Adding Design Interest to Your Shed

Revamp Your Backyard Scenery

Are you trying to revamp your backyard scenery? A frequent complaint about people’s backyards is that their shed is an eyesore. Many wonder how they can make their shed fit better visually into their yard, and even how they can incorporate it into a backyard entertainment space. We’ll go over a few great ideas that will help you create a beautiful backyard space.

One somewhat labor intensive idea is to build an additional structure onto or near your shed. The difficulty level of this structure is up to you!

Trellis or Pergola?

A simpler structure would be a trellis or pergola. This kind of structure is mostly decorative, but will also provide some shade for an entertaining space. You can build the pergola near your shed or even make it an attachment. Once your pergola is built, you can use it to support beautiful vine plants that will provide even more shade as they grow over the top of the pergola. You can use the space created by the pergola for whatever you like. You might put an outdoor bar there, or an outdoor dining space. Pergolas and trellis’s are great DIY projects, if you enjoy building projects.

With a large pergola, you can make a lovely outdoor dining space. Hang outdoor chandeliers and lights from the pergola ceiling to hang over a large outdoor table. You can add curtains to your pergola that you can close for privacy, or to keep out windy weather. Instead of a dining space, you might want to have a casual outdoor hangout area, complete with comfy outdoor furniture and a gas powered fire pit. If you don’t want to completely cover your pergola with plants, stylishly placed hanging plants can be a great alternative.

Porches & Overhangs

Building a porch and overhang onto your shed would be a bit more work, but definitely can be worth it in terms of use and visual appeal! Porches offer very versatile outdoor spaces in terms of providing shade and entertaining.

You can also add a lot of style to a porch, with a porch fence and banisters. You can also screen your porch to keep out pests and weather. Screened porches are great for areas that get a lot of sun, as they prevent glare and provide some shaded protection.

Pond Anyone?

A more creative “structure” that you could add outside your shed is a pond moat. If you use your shed for quiet work time with no interruptions, this can be a great way to guarantee privacy!

Adding ponds adds a serene, zen-like quality to your backyard. Depending on how invested in this idea you are, you can even fill it with gorgeous live freshwater plants and fish like koi.

Not only will this be visually beautiful and provide a nice space for entertaining guests, it can help you be more productive and peaceful in your shed workspace. What a great retreat!

Decks Expand Useable Space

Especially if your backyard is uneven, and doesn’t allow for much entertaining, building a deck around your shed is an excellent idea. You can use your shed to your advantage to create a nice space in your backyard to hang out in some nice outdoor furniture.

Depending on how vertical your property is, you might also be able to create a nice shaded area underneath your shed’s deck. If you don’t have a lot of space surrounding your shed, consider converting the roof of your shed into deck space.

This can be a great way to provide nice vistas out over your backyard. This design will work best with sheds that have flat or level roofs.

Plants & Planter Boxes

For more minor changes to your shed that still have big returns, adding plants is a great way to spruce up your shed. For a whimsical and natural look, consider adding a grass roof to your shed. This will also help insulate the shed and keep it nice and cool in the summer. It will prevent looking out over an ugly shed roof from your house as well! Keep in mind that this does take extra maintenance, however. Adding a garden or plants in pots and window planters will also help your shed to blend into your backyard. You might consider building a super simple leaning trellis from which you can grow vertical plants, like hops.

Don’t let your shed be just a utility shed! An outdoor shed provides you with some great opportunities to redesign your backyard space for the better. Even if you use your shed for woodworking, potting, or even just storage, you can still turn the space around it into a nice entertainment area. If you are thinking of building additional structures onto your shed, check out our wide variety of shed accessories. We also have plenty of DIY tips on our website.