One of the most essential garden staples in my opinion, is the good old garden shed. For a long time, the sheds I could spy from my upstairs window in my neighbours garden were always various shades of brown. Nowadays, I’m happy to see more and more people throwing this archaic rule book out the window and becoming more adventurous with their shed paint colours.
Painting or staining your shed can have a massive impact on your entire garden. Painting or staining your shed also helps it to leave longer as the paint or stain protects the wood.
But how do you chose what colour to paint your shed?
Here are some questions to think about before you take the plunge!
- Do you want your shed to blend in, or stand out?
This was the first question I asked myself. My home garden is small and so a shed plonked at the end was always going to be one of the first things you see, especially during the first few years of my garden’s life, when plants were still starting to grow and everything was slightly flat. Did I want to try to blend my shed into the background, or make a feature out of it?
At my allotment plot, we are discouraged on using paint colours that are too bright or garish (not sure why, but those are the rules!) so I already knew I would have to select a colour that was a little more subtle, whilst still reflecting my personality.
I went for Sweet Pea Pink by Cuprinol Paint for my allotment shed colour.
2. What kind of planting will surround your shed?
I am a big plant lover, obviously, and so for my home garden I knew I wanted a lot of plants around my shed. I wanted my shed to feel part of the garden, and to me that meant being planted up with a window box and lots of surrounding pots. I liked the idea of my shed becoming a backdrop for the plants and was excited at the thought of a strong clash of colours.
I went for Mudgley Mustard from Thorndown Paint for my shed, with swan white for the trim, and I think it works really well. The green, pink and yellow plants surrounding it really stand out now and create such a fun statement in the garden. It’s fun, sunny and interesting and my shed has become a really lovely feature in my garden.
3. What kind of maintenance are you willing to give your shed?
When choosing a paint brand, try to go for one that offers protection as well as coverage. Thorndown paints are great, and non toxic too. Cuprinol give a great colour range, and are a little cheaper too.
Using a better brand might offer you a longer guarantee about how long your shed colour will last before the weather batters it and it begins to fade. So if you don’t want to be repainting you shed every year, it might be better to splash out a little more on one of these brands.
It’s also important to think about whether you are looking to stain your shed a colour, or actually paint it. Painting it will inevitable provide a much more impactful look, whereas staining can produce a softer hint of colour.
4. Test your colour
If you’re unsure how a colour might respond in your garden, it’s a good idea to paint a small section of your shed or fence first, stand back and take a look. Hold flowers up against it and see what impact you get. Also, check back on it at different times of the day to see what effect the setting sun has on the colour.
We painted our back fence white and immediately regretted it as when the sun starts to set, it hits directly onto the fence and pretty much blinds you! Haha!
5. How brave are you?
Look, at the end of the day, it’s paint. I had to be really brave and just go for it, and I’m really glad I did. I am so happy with my pink and my yellow sheds, I think they are unique, quirky and reflect who I am. I smile everytime I see them.
That’s the most important thing about any shed colour. It has to make you happy.
If you hate it, you can always just repaint it!
Hope this helped if you are stuck on what shed paint colour to chose. Good luck!
