Livinghouse

No longer content with taking over the spare room of the house, ladies are staking their claim on the garden shed to house their hobbies, work from home and essentially escape from their significant other. This new trend, in direct competition with Man Caves, is the She Shed.

Both terms are pretty self explanatory, but according to the Oxford Dictionary, a Man Cave is ‘a room or other part of a home regarded as a refuge for the man or men of a household.’ Sadly, She Shed has yet to make it into the dictionary, but swap the gender in the previous sentence and you have your definition.

Interestingly, sales of She Sheds have risen by 50% according to Homebase as more women see the appeal of creating a space of their own.

So what defines a She Shed?

Essentially it’s a grown up Wendy House without the miniature cooking utensils and plastic fried eggs. It’s generally beautifully decorated with well coordinated decor and may sport jaunty bunting or fairy lights. It’s conventional role for storing garden tools and equipment has been superseded as a place to chill out, work, read, paint, practice yoga, sew and craft.

How do She Sheds differ from Man Caves?

Without wishing to stereotype too much, Man Caves often feature large TVs, bars, fridges, pool tables and huge reclining leather chairs favoured by Friends’ characters, Chandler and Joey. Nothing wrong with that. But disturbingly there are often handcrafted items of furniture upcycled from the sort of crap; sorry we mean stuff, which men normally hoard in conventional sheds. Think badly painted tyres as seating, pallets masquerading as wonky tables and lighting features fashioned out of beer bottles.

Whereas She Sheds are typically more feminine and incorporate design that’s aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps playing with doll’s houses at an early age has ingrained a compulsion to kit out spaces beautifully rather than with whatever’s to hand? Sorry, more stereotyping.

Whatever the reason for these very different takes on furnishing, Man Caves and She Sheds are gender-specific dens, so it’s obvious that this will be reflected in their decor and use, surely?

Want to see some great She Sheds? Of course you do.

Here’s one with tasteful bunting to get you started.

Now that’s how you repurpose pallets.

The perfect space to write your first novel in?

This She Shed styling takes vintage and shabby chic to a whole new level.

The perfect She Shed for taking inside leg measurements?

Not a badly painted tyre seat in sight.

Is a She Shed coming to a garden near you?