Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Organizing the Garden Cottage

My garden cottage has been a work in progress since I bought the house back in April. 

I absolutely loved the fact that I would have a whole separate space for all my gardening tools, pots, soil, etc - it was a great selling point for me. 


However.....when I closed on the house and finally got in there to take a look around...I fell right through the floor. It was a hot mess. 

Don't get fooled by the photo above...that was taken after we put a ton of work into this building. 

I wrote about Phase I of the garden cottage improvements back in this post  and then shared Phase II in a second post, which you can view here. 

Since then, there have been other updates to the garden cottage - one is still in progress, so stay tuned on that one - and one was a very nice surprise from my sweetie. 


I woke up one morning in September to see this outside my bedroom window - Sweetie was having the grungy old skylight replaced in the shed - what a treat to have all that sunshine in there! And when I want to start seeds in the potting shed it will definitely help out!


We couldn't even see out of the old skylight - my sweetie tried his hardest to clean it up but it was too far gone. What a difference the new skylight made! This is what it looked like back in September, the morning after installation. 


And what it looks like now in November. 

And since it's November it's time for me to gather up the rest of the garden pots, clean them out, and store them for the winter. I knew I needed more storage - Brad's Daily Deals to the rescue again!!


I had this small metal rack for quite a few years - it has stored flowerpots in two previous homes and was my only shelving in the potting shed. As you can see, it was already overflowing and I still have a bunch of pots outside the shed that need to be cleaned out and stored. 



So when Brad's had these shelves on a daily deal for about $30 each shipped from Walmart I jumped on the deal and ordered two. 


I should have ordered more! These can be used so many different places!!

Next time. 

Anyway, yesterday when I was puttering this was on my list of tasks to complete. I put the shelves together (which was super simple!) and started organizing the pots and gardening supplies that were scattered all around the shed. 


The last project I completed in the dying afternoon light was to rehab my potting bench. It's been on my to-do list for months now and I decided to tackle it right then and there. 


I found a can of deck stain the previous owners had left behind - we haven't been able to figure out where this was used, it must have been something they used prior to the colors that are on the house and deck now. 

But I always hold onto this kind of thing. You never know when you might need it!


When I finally went inside the house to make dinner the shed was in much better shape and the potting bench was drying. 

It was too dark for any decent photos. However it was just the right time for a cocktail!

This morning I headed back out with my camera and froze my little buns off to take a few photos to share with all my blogland friends. 


Look at how lovely and organized my potting shed is now! Do you have any idea how happy this makes me?

Yes, I know I'm pathetic. I can't help it. 


The mulch and moo-doo organic veggie garden soil has been stored in the deck box under the window....which doubles as a nice resting spot when I'm working in here. 


My clay pots and other outdoor pots are all stacked neatly on the small original rack along with the saucers. Having everything stacked by size makes it so much easier for me to find and grab what I need. Also makes it easier to keep things tidy because it's so much simpler and quicker to put items right back where they belong. 


The rack in the far corner holds a few plants I'm hoping will survive the winter. Also some buckets and other tools, lime, organic food for the veggie garden, and other various bits and pieces. The metal boxes on the top will go back on the potting bench for easy access on a daily basis come spring - they hold my gloves and small tools. 


The rack right across from the potting bench holds my houseplant pots as well as some larger garden pots. The top rack has all my self-watering hanging planters and some other lightweight garden pots. 

It's so easy to see exactly what I have now and just looking at everything lined up all neat and tidy makes me smile. 


I still have some things I'd like to do in here - for one thing, I'm going to dig through my bins of old curtains and hang some cute little curtains on the windows. 

I'd like a little chair in here to watch the rain on a spring day. 

I'm thinking of getting a rolling plant rack that I can put in front of the rear French doors - perhaps I can keep my violas alive until the spring if I bring them in now. I'm not sure....but it's worth a try. 

Other than that? Who knows!

But for now....I'm loving my organized little garden cottage. It's come a long, long way since that first day we fell through the floor. 




33 comments:

  1. I'm jealous! That looks AMAZING. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tammie!!! And thank you so much for your visit today!!

      Delete
  2. I'm jealous too! My stuff is scattered all over the garage. I'll be interested to see if you can keep plants in your shed through winter. Are you planning to use lights or heat pads?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not, Diane...and I guess it will depend on how tough our winter is. The Creeping Jenny usually comes back if I overwinter it but I'm not sure if the Violas will. If I start seeds in there in the Spring I will definitely use heat pads and perhaps a grow light. Thanks for your visit!!

      Delete
  3. I'm swooning over your gorgeous, clean, perfectly organized garden shed. I couldn't tell how spacious it was from the first photo of the outside, so when I came to the photo showing the entire inside, I think I might have started whimpering with envy. That photo alone was so worth your buns being frozen. :) What a dream shed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahhh please no whimpering - :)
      I bought curtain rods this evening at Wally World for the shed....does that make me a little bit nutty?

      Thanks for your sweet comments, Laurel!

      Delete
  4. Yes, I know how happy that makes you! I love to have things organized and ready to go too.
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You would be happy puttering around that little garden cottage, Brenda. No doubt you'd have a cute little coffee station set up in there and everything!

      Delete
  5. That looks amazing! Love it! Lots of hard work paid off

    ReplyDelete
  6. That looks amazing! Love it! Lots of hard work paid off

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!! Yes, it's still a work in progress but about a billion times better than on closing day!!

      Delete
  7. What a really great space!! I have a pool cabana and it is so sweet, curtains, wooden signs, but there is so much more I could do out there. I just need to get motivated!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get sidetracked often, Kim - I'll start on a project and then something else comes up and it takes me forever to get back to the first project. It's been that way since I moved on - just moving around the house and grounds from project to project!! Oh well, it will all get done eventually. How lucky you are to have a pool....and a pool cabana!!

      Delete
  8. Honey, you could put a guest out there to sleep! I've seen worst guest rooms--oops, that would be mine upstairs in the attic.

    Just wait till I show my husband your potting shed: "Mountain Mama's shed....your shed. Notice anything different about them?" Maybe this will motivate him. Maybe not because he might say "If Mountain Mama can do it, why can't you?"

    You are so organized! Everything ready to be used next spring, including your refurbished table, nice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha Dewena I guess I could - my daughter keeps saying she wants to turn it into her "tiny house" - I don't know what she'll do for plumbing, though!! Good luck with Hubby's shed!!

      Delete
  9. Oh yes my friend, I DEFINITELY know how happy this makes you! BTDT :).

    You could move in there, or at least turn it into a nightclub. I have a disco ball just waiting for a home. Whadaya say?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I could do a disco ball in there!! That would be fun....all the sparkles as it catches the sun while I'm whiling away the hours dreaming of spring.....let's face it, cocktails are a regular in there so why not a disco ball?

      Delete
  10. Wow, I love that room. My Hubby and I was talking about making one, but we plan on moving in a few years so hopefully we can have one at the new home. For now sharing my gardening things in Hubbys garage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Betty - hey, as long as you have the space to do what you need to do in Hubby's garage it will do for now, right? Thanks for your visit!

      Delete
  11. I really love it. It is very charming. xoxo Su

    ReplyDelete
  12. OMG I love what you did! So quaint!
    XO Ellen from Ask Away
    www.askawayblog.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ellen! I guess that anal organizing part of me took over again, huh?

      Delete
  13. OH this makes me smile, too...what a wonderful space! Like a dream come true! So spacious, and it looks so beautiful in your yard, too. It would be wonderful to have all your gardening goodies organized and right at hand! Following on bloglovin now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Linda!! It is pretty awesome to be this organized....no doubt there will be days when it doesn't look like this (in the middle of spring planting) but when there's ample storage it's so easy to get it back in order quickly! Thanks for your sweet comments and your support of my little humble blog!

      Delete
  14. Ohhhhh this is awesome. Every garden girls dream come true. I am swooning!
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can only imagine how gorgeous you would make it, Kris - it would probably look like a perfect little dream cottage, all white and whispy and ethereal.....the perfect place to escape yet right in the backyard!

      Delete
  15. I remember the earlier posts and it has come a long way indeed! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sure has, Deb! And I'll be hanging curtains this weekend!! :)

      ps it's possible I might be a little crazy....shhhh....don't tell.

      Delete
  16. I love it! It's so organized and all that natural light must be so great for gardening! You are going to enjoy this space so much in the spring! Btw, I like the new look on the blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Carmen!! The light was great when I first moved here...I was able to keep some tender young plants alive in the potting shed until the last frost passed. It will be much better this year with the new skylight and the installation of the 2nd set of French Doors!

      Delete
  17. Replies
    1. I try.....paperwork is my downfall. Hate it. With a passion.

      Delete

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment...I truly love reading your comments and I try to respond to each and every one of your sweet comments right here on my blog page!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
09 10