Gail Wynne from Oaklahoma has officially raised the bar for creating an organized garden house!
"Some time ago I promised to send pictures of the inside of my garden house. I've cleaned it up for a "New Girl in Town" luncheon I'm having on Monday so I thought it was a good time to take photos.
When I was growing up my grandmother let my sisters and cousins and me use her wash house as our play house. I've carried those memories all these years knowing that some day I wanted a space like that for gardening. In 2007 it came to pass. The garden house is 20' X 20' designed by my husband John to fit into our backyard looking like it was built at the same time as our Cape Cod home here on the plains. They were actually built 50 years apart.
The inside walls are lined with peg board allowing me to re-arrange with the seasons. The furniture was made for the space by an amateur carpenter who collected parts of homes being torn down and turned them in to the most wonderful pieces. The chicken nest is from my childhood. My family raised chickens and I gathered eggs from the nest and dozens more everyday. The stained glass was made by my mother for her home. It's my family's brand.
The table we had made. It's higher than a normal table because I use it for flower arranging.
This is my dream space. A place to arrange flowers, start seedlings, store everything, have lunch with friends, enjoy small dinners and Easter Egg hunts with dozens of children."
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Comments
your garden house is much cleaner than the house I live in! and so well organized too
Jeff, Isn't it too early for you to be up and awake in your part of the world?
Marsha, I wake up every day by 4,,, apparently it's my job to wake up the chickens
So nicely organized and so much room! I am truly envious. My gardening things are cramped into a corner of a 1-car garage that is also home to said car and two rather large motorcycles! Your garden house really is a dream come true!
Ahh, the stuff of dreams!! Thank you for sharing this inspiring goal!
Congratulations for having your childhood memories duplicated in your own back yard.
The craftsmanship by the furniture builder & your husband is outstanding. Besides the stained glass it looks like some of the gardening tools might have belonged to your mother or grandmother. Good luck ,Joe
It is really a marvelous, meticulous, selective practical real thinker and worker. Amazing. Hats off. Mantha V Sharma, Chennai. India
What a lovely spot. You have made it perfect. I love pegboard and the display of all your tools mixed in with antiques is my cup of tea.
Well, Gail, I can almost hear the symphony of sighs of admiration and appreciation that are added to my own from any gardener who is viewing these pictures. Your interior has charm up the wazoo (pray tell, what is a "wazoo" anyway? Ha, maybe I don't want to know). All the furniture pieces seem to whisper stories from years gone by and add so much ambiance to your perfectly charming space. Congrats to you, your husband, John and the additional crafts people who participated in making your vision such a delightful reality.
Wazoo: truly, you don't want to know.......
:)
Ha, I'll take your word for it, Tim. Just, maybe, ignorance is bliss.
Want one of my own! The only thing possibly missing is a photo of the outside of your dream garden house. That pegboard is such a great idea. Thank you for sharing.
You can see the outside at: https://www.finegardening.com/gails-garden-oklahoma
Wow! Seriously beautiful.
Wonderful! I love the pegboard and its' use. And that old hutch is a beauty. GREAT space for all you have intended it for.
Wow! That's all I can say. I think that's enough!
I join the symphony! Your whole Garden House is testament to gardening and all it encompasses. Congratulations on filling it with memories and dreams, hobbies and art, and most of all, the love of making it a place to share.
I think the hand built furniture is a marvelous way to store and enjoy the things you enjoy using - so much more enjoyable than stuffing it all away in a place which becomes little more than grubby, untidy storage!
Great work by all of those involved and a great lesson for the rest of us. Many thanks.
I so agree, Eddi...esp. since I am the queen of "grubby, untidy storage". And, I don't even use my off time during the winter to clean up and organize my act.
Glorious, and thanks for the link to the previous post with the views of the exterior. I'd definitely want to spend as much time in there as in the garden! Do you use it for any seed starting or for storing plants until you can get them in the garden?
I do start some seeds. Am anxiously awaiting my first shipment from Floret Flowers. She had some varieties that are new to me. There is a grow light above the potting bench but it's actually hung a little high. Maybe I'll get that fixed when I get my seeds going soon.
I've never stumbled upon Floret Flowers. Looks great. I'll be checking them out. Happy gardening!
Wow! Even in my dreams I had not envisioned such a perfect place! It is beautiful and beautifully functional at the same time, warm and cozy feeling, yet elegant and spacious. I'd never leave it!
Peg board covering the walls is brilliant.
We all now have a new benchmark to attain! Thank you?!
Marsha - I followed your link to the posting of pictures of the outside of your garden house. I don't know which is my favorite: the inside or outside. I am in awe of both! I have a small shed of my own (only 8 X 10 and not nearly as elegant) and I am curious about your flooring material. Is it linoleum? It's very attractive and it appears to hold up extremely well. Thank you for the inspiration and so many wonderful ideas. I'll bet you just go out and sit with a cup of tea and remember the fond times you had when in your grandmother's wash house as a child.
Yes, the floor is good old fashioned linoleum squares. Red with a white fleck.
It gets mopped a couple of times a year whether it needs it or not!
I do spend time there reading, napping and plotting garden changes.
Thanks Gail - I think I will give them a try in my garden shed. The squares will be even easier to install over the subfloor than sheet linoleum. Will have to wait till spring, however, as it's quite cold here in NW Arkansas. Brrr!
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I'm afraid I'm getting more credit for being organized than I deserve. You haven't seen inside the drawers or the floor when it's covered with larkspur drying and going to seed. I highly recommend wall to wall pegboard. Since the pegs can be moved it allows me to rearrange with the needs of the season. The only thing I would do differently is add skylights. Other than that it's just right.
Gail you have created a delightful place for all sorts of uses. It is making us all jealous!! Thank you for sharing your photos and your ideas.
Gail... your garden house is the stuff dreams are made of, just looking at the photos makes me feel warm and cozy inside. You and your sisters and cousins were lucky little girls to have a grandma that knew how to create a lifetime of beautiful memories and dreams. It looks like you are passing that tradition on to all you know!
Inspirational! Love the space. Hmmm. I must go get pegboard!
Wow! I heartily concur! What a beautiful, useful space. And so well organized. (At least it is right now, so go ahead and take credit for it - it is deserved.) I am going to have to run these pix by my husband. We have been talking about building me another garden work space and this is perfection. Thanks for all the ideas and for sharing.
Gail, what a charming place to organize your gardening. Great job! Oh, and I do believe that "Wazoo" is a college in MO:)
Oh my, I love this post...especially the chicken nest, being a collector of chickens and all !!What a lovely little garden house. The peg board sure works..!! I could see spending so much time in it. I loved the outside too..!! such a good job.
I love this version of the "man cave." A few years ago our local flower show (Springfest) in Sussex County , NJ had a competition for decorated sheds. It was the hit of the flower show. Some were done as feminine spaces, and others were masculine, but the hook was having your own "room of your own." I love your shot of the Bose sound system to flesh out the ambiance of the space. Thanks for sharing.
Dreamy and inspirational space Gail! I hope your tradition continues on in the family... this is definitely what happy childhood and adult memories are made of.
Hi Gail, I am SO in love with your furniture. In fact everything about your space speaks to me. We collect similar antiques and display them alike. Thank you for taking the time to share and inspire us all. I'm sure the friends who come for the luncheon will feel very special. Oh, and I loved revisiting your past post.
If it's heated can I move in?
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