I want a shed

When I was younger so much younger than today - I had a shed. When living at my parents house in my mid teens I had a large space at the bottom of the garden I could call my own.

The main photograph was taken by lucianvenutian and is under the creative commons licence. The teaser image on the homepage was taken by zebble also under a CC licence.

My shed was an old chicken shed that had been converted to include a window with curtains, a carped, shelves, a desk, electricity and soundproofing.

The soundproofing was because I spent a large part of my teenage years playing the drums and the shed let me play when I liked without annoying anyone else.

It also had elecricity with lighting so I could stay in there late and a computer or two - no internet access though but this was in 1996 - the net access was in my bedroom.

I also had shelves full of books and folder full of various notes, including a dozen or so books full of drum music - I even had a stereo and at one point small television down there.

Now that I’m married with three children - I want that personal space back - somewhere to disappear for a couple of hours and call my own.

Somewhere I can keep my computer, books, music, DVDs and toys (yes I have Doctor Who toys) without them either being played with by my kids or pushed to one side by my wife for her cookery, astrology and parenting books.

When I first posted the idea of wanting a shed to Facebook a friend of mine suggested I was getting old and boring and that I would be wanting a lawnmower next.

He said “What will you do with a shed? You’ll want a f***ing lawnmower next!!! What out Ryan….you’re turning into a normal boring person and I won’t be your friend anymore!!!”

My response was a simple one. I told him that a shed isn’t for keeping tools in. The shed I had as a teenager had electricity, soundproofing, internet access and a fridge. It also had three computers a stereo and a drum kit.

I went on to explain that I want a shed to house my computer equipment, a big screen TV, a couple of guitars and is fully soundproofed so I can lock myself away in a geeky heaven for hours on end.

He then twigged what I was talking about and told me he had something similar in his house - except that his was his own en-suit room with central heating.

I also have a few other male friends with either rooms, sheds, lofts or even garages that they have turned into their own little geeky sanctums - whether the geekyness be for cars, cards, computers or toys - they’re all, in essence - sheds.

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