My mum is an inspiration – she’s very, very resourceful and always had a knack of turning something potentially throwaway or neglected into something new and useful.

When we were replacing our falling down shed, Mum saw an opportunity. Rather than letting us just send the whole lot off to the Tidy Tip, she got my Dad to saw off the good third or so of the shed and create a “new” bijou version for her smaller garden. What was a 6′ x 4′ rotting mess became a rustic new shed complete with reused window and a new roof.

The recycled ‘bijous’ shed

So when Ronseal got in touch about us trying out some of their Weatherproof Wood Paint, I immediately thought of my Mum’s little shed. When the package arrived, complete with a large tin of Willow paint, a small tin of Ash colour (as well as a host of goodies including bunting, a tin “I Garden Therefore I Am” mug and a planter), I knew we could help bring the little shabby shed to life with a lick of colour.

But you know… work, life and weather have a tendency to get in the way. When the weather was good, I was working. When I had a few days off, it drizzled. It’s been a job on my To Do List for a very, very long time.

Finally this weekend, I actually had some time off when the sun was out and the sky was gloriously blue. So we turned up with paintbrushes in hand and set about making a start on Mum’s shed.

Brushing down the shed

First, I brushed down the shed to get rid of cobwebs and little monsters. We have a bit of a Buddhist take on nature; do no harm. So all creepy crawlies were moved on to pastures new.

The tin needed a good shake and then it was time to get painting… finally! The colour is really lovely – it’s serene but bright and reflects a lot of light back out into the space, really helping to lift what could easily become a gloomy space under the boughs of the neighbours’ gargantuan goat willow tree.

First coat starts to go on

The Ronseal paint is also really easy to apply, nice and thick, and under the balmy late Autumn sun, it also dried very quickly. Ultimately we only had time to do two coats on the front of the shed, and will be back to finish the job, and add a flash of white across the gable to offset the green roof. But so far, so good.

Two coats down and looking great! Now we just need another sunny day to finish the job…

I think it’s looking great already and really lifts that corner of the garden. Once the trellis goes back up and the pots are out the front, it really will be a case of from shabby to chic. Mum is pleased, so that’s good too!

So now we just need another non-damp day in November to get it finished and get that bunting up before winter really sets in! Watch this space…