasn’t sure what I would do with it – but it was just too wonderful to pass up. So, for the next week I moved it around the yard in my head and finally settled on the wall next to my Garden Room Deck. It would be a potting sink, close to my Garden Room and handy to the hose.

The night before we mounted the sink on the wall, I found a great white wood trellis in a neighbor’s trash while out walking our Labby girls, and hauled it home. Another great find, already the perfect kind of shabby, too!

The next morning the sink went up on the wall and we put the trellis right above it. The combination looked great and I was very excited to have a place to clean my pots and transplant without making such a mess inside. But then someone mentioned that it might make a good fountain, and the wheels started turning again.

Off to the hardware store for clear tubing, silicone and a pump, which cost about $30. I already had a 5-gallon bucket and there was an electrical receptacle right next to the sink to boot! Carefully threading the tubing through one side of the faucet, I then squirted silicone all around the tubing so there wouldn’t be any backwash inside the faucet. It dried for a couple of hours (while I spread mulch) and then I connected the tubing to the pump, filled the bucket and slipped the recirculating, submersible pump into the filled 5-gallon bucket. Strategically placed under the sink’s drain, the bucket catches the water and then sends it back up to the faucet again.

A nice surprise was that I discovered that I could control the amount of flow using the faucet handle. It is a good idea to get a pump that is adjustable, but I don’t have to even use that feature now. A white bungee cord was stretched around the sink base and I pinned a couple of aprons (from a yard sale, of course!) to it to skirt the sink and hide the pump set-up.

The final touches were some pots, a few plants and a bowl to catch the water so birds can get a drink. When I want to just wash pots, all I have to do is unplug the pump, wash away, then refill the bucket and turn it on again. I am one happy camper ! My kitchen sink looks good, sounds good and was way less money than most commercial fountains. It’s also one of a kind!

Clear tubing threaded through faucet & pump

Bucket with pump placed under the drain

Original article and pictures take ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com site

Eva Longoria Carrying Gerard Darel Bag

Eva Longoria Carrying Gerard Darel Bag

Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria spotted out in Los Angeles wearing an Akiko Beaded Silk Tunic and carrying a Gerard Darel Sac Moon Cuir Python Utah Bag.

*courtesy of UK's exclusive luxury authentic handbag SPA Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DelortaeAgency

Original article and pictures take s.yimg.com site

Ett krispigt inlägg om tulpaner

Ett krispigt inlägg om tulpaner

Tulpantid

Januari är tulpantid och tur är väl det - att vi kan frossa i krispiga ljuvliga knoppiga skönheter när längtan efter trädgård är som störst. Maken brukar överraska så här års med ett stort fång. Alltid lika uppskattat.

Kan se olika ut

Under årens lopp har buketterna sett lite olika ut. Maken har en förkärlek (som jag gärna delar) för dubbla sorter men de brukar inte finnas så här tidigt på säsongen.

Älskar de dubbla

Den här varianten med dubbla tulpaner var helt fantastisk för några år sedan - kronbladen var otroligt vackra och i växthuset i kylan på vårvintern stod den sig superbra.

Så vackert

Tänk att tulpaner har så många tillstånd som är vackra - hela vägen från det knoppiga stadiet till det totala förfallet.

Vågar visa upp sitt innersta

Den fransiga varianten är också himla vacker. Tror jag gillar tulpanerna som mest när dom börjar nicka lite och liksom vågar visa upp sitt allra innersta.

Tulpanens egen dag

På måndag är det dags igen för tulpanens egen dag - varje år den 15 januari. Då är det bara att frossa på i ljuvligheterna.

Totalt förfall

Avslutar dagens inlägg med det totala tulpanförfallet som också har något vackert över sig även om krispigheten för länge sedan försvunnit. Härlig tid vi har framför oss nu. Det ljusnar så smått dag för dag och krispiga tulpaner letar sig hem och förgyller våra hem.

Ha det så gott alla trädgårdsvänner !

Kram/Isa

Original article and pictures take isastradgard.blogspot.se site

Enamelware – a collector’s guide

Enamelware – a collector’s guide

I like to know about stuff, especially stuff I like. Don’t you?

Enamelware is something I like & collect, so I wanted to find out more about it.

Once I did, I figured you would like knowing too.

Enamelware was the first mass-produced American kitchenware.

Production began in the 1870s, and continued through the 1930s.

Items such as pots, kettles baking tins, and ladles were stamped from thin sheets of iron, steel, or aluminum, then coated with enamel, which was fused to the metal in a very hot oven.

Much lighter than the average kitchenware, easier to clean and less fragile than china, enamelware was very popular.

Enamelware usually came in blue, red, purple, brown, green, pink, gray and white.

Patterns were as varied as the colors; besides the familiar swirls, mottles, speckles, shades, and solids. Some pieces sported a festive jumble of colors collectors call “end of day,” because it was made with a mix of leftover glazes.

White was the most produced color. Usually the whites had a blue or red rim.

Orange is rarer color. I wish I had bought this one from Attic Antics. (Going to see if it is still available now!)

Made by several manufacturers here in America and abroad, enamelware was known by many names.

The names Agateware and Graniteware caught on and came to be used interchangeably with generics such as porcelainware and speckleware.

Graniteware remains the name most widely used by collectors today.

Many pieces that survived home life at the turn of the century were lost to World War II scrap-metal drives,.

The once plentiful kitchenware is now harder to find. A genuine antique may have its maker’s name or date fired into the glaze on the bottom. But as it was not precious when made, it was common not to mark the pieces.

Enamelware was manufactured again in the US during the 1960s, and is produced in various locations around the world today.

A century old muffin tin can be worth more than $1,500 if it is in perfect condition, has a rare shape and color or the original label. Teapots and mixing bowls in near-mint condition are more common and might cost $30 to $300.

Big pitchers are a favorite of mine, like this one from Abeille Antiques . These run about $100 or so.

Worn ladles, funnels, and pie tins can sell for about $5 to $10. Rare colors and patterns — purple, red, cobalt-blue swirls — are the priciest. Solid and shaded pieces are much more affordable.

You can tell the older pieces by the smoothness of the finish, riveted handles and spouts, and handles or knobs made out of wood instead of plastic.

Weight also helps date a piece. In general, the heavier the piece the older. Like this coffee pot from Passe Simple.

Sound can also help determine the age. If a tap on the bottom sounds “tinny” the piece is probably not from the early production.

Like many antiques, you can get a sense of the age from the overall patina. And even if it is light in weight & sounds “tinny” if you love it – get it. (Like I should have with the orange piece!)

Do you have any enamelware?

** Kelly **

Original article and pictures take mysoulfulhome.com site

Empress of Dirt Creative Gardening

Empress of Dirt Creative Gardening

Tips for Growing Hydrangeas

January Garden Tasks

Good Gardening Advice I Ignored For Too Long

Best Tips for Growing Bee Balm (Monarda)

Valentine's Day Gifts for Gardeners

How to Grow Evening Primrose (Oenothera)

Best Tips for Starting a Small Garden Pond

Original article and pictures take s.pinimg.com site