Stylish Sheds

Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways

Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations

By Debra Prinzing, Photographs by William Wright

2008, Clarkson Potter, $30.00, hardcover

More JOY! More play, more space – who among us couldn’t use more of these precious commodities, often the very first casualties of a hectic twenty-first-century lifestyle? Enter the shed. Not the calamitous repository for rusty tools, last years seeds, musty boxes and sticky spider webs presently hidden in so many of our backyards but “…an escape, a retreat, a sanctuary, an art studio, a dining room, or even a whimsical playhouse…where we showcase our personalities and preferences”.

Click here to read my complete review of Debra’s latest book.

Debra Prinzing is a colleague, mentor, champion and dear friend of the highest order. We met in college when we were wide-eyed textile and art majors respectively just entering the design world. Fast forward nearly 15 years and our paths crossed again in the Northwest horticulture scene where she was a well respected garden writer and I owned a small specialty nursery. Since then we’ve toured gardens, yakked on the phone, had some wonderful roadtrips and shared a great deal of joy as well as life’s inevitable loss. I will forever be thankful to Debra for her kindness, encouragement, support and gentle pushes that get me out of my comfort zone and into a life I count richer for her presence.

Looking beyond the practicalities of providing a charming garden focal point, maximizing space and creating a chic destination for afternoon tea or evening cocktails, Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways gently exhorts us to ponder a place of our own, elevating the notion of a simple outbuilding to a place of relaxation, repose and sanctuary. For me it was a breath of fresh inspiration and I truly hope this will be the summer that I finally outfit my vintage trailer as the backyard clubhouse and cozy folly I see in my mind and know that my life is waiting for.