Book of the Week: How to Build a Shed
An inspiring new book from Sally Coulthard details how to create your own ‘hole-and-corner’ in the bottom of your garden…
For anyone starting out of their window right now, prevaricating over the day job and daydreaming that life would be so much better if they could work from the bottom of their garden – fear not. We have the solution. And better yet, it comes with clear, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and expert advice. It’s called How to Build A Shed, written by Sally Coulthard and published by Laurence King.
Coulthard, who runs her private garden design practice and writes extensively about homes and gardens (and sheds!) is clearly the woman for the job. She’s been there, done it, bought the t-shirt and built the shed. In fact, her own shed was created while writing her new book – a perfect case of ‘the proof is in the pudding’ – she now uses the new shed she built and detailed in this book as her office, nestled within the orchard of her North Yorkshire farm.
Motivated by the need to inspire people to learn new skills and to appreciate traditional craftsmanship – particularly women who wish to get involved with woodworking and construction – Coulthard focuses on keeping things simple. The design she presents in her book takes just two weeks to build from scratch (if you follow her advice exactly) – and she calculates it will cost you £2,500 (including £14.99 for the book). In comparison, an equivalent ‘off the shelf’ design would cost around £25,000.
With specially commissioned illustrations by Lee John Phillips, (worth a follow himself – he is currently engaged in his own shed project in Wales, drawing the estimated 100,000 objects in his grandfather’s shed – he’s currently drawn 4,600 of them), the book covers every element of the build, from sourcing the right materials to choosing the right tools.
For anyone who buys this book – and follows it to the word – we’d like to see the results. Email us your finished sheds at info@holeandcorner.com with your pictures and we’ll publish them online. It should only take you two weeks so look out for our gallery in November…
How to Build a Shed (£14.99, out now) is published by Laurence King