Simple Shed Makeover

I have to say that our shed makeover was a total shock to me.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine a little paint could make such a huge impact.  The shed was so ugly when we moved in, and the wood was rotted at the bottom, yet surprisingly it was structurally sound.  My main desire was to update our house since it had mustard yellow siding.  Siding the house was not in our budget, so we considered painting it.  So what does that have to do with our simple shed makeover?  Well, it was my guinea pig.

  I figured if I chose colors for our house, I could paint the shed and see if I liked the color combination.   It would be a much easier and a less expensive fix if I didn’t like it.  That is why I decided to paint the shed! I mean look at it…I really didn’t think there was any hope for it.  This picture is with new shingles too, so it even looks better than what we started with.

We were also on the brink of re-roofing our house (removing three layers of shingles plus replacing the plywood), so again starting with the shed made sense.  I was so nervous about getting the shingles up on the house and not liking them.  I felt much better having them put on the shed first.

Shingles and Paint Color For Our Shed Makeover

After doing a ton of looking and bringing home shingle samples, we decided on Owen Corning TruDefinition Shingles in the color driftwood (from Menards).  Each brand of shingle company has a little variance in their colors, so each driftwood shingle was different…making it a hard decision.

I also put paint samples up on the shed.  I was trying to decide between Intellectual Gray (lighter) and Anonymous (darker) by Sherwin Williams.  Exterior paint colors look lighter once you put them up (unlike interior paint).  I like lighter house colors, but again I was nervous it would be too light and look washed out.

Houzz!

Houzz is my favorite site to search for exterior paint colors and shingle combinations.  I found a couple designers that used these same driftwood shingles, with Sherwin Williams Intellectual Gray paint and Shoji White Trim.  Once I saw houses with the exact color on them, I didn’t think the color looked too light.  I loved seeing my exact color combinations used together and felt much more confident about going forward with the Intellectual Gray!

If you haven’t checked out Houzz, do it!  You can search by paint color, then any designer that has tagged a photo with that paint color in it, will show up (you will find a lot of Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore paint colors).  You can also see what colors they paired it with, which is helpful.  I like to see colors in a room or on a house to help me visualize it.

Above I have Galapagos Turquoise listed, while I didn’t use it on the shed, I used it to accent several things in the yard.  One of them is the raspberry trellis right next to the shed.  Last summer I transplanted a bunch of raspberry plants inside the trellis, I can’t wait for them to fill in!

With all the materials and colors chosen, it was time to get to work.  My husband was able to borrow roofing supplies and put the shingles on with the help of my cousin.  The Shed ended up being a little tricky because of the roof line.  However, with a little extra time they managed to get it completed.

Sometimes the shingles look more gray and other times more brown, that is what I love about the driftwood color.

Shed Repairs

Sorry!  I don’t have any picture of the repairs my husband did, but as you can see in the picture above…the bottom of the shed was rotting away.  My husband put a new trim board at the base to secure it and did the same on both doors.  Once the shed was repaired, we power washed it to remove dirt and prepare it for paint.

Now For The Simple Shed Makeover Magic

I started by painting the trim Shoji White by Sherwin Williams.  It is a creamy off-white color and I love it!  You can also see the bottom boards my husband repaired.  I couldn’t believe how much the design of the shed popped out just by painting the trim.  It was hard to believe all that detail was there to begin with.

Now to paint the body of the shed.  We bought a gallon of Intellectual Gray by Sherwin Williams.  In all honesty, while I was painting I felt like it was sloppy and the boards were not very smooth…I had no idea how much better it looked until I stepped back.  The transformation was amazing.

We still need to put a decorative landing in front, but it looks like a whole new shed!

I realize I put a lot of thought into all the colors, but again it is because this is a trial run for our house.  In the end, I am really happy with the color combination and can’t wait to get rid of the mustard yellow on our house!  I’ll keep you posted when we get to that project!

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A shed is such a functional item for your home, but that doesn’t mean it has to be an eye sore.  Never underestimate the power of paint and a little TLC.

If you have a shed makeover I would love to see pictures!  Thanks so much for checking out my post.