The garden shed, which has always been part of my wife's vegetable garden, was on the property when we purchased the house back in 1999. It was moved to its current location around 2007 and a new roof and sofits installed around 2016. Throughout all this time it had only been painted once, so it was clear that it was in need of some repairs.
The major need was the foot of the walls. The thin wallboard had deteriorated in places due to rot and small critters chewing their way in. The first repair consisted of cutting 8 inches of rot off the bottom on all sides and installing PVC replacements and a Z channel. I also recognized the need to seal up cracks and repaint.
Initially, those were my only plans. However, as I began to work, I realized that I had an opportunity to transform this old shed so that it fit in better with the Japanese garden esthetic elsewhere on the property.
Searching the internet for ideas, I came across the following image:
Beautiful and inspiring, the image provided me with some ideas. Wanting to keep costs to a minimum, I opted to make subtle changes to my shed rather than a complete redo - a traditional Japanese shed/teahouse with cedar posts and plastered walls was not financially possible. Instead, I had to retain my existing structure and make repairs.
Looking back at that image, I decided that I could add faux trim and windows. There had been no trim on my shed in the past, so adding some would enhance the appearance of the shed. The green and almond trim color would have to remain the same because the house and garage are painted in that manner.
I also had to remove most of the plantings near the shed, including a large boxwood that was transplanted elsewhere. It had grown too large and was starting to take over the corner of the shed.
The back of the shed required a lot of cleanup, especially the many plants I usually store there over the summer.
I opted to remove the old metal shelving as well as the old brick along the bottom. The bricks were replaced with peastone.
As an experiment, I used some "cedar" colored paint for the top trim, but as soon as I started I realized it was a bad idea.
Sanding it off, I quickly reverted back to the original almond instead.
The trim pieces I added were meant to suggest post and beam construction. I even added protruding blocks in some places to create the illusion of post extensions.
In addition, I added two hexagonal umebachi gegyo with concave curves at the top of the ridge on either side of the shed. A gegyo is a decorative design used to cover the ends of a roof gable. I don't have a gable, but the gegyo still looks nice as a flush feature.
My shed was too simplistic for the more elaborate styles of gegyo, but more importantly, the umebachi gegyo style was one I could easily cut with a jigsaw. I then added two cedar stained flowerettes to each gegyo to add some interest. I have the flowerettes elsewhere in the garden (Peace Bell, Woodland Gate).
I also altered the top of the shed doors to look like traditional Japanese window screens.
Instead of rice paper or glass, I used white plastic acrylic cracked ice ceiling light panels. They look pretty good and require no maintenance. I then made some window frames out of scrap wood to create 12 window panes and attached the pieces to each door.
The large window in the front of the shed was a bit of a challenge to modify. It was too large and very un-Japanese in appearance.
I liked the pop-out window I saw in the internet image I referenced earlier in this post.
However, I chose to modify the design so that it would be less of a pop-out box and more of a pop-out screen.
On the front I chose to use one-inch bamboo poles, similar to the bamboo on the nearby Woodland Gate. The bamboo adds interest and the color of the bamboo will eventually match the bamboo on the Woodland Gate.
This should help to tie-in the shed with the Dragon's Spine fence and the Woodland Gate. I also added a brown roof above the pop-out screen to match the internet image pop-out style. Overall, the screen does a good job of hiding the old window, while simultaneously giving the shed more of a Japanese feel.
The final addition to the shed was a faux round window, or maramado, similar to the one I created last year for the back deck. The shed maramado was painted almond and has an interior with the same plastic cracked ice panel as the shed doors.
Instead of bamboo for slats, I opted for pieces of wood painted with the same brown I used for the "pop-out" window roof. I realize these color selections may not be very authentic, but they work best with the existing shed color combinations.
I will be adding an almond colored gutter and rain chain with lotus petals as soon as I can have it installed.
Although this project took almost seven weeks to complete (I worked on it off-and-on due to travel, illness, and weather), it was well worth the effort. The shed looks much nicer than before, and the repairs and painting will ensure it lasts for a very long time.
I know it is not a true Japanese shed/teahouse, but I think it still makes a nice transition from the Zen garden into the vegetable garden area. Additionally, the colors match the style of the house and garage structures ensuring that all three structures on the property compliment each other.
Next spring I will work further on landscaping around the shed. I will also renovate the interior. Sorry, no Japanese designs, it will be a simple garden tool shed, just cleaner and better organized than it has ever been.
