Operation She Shed | #5 The Build {Painting The Interior}

Part 5 of Operation She Shed is all about painting the interior.

I said from the start that these posts weren’t going to be that sexy — and I wasn’t kidding — but in order to see the butterfly, you have to begin with a dull old chrysalis.

Or something like that.

Anyway. Just to put this post into context, we’d already boarded and insulated the shed — you can read about that here.

Because my She Shed is — as it’s name would suggest — a shed (and not a room in an actual house) we decided against having the walls professionally plastered.

But in order to tidy up the joins and all the screw holes in the plasterboard — and make it look half decent — I used plasterboard tape.

It’s like a wide mesh self-adhesive tape — perfect for reinforcing joints and repairing cracks in plasterboard. You stick it over the fissures and then can use a filler to smooth over the mesh.

This is the perfect solution if you’re not going to skim over the walls with plaster.

Once you’ve sanded it you can barely see where the joins once were, then you’re ready to paint.

I filled with my favourite filler. It’s called Toupret and is available from most trade centres; of all the fillers I’ve used over the years, this is the best I’ve come across. It was a recommendation from a professional painter and decorator — who used to live next door to us— and it’s amazing stuff. Once sanded back, you can get a really fantastic, smooth finish and when it’s painted it’s totally invisible.

Once this had been done, we gave the entire inside of the shed a lick of paint with Valspar Trade Matt Emulsion for Walls and Ceilings; would highly recommend this —  it was amazing quality — really thick — and the coverage was fantastic. Super opaque with barely the need for a second coat.

A good thing when you’ve got such a lot to do!

A Little Snapshot Of What We Did

Operation She Shed | Plasterboard tape over the joins
Platerboard tape over the joins.
Operation She Shed | Filling the joins
Mr TD getting stuck in with the filler
Operation She Shed
The filled plaster joins, before sanding
Operation She Shed | Painting the plasterboard
The first coats of paint going on!
Operation She Shed | Valspar Matt Trade Emulsion
Best paint we’ve used in a long time! Valspar Matt Trade Emulsion
she shed
Starting to resemble a real room — rather than a garden shed

From Dreams to Reality

Incredible how different it looked once it had been painted.

No longer a shed but an actual solid room.

Needless to say, there was mucho celebrating once this part had been completed. After years of plotting and planning, in my head, I could really see what my She Shed was finally going to be like.

In real life.

I made a little film of our progress — pop and have a look if you’ve a spare coupe of minutes. It certainly shows a bit more of the scale of the building.

Enormous thanks to the fab team at B&Q for working with me on our ‘She-Shed’ project — and being so incredibly patient! Most of the supplies that we used to complete the shed build can be bought either online or in your local B&Q store.

This is a collaborative post but all thoughts, words and images — as ever — are entirely my own.

Please share, if you like this!

About Caro Davies

Caro Davies art directed fashion and interiors before leaving the world of design to pursue a career in social media. She can now be found chasing the light — and two small twin boys.

31 thoughts on “Operation She Shed | #5 The Build {Painting The Interior}”

  1. Was this ever finished? I’m thinking of building one and would love to hear how well it worked out as a workspace :)

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      1. Oh wow, I would love to see and hear about all the ups and downs. Any tips before I start mine in the spring would be most welcome!

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  3. Yay! Now I want a she shed of my own. Totally with you on the quaility of Valspar paint too. I love their scrubbable ones xxx

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  4. Looks like you guys are making good progress! And it’s impressive you are tackling this yourselves. Can’t wait to see the finished space.

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  5. I am now fully up to date on all ‘she-shed’ progress. Well done you guys. That’s a huge project and you have an equally huge space there. How wonderful to see it coming together. Do we have a design in mind yet? #HomeEtc

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    1. Aah I bet you wouldn’t!! It’s something I’ve done ever since I was a teen — I’ve always done painting and decorating. So nice to be able to make and do things yourself! :)

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  8. Ooh it’s really starting to come together, and it’s a much bigger space than I thought- I am super-envious! I love reading posts that show the process of a build/renovation even if they’re not deemed sexy, as it’s good to see what really goes into a project. Can’t wait to see the next stage! x

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    1. It’s the same size as the boys room (take a couple of feet either side). I filled that space when it was my office so it made sense to get something that was around the same size. I’ve got so much stuff — so happy we’ve got a big enough garden to accommodate it!! LOL!! xx

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  11. It’s really taking shape, so exciting! We used a valspar Pantone paint for part of our kitchen and it covered so well. Can’t wait to see the next stage of your she shed! Xx #HomeEtc

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  13. I love it!!!!! Need to go and have a cold shower now ;)
    Love the vlog! You have the cutest child labourer in the world :)
    Can’t wait for the next instalment. #HOMEETC

    Reply

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