I have decided to open the doors to my lil retreat, come on in.
The reason for my flinging the doors open is due to a number of friends 'badgering' me to do so. For nearly a year now I have kept my retreat a secret that nestles discretely down the bottom of our garden tucked behind the apple trees. The main reason for taking my friends advice and sharing my secret hideaway on here is to show how cheaply it can be done.
I have longed for my very own retreat for years and years, within this time I have dreamt up the perfect place. My wish list consisted of opening double doors and a vintage look and feel. I wasn't asking for much, nothing flashy, I would just know it when I saw it. Finally, I 'saw it' whilst we were away for the week in Wales, there it was listed on ebay
"1960's summer house" ~ perfect!
It was in a very, very bad state of repair which was reflected in the pittance of a price we paid for it. My husbands present to me was his labour to turn it into my, long awaited dream retreat.
So ... here she is
My birthday present from my husband ... my very own summer shed ♥
However, this is how she started out ...
and this pic below is her upstanding but very tatty, full of wood worm, holes and rot.
My lovely husband spent weekends and evenings returning her to her former 1960's glory. He, replaced broken panes of glass, replaced rotten wooden panels, put a new roof on and floor in, painstakingly insulated it throughout and then covered that with board, painted inside and out with a tonne of paint, replaced all latches and catches along with a massive list of other things. Most of the materials used were second hand discarded things that we were given along with a sigh of relief from its owner that it was off their hands.
Our summer shed has been a labour of love and love her we do. She is our's through and through and there is not one part untouched by our very own hands. She was an old, tatty blank canvas that is now one of our favourite places to spend time.
The chaise was advertised as 'free' in a local post office ~ yay. All linens have been collected from car boot or garage sales and I have paid no more that £2.00 each for them.
My beloved 1970's sewing machine that, once belonged to my mother-in-law on a old sewing machine base picked up for £5.00 is topped with a discarded piece of wood covered in an off up of fabric which I paid £1.00 for.
Tea and cake stand FOC and painted in left over paint, lamp base 50p from a jumble sale, shade £1.00 from a charity shop.
The antlers have been featured in a previous blog post (here), the pretty picture was bought for £1.50 and the floral headband was bought at a festival when I was feeling all hippyish.
Lamp base was £1.00, shade was from our daughters bedroom, wooden heart coasters were made by my father-in-law and no place is complete without Asiatic Pheasant!
What can I say ... a pile of heaven!
Attention to detail has been paid to the window latches.
An inviting lil haven.
Someone else also finds it an inviting haven, she can often be found snuggled on the chaise basking in the sun.
A watercolour of our village church painted by a previous neighbour.
And when the grey clouds appear ...
The doors close, the heaters turned on and we enjoy a cosy cuppa in his and hers mugs ;)
There is nothing better than hearing rain hitting the roof and window panes whilst being tucked up under a blanket with a warm cuppa in my long awaited piece of heaven.
♥
