I’ve been thinking for some time about starting a blog to accompany my newsletter, with real estate related content interspersed with some real estate adjacent stories.
Those of you who know me, know that I was born and raised in England and only moved to Canada in 2007.
Back in England I was lucky enough to meet Pat Greenwood who was our neighbour, and Pat could do just about anything. She is one of life’s truly inspirational humans, meeting challenges head on with positivity, grit and determination and she’s had more than her fair share of challenges.
At the start of this pandemic, Pat was doing cooking lessons on her Facebook page, keeping up the spirits of all those who are lucky enough to know her, and she and her friend Kelly Waddington decided they needed a project.
I’d been seeing Instagram and Pinterest posts for some time about “man caves” and suites that you could put a home office in at the bottom of your garden (yard), and every now and then I’d see something for women, but nothing like this.
In November of 2021, I finally got to fly to England to see my parents, and while I was there, I was able to pop in and see Pat and this amazing shed and I thought some of you might be inspired by it too, so I did a little Q & A with Pat for this, my first blog post.
Pat Greenwood.
Let me start with a little introduction to Pat, I asked her to tell you a little bit about herself and her friend Kelly.
“Hi, I’m Pat, Wife, Mum, Grandma, and workaholic! I’m a Cook and Pudding Maker by trade but diverted to work in TV and film as an extra and then working as a wardrobe assistant on films, and three series of “Last of the Summer Wine.” Due to ill health, I had to slow down a little, but not much!!!
Kelly my young friend is 26 years younger than me and had helped me make a pond and a patio. She’s fab at anything and everything. When we were locked down, I said I wanted her to help me build a “She Shed.” When I showed her where it would go, she said “it won’t fit!.” I said, “oh yes it will, we will build it around the tree and then build in front of the garden shed.” So that’s how it began.”
Q & A.
I asked Pat to answer some questions about the project and she was kind enough to respond:
Why did you decide to commit to building the shed?
“If we were going to be locked down, then I needed a project or two.”
What was important to you when you were planning to build it?
“The most important thing to us when we started was that it had to be big enough to be worthwhile and it had to be different!”
Was it very expensive to do?
“We had to make sure we could afford the shed! So we started by looking at marketplace and Ebay and local sites for things we could upcycle. The Shed costs came in around £1200 in total” (that’s around $2020)
Did it require any kind of planning permission? (Here in Canada we often need permits for all manner of things including larger sheds)
“No planning permission was needed because we kept within the allowances in the U.K.”
Did you create a very specific plan or did you wing it a little?
“The whole shed was winged! No plans were drawn, just measuring and buying wood from the wood merchant”
How long did it take you?
“The shed took eight weeks to build on and off. I did all the labouring, digging, removing 23 barrows of muck before we could start laying the foundation.”
What was your favourite part?
“I think the best bit was sourcing the leaded windows and flags, stones and wood. Going to all the different places to pick up what we had bought, then cutting the leaded windows down to fit.”
How often do you use it?
“I have my 95 year old mum living with us, so I try to go in my shed every day or every other day even if it’s just for a bit, but usually a little longer. I now have electricity in there.
We were really excited to see it, have you had other people just dying to take a look?
“I sent the shed to Air BnB to see what they thought, not realising they would put it on the site for letting. The bookings started coming the day after. Of course, I haven’t let it, but it’s lovely to know that people love it as much as we do.”
If you were going to do it again, would you do anything differently?
“I don’t think I’d do anything differently other than making it bigger and putting in a toilet and shower, so my guests could stay independently.”
Has it been a rewarding experience?
“It has been the most rewarding thing to do. We have also nearly completed a potting shed to go opposite to it too!”
As we head towards the warmer months here in Alberta, perhaps you’re thinking of a project like this for your own yard. Take a look at some of the photos from Pat and Kelly’s project and a sneak peak of the “potting shed” and remember to check out your local municipality websites for details of any permits you might need!