This update is for everyone who’s been asking about our shed now that we finally painted it to match our white house. It took us a year, but while we were at it we also swapped the light fixtures and added window boxes. I’m honestly a little obsessed with sheds these days—so much so that “extremely passionate about sheds” would probably be in my fictional dating profile.
This is a big personality shift for me. For most of my adult life I didn’t care about sheds—sometimes I even resisted them. I remember when John wanted one in the tiny backyard of our beach house and I fought it for a year. We lived with everything that should have been stored in a shed strewn through the foyer and laundry room: sandy beach chairs, umbrellas, bikes, tile, paint, and tools. It was chaos and uncomfortable for everyone.
Eventually I relented and let John have his beach house shed, and that’s when my opinion changed. Sheds aren’t just practical—they can also be charming. In fact, after seeing the pink shed at the beach house, I threatened to move in and never leave.
What did it for me were the details: the light fixtures and the window box. Little design choices like those made the shed feel intentional and pretty instead of merely utilitarian. That’s when I became a true shed enthusiast, ready to champion the benefits of smart outdoor storage: more organization, added privacy, and a cozier, more contained yard when placed thoughtfully.
So back to the Richmond shed: after procrastinating for more than a year, we finally primed and painted it. Here’s an early shot of the shed after primer, taken before the leaves changed color.
And yes—this was taken just before we discovered an unexpected hornet situation. That’s a story for another post (you can read more about it in the linked podcast if you’re curious).
At that stage you can see the primer’s bluish tint; the final paint is a true white to match the house trim and doors. For the doors we used the same soft French blue found on all three of our house’s exterior doors: Tranquility from Benjamin Moore’s Affinity line (it’s listed as “Tranquility AF” on the swatch, which always gives me a little chuckle).
Painting the shed the same white as the house and matching the door color brought immediate cohesion to the property. The shared roof shingles also help the shed feel like a natural extension of the house rather than an afterthought.
Over time, the original lights started to look too boxy and heavy for such a narrow structure. We chose more curvy fixtures to soften the straight lines of the shed. I love the pulley-style arm detail and the large round bulbs we added—they give the exterior a friendly, vintage-inspired look that feels balanced and intentional.
The window boxes came from the same vendor as the pink shed’s box because we were so happy with its quality. They’re made from a no-rot material, easy to mount, and include a self-watering feature. You can pour a generous amount of water into the reservoir and it will slowly feed the soil for a week or two before needing more—great for low-maintenance seasonal plantings.
The kitchen window now looks out onto this little vignette while I do the dishes, and I’m not mad about it. The shed feels like a charming anchor point in the yard—an element that adds personality and purpose. Yes, I probably have Shed Fever at this point, and I’ll wear that label proudly.
One big benefit of the shed’s placement is privacy. Our curved backyard backs up to two neighboring properties through the trees, and one neighbor’s yard used to be quite visible in winter when the leaves dropped. Since the shed went in, that view has been blocked—instead we now have a cute, functional structure that makes our yard feel more enclosed and peaceful. It’s a thoughtful visual buffer that both we and our neighbors appreciate.
Inside, the shed is organized for tools and seasonal gear—if you want a full walkthrough of our storage solutions, there’s a linked post showing how we set it all up. The shed gives us a neat place to keep items out of the house while staying accessible when we need them.
So that’s the short tale of how my casual indifference toward sheds blossomed into genuine appreciation. A few thoughtful details—paint, lighting, and window boxes—transformed a practical outbuilding into a beloved part of the yard.
P.S. You can read more about getting this shed back in 2016 in the linked post, see the full pink shed rundown from our beach house project, and check out how we organized both the Richmond shed and the beach house shed in their respective posts.
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