Our Garden Shed Exterior Reveal - Rooms For Rent blog

Hi Friends!

I have been looking forward to sharing this post with you for quite some time! If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you may have already seen little glimpses of our new garden shed as we’ve been working on it over the past few months. But today, I’m finally sharing the finished exterior, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

What started as a simple idea to create a dedicated space for gardening has slowly turned into one of my favorite projects we’ve worked on around our home.

I’ve always loved the charm of little garden cottages and potting sheds. There is just something about a quaint shed tucked into a garden that feels so inviting to me. I wanted ours to have that same timeless, cottage-inspired feel, while also being a practical space where I could store gardening supplies, arrange flowers, and eventually work on projects for our new raised bed garden.

And now that the exterior is finished, I can finally see that vision coming together!

Thank You to Basketly for partnering with me on this project and providing the beautiful woven baskets featured in this post.

White cottage-style garden shed with French doors surrounded by autumn foliage

A Little Backstory on Our New Garden Shed

Earlier this spring, I shared our plans for a new gardening series called Plant a Garden, where I talked about expanding our gardening area and adding new raised garden beds.

At the time, we had hoped to tackle the entire project over the summer. But as home projects often go, things didn’t quite happen according to our original timeline.

We decided to focus on getting the shed built and finished first, and we’ll be working on the raised garden beds in the spring.

And while I’m certainly looking forward to seeing the entire garden come together, I’m so glad we took the time to focus on the shed this year.

It’s become the starting point for everything else we have planned for this space.

Creating a Cottage-Style Garden Shed

When I first started dreaming up this space, I knew I didn’t want it to feel like a typical storage shed.

I wanted something that felt like a natural extension of our home. Something charming and timeless, with simple architectural details that would look beautiful nestled among the flowers and garden beds.

Our new shed measures 12 feet by 16 feet, giving us plenty of room for gardening supplies, a potting bench, and all the little things that come along with spending time in the garden. You can see all the progress of the shed being built HERE.

I especially love the French doors, the divided-pane windows, and the dormer window along the roofline. Those details give the shed so much character and make it feel like a little cottage of its own.

Of course, once the shed was built, there were still a few things we needed to do to bring the exterior to life.

And one of the biggest transformations came from paint!

Painting Our Garden Shed

New garden shed with natural wood siding before painting

When our shed was first built, it had natural wood siding. While I loved the warmth of the wood, I knew that painting the exterior would help create the soft, cottage-inspired look I had been envisioning.

I wanted a warm white that would feel timeless, but not too bright or stark against the natural surroundings.

After considering different options, I chose Pearly White by Sherwin Williams, using their Duration Exterior paint.

It’s a beautiful, soft white that has just enough warmth to keep the shed feeling inviting.

Before we started painting, we had quite a bit of prep work to do.

Garden shed with windows masked and wood knots primed before exterior painting

We taped off the windows and doors so I could use my paint sprayer, and primed the knots in the wood siding using Sherwin Williams White Pigmented Shellac Primer. This step was especially important because we wanted to help prevent the natural wood knots from bleeding through the finished paint.

It’s one of those behind-the-scenes steps that might not be the most exciting part of a project, but it can make such a difference in the finished result.

Homeowners painting the exterior of a cottage-style garden shed

And of course, I had to include a little glimpse of us working on it together!

I think one of my favorite parts of looking back on home projects is remembering all the work that went into them. Sometimes it’s easy to look at a finished space and forget about the countless little steps it took to get there. But those are the things that make a project feel even more meaningful.

Once the exterior was painted, I couldn’t believe how much it transformed the shed. Suddenly, it felt less like a newly built structure and more like the charming little garden cottage I had been dreaming about.

The Paint Colors We Used

For anyone wondering about the exterior paint colors, here are the details:

Exterior siding: Sherwin Williams Pearly White
Paint line: Sherwin Williams Duration Exterior
Primer for wood knots: Sherwin Williams White Pigmented Shellac Primer
French doors: Custom-mixed warm gray

For the French doors, I wanted a little contrast against the white siding, but nothing too dark.

I was envisioning a soft, warm gray with just the slightest earthy undertone. I ended up mixing a custom color until I had the shade I was looking for.

Unfortunately, that means I don’t have an official paint color name to share for the doors, but I love how the color turned out!

The contrast is subtle, which is exactly what I wanted.

Warm gray French doors on a Pearly White garden shed

Adding the Finishing Touches

Once the painting was finished, I couldn’t wait to start adding some of those finishing touches that make a space feel complete.

We added landscaping around the front of the shed, and I love how the plants are beginning to soften the edges and help it feel more connected to the surrounding garden.

I also love the natural wood treads on the front steps. They bring in just the right amount of warmth against the painted siding.

And with fall in full swing here in New England, I couldn’t resist decorating the steps for the season!

I gathered a collection of pumpkins and gourds in soft, muted colors and mixed them with ornamental grasses and flowering plants.

I wanted everything to feel natural and slightly undone, as though it belonged right there in the garden.

Nothing too fussy or overly decorated. Just a few thoughtful touches to celebrate the season.

Decorating with Woven Basket Planters

One of my favorite finishing touches was adding these beautiful woven baskets from Basketly.

I have always loved decorating with natural materials, and woven baskets are something I use throughout our home. They add warmth, texture, and that collected feeling I am always drawn to.

So when I had the opportunity to collaborate with Basketly, I knew their baskets would be perfect for our new garden shed.

Garden shed steps decorated with woven baskets, ornamental grasses, and pumpkins

I chose a variety of sizes to create a layered look on the front steps, found HERE.

For the larger baskets, I added ornamental grasses (found HERE) to bring in height and movement. I love how the soft, wispy grasses contrast with the woven texture of the baskets.

Woven garden baskets filled with ornamental grasses and seasonal flowers

For the smaller baskets, I tucked in flowering plants and ornamental cabbages, then scattered pumpkins and gourds around them to fill in the spaces. What I love most about these baskets is that they feel equally at home outdoors in the garden as they do inside.

They’re simple, timeless pieces that I can imagine using in so many different ways throughout the seasons. And they were just what I needed to finish decorating the shed for fall.

Muted pumpkins and flowering cabbage arranged on garden shed steps

I’m so thankful to Basketly for partnering with me on this project and providing the beautiful woven baskets featured in this post.

What’s Next for Our Garden Shed?

Even though the exterior is finished, we still have more plans for this space!

Inside, we’ve been working on creating a functional potting area with a reclaimed wood bench and plenty of room for my collection of terra-cotta pots and gardening supplies.

I have a few more ideas for the interior that I’m excited to share, but I’ll save those details for another post.

And of course, the biggest project still ahead of us is the raised bed garden.

Next spring, we’ll be turning the surrounding area into the garden space I’ve been dreaming about, with raised beds and pathways that connect everything together.

I can already picture myself spending mornings out here tending to flowers, gathering stems for arrangements, and enjoying all the little moments that come with growing a garden.

But for now, I’m just going to enjoy this part of the process.

A Little Reminder That Creating a Home Takes Time

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that creating spaces you love doesn’t happen all at once.

Sometimes projects take longer than we planned. Sometimes our ideas change along the way. And sometimes we have to put one part of a project on hold while we focus on another.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the progress we’ve made.

When I look out at our new garden shed, I don’t just see another finished project. I see the beginning of something we’ve been dreaming about creating for our home.

And even though the garden beds aren’t finished yet, I’m so thankful for how far this space has come.

I can’t wait to see how it continues to grow and change with each new season.

Thanks so much for following along and sharing in the excitement of this project with me!

I’d love to know — if you had a little garden cottage of your own, how would you use it? For gardening, flower arranging, or maybe just a quiet place to escape with a cup of coffee?