I haven’t given a writing shed update for a while. I’ve been busy with crazy family stuff and work stuff, and the blog has been sidelined. Also, I felt lousy, and I do find I blog a lot more when I’m feeling upbeat. Not a deliberate put-on-a-happy face thing, just when I have the blahs I also don’t have the energy to blog.
I’ve kept working on the Little Yellow Writing Shed, though like any project there have been moments I felt like giving up. It’s now taken at least three times as long as I thought it would take and cost three times as much as I planned to spend!
Still, it’s progressing! The shed no longer leaks. It has guttering. It’s insulated from top to bottom. There’s a tented fabric ceiling. It has new windows. And today I finished the wood panelling and started trimming around the doors and windows. There’s still loads more to do, like trimming, painting, and weatherstripping, but it finally looks like a space someone might put a desk and bookshelves in. Not a crummy Dr Who set from the seventies (when they were made out of exactly what I lined the shed with- polystyrene and tin foil!), trying to look like the interior of a space ship, the way it did a week or two ago.
I’ve also bought a few little bits and pieces for the inside, once it’s done. A cushion for the seat. Fabric, some new some thrifted, for the curtains and more cushions and to cover the pinboard that will go above the desk and for the inside of the door (which will also be a giant pinboard. A pretty coat hook. I can see how it will look when it’s done. Small, but cosy and colourful.
The unexpected bonus has been that I’ve gained a lovely outdoor seating area, too, in what used to be a junk outdoor storage area under the cherry tree. It still needs some work, but it’s coming together nicely too. I’ve put down gravel, put up some trellis to hide the wheely bins (the only unlovely thing about it), and transplanted some herbs and fruiting plants that will take the semi-shade. I love this old metal table and chairs I bought on eBay. Because it’s already rusty, I won’t feel bad about leaving it outside!
I’ll be glad when I can actually start writing in the shed. I’m doing my morning pages and jotting down ideas and snippets, but not actually working on a story. I miss it.
But I’ve enjoyed getting back into building again. Still want to build my tiny house one day.




August 13, 2012 at 8:57 am
Hey, Autumn, this looks awesome! Haven’t you done well?? Love it!
August 13, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Thanks Jackie! Looking forward to posting that last Before and After and getting in there to actually write!
August 13, 2012 at 1:17 pm
This is looking fantastic.
August 13, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Mike, I wish it looked as fantastic as it should after all the work I’ve done on it. Unfortunately a big chunk of the work was finding out the wrong way to do it! But I’m quietly pleased with how it’s turning out. Tomorrow is White Paint Day.
August 13, 2012 at 1:27 pm
It looks fabulous. And doesn’t every home project cost more and take longer than planned? But it looks so worth it. I share an office (really my dining room) with the family computer/desk and would kill for my totally own space.
August 13, 2012 at 10:43 pm
That is so true, Anne. Hope the writing is going well- so many fabulous authors share the dining table with their kids!
August 13, 2012 at 10:11 pm
It’s looking great. And I love that tiny outdoor area. The table and chair look exactly right.
I’m so impressed at you being able to do things like this. You must definitely build your own house one day
August 13, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Janet, I hope I get to actually build a house one day too! I think even a tiny house would be a huge scary job, but I’d love the opportunity to find out if I can do it. I wish I’d thought to take a Before photo of that outdoor area- it truly was a mess! Horrible ugly compost bin that never composted properly, a huge ladder, the sadly deceased bunny’s folded up run, half used bags of gravel, bits and pieces waiting for my husband to go to the tip… Basically any junk we wanted out of sight and out of mind went there.
The thing that amazes me is why we didn’t do something about it sooner. Fixing up that area cost next to nothing. We sold the rabbit run and that paid for the table and chairs. A tenner for a couple of bags of gravel and the super cheap trellis are our only expenses.