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Newton’s Jennifer Horton sits at the work space in her unique she shed. The work space is made from an old physician’s exam table and features a cork board wall.
Two identical sheds stand in back of the Hortons’ Nottingham Estates home in Newton. On the left is Barry’s utility shed. Jennifer’s she shed is on the right.
Jennifer Horton sits outside the she shed she helped build. "Women need their space," she says.
Inside Jennifer's she shed, one wall features painted boards of many colors. The she shed has electricity and is furnished with a small refrigerator, TV, microwave, sewing machine, air conditioning and comfy furniture. A person could live in this little shed by adding plumbing facilities.
In 2018, Jennifer Horton went to a raffle to raise money for a shelter for domestic abuse in Massachusetts. The prize was a she shed.
Jennifer said to herself, “I really do need one of these.”
That was the beginning of Jennifer’s journey into the study and construction of the shed in her Newton backyard. The shed has become an oasis for this active, crafty and enterprising southern transplant.
She sheds have been part of the lexicon since about 2015 but really became popular after the State Farm Insurance TV ad in 2018 when a lady’s she shed was burning and she asked the State Farm agent if it was covered by insurance. That TV ad brought she sheds to the attention of millions of American women.
She sheds have been compared to man caves as a private place for a woman to rest, work on crafts, sew, do special projects or just get away.
When Jennifer and Barry Horton moved from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Newton in October 2020, Jennifer thought the time was right to implement her long-held dream and start her she shed. Her shed is located in the backyard of her Nottingham Estates home and is surrounded by beautiful flowers, vegetables grown in raised gardens and comfy furniture.
Since the lot is on a slope, the Hortons had retaining walls built down to the patio. The landscaping, flowers and decor are so attractive that the couple won the Newton Yard of the Month award in August 2021.
“I’ve always loved gardening, and in Massachusetts I had a chicken coop and a greenhouse. I brought some of my perennials along to North Carolina when we moved, especially my peonies and hostas,” Jennifer said.
The yard and gardens truly look wonderful with all of Jennifer’s beautiful flowers, butterfly bush, vegetables and pretty furniture. She is currently making another raised garden with leftover wood from a neighbor’s deck.
Currently the Hortons are enjoying lettuce and growing Brussels sprouts and tomatoes. She also grows potatoes in tarp-like bags. I have sampled some of these potatoes, and they are delicious. “I just come out and pull off leaves from the lettuce, and I haven’t had to buy any for a good while,” she explained. On the outside of the shed, the rain drainage goes into a big barrel that is then used for watering the plants and flowers. It’s a neat design.
When the Hortons first moved in, they worked in the backyard getting everything situated and preparing to build two sheds. The Hortons built a utility shed for Barry’s tools and a she shed for Jennifer. One day as they worked in drizzling rain, one of their friendly neighbors called over the fence, “Don’t you Yankees know how to get out of the rain?”
Jennifer is an excellent cook and hostess. She works in numerous crafts, creating beautiful works of art. Recently she took small shells and colored glass pieces and formed them into a map of Cape Cod, which she then framed. She’s also made colorful scarves for dog collars and crafted quilts from her dad’s old shirts. She works on these with the sewing machine in her she shed.
How she has time to do all these various jobs and projects is amazing because she also has a job as a licensed practical nurse (LPN), which takes up to 36 hours of her week. “I am an LPN and do home care for children in the areas in and around Catawba County,” she said. Barry works part-time and is a retired Cape Cod police officer.
Jennifer is currently working on a design for the back of her neighbor’s shed, which faces the Hortons’ side yard. Her neighbor told her to decorate it in any way she liked since they face it every day. While on a bike ride through Lincolnton, Jennifer spotted a tree form drawn on a building. The branches held different colored little birdhouses. So she made a chalk tree outline on the shed that she will paint black. She and Barry have taken leftover wood and made and painted little wooden birdhouses that will be attached to the painted tree branches.
Jennifer’s she shed actually began in March of 2021. It took about 10 months to build.
It is a beautiful she shed, suited to Jennifer’s needs and filled and decorated with her unique style and many of her crafts and creations.
Jennifer said they spent approximately $8,000 on her she shed, with about half the cost for the electrical work. She also had a pump installed for a hot tub they will get in September.
“I mainly wanted a she shed to do my arts and crafts,” she said. Jennifer sews, uses paints for projects and builds many objects and creations from materials on hand. The shed gives her a perfect place to have her own space in which to work.
Some of the interior building of the shed was done by Jennifer herself, but a Massachusetts friend, Bob Penney, assisted in the building of both the yard’s sheds during a North Carolina visit. Bob drew the design, and the two sheds look identical. But the interior of each is quite different. Barry’s shed is for tools and equipment. Bob and Barry have been friends since age 12, so they greatly enjoyed being together during the building. A lot of the painting, staining, and work on the gray laminate floor inside the she shed was done by Jennifer herself.
When you enter Jennifer’s she shed, you are immediately struck by all the pretty and unusual fixtures and creations. You could almost live in this shed. All that is missing for survival is a toilet and a wet sink. Everything else needed to live comfortably is there. A sofa sits against one wall. There’s also a television, a work space, sewing machine, a heater and an air conditioner. Recently, Jennifer’s 13-year-old granddaughter visited and loved staying in the she shed at night.
A big work space on one wall of the shed was made from a physician’s old exam table. The table was once her dad’s work table. The top was tiled and it has now become her work space. “It is kind of high, so I had to find another base for my sewing machine because it wouldn’t work on that table,” Jennifer said. She did find a nice base in a swap shop and now can move her machine across the floor on soft pads. A small ironing board hangs on one wall.
“I love my shed because it is so functional for my crafts. I can be working on something or perhaps have fabric spread out all across the floor, and just leave it and come back when I can,” she said.
The shed’s walls are made from raw wood that came from a local mill. On one wall, the boards are painted different colors and fitted together in a tongue-and-groove method. The other walls are white, painted boards.
A neat little heater that looks like a small stove heats the shed nicely. When it’s hot, a window unit air conditioner does the cooling. Jennifer also has a small refrigerator and a wall TV. One of her mother’s favorite chairs with a foot rest is a special place where she can sit to relax, read or nap.
Instead of a basket on the floor or table to hold her yarn, Jennifer hangs her yarn baskets on the wall to hold the colorful skeins in a unique fashion.
Darkening curtains over the shed’s window can be closed to reduce glare and for privacy. A curtain over the door can be lowered with the release of a tie in the fabric. Hooks on the wall in the shape of tools, hammer, pliers, etc. are eye-catching.
Jennifer has incorporated items of metal, wood, cloth, and many colors that make the little shed so attractive. A metal hook hanging on one wall is made from an old iron rake. “The rake was left outside, the handle rotted, but I thought I could use the iron hook part for a wall hook,” Jennifer said.
She has a table filled with painting supplies, and a black kitchen island with a wooden top serves well for laying out her materials when sewing. Huge glass containers of corks will be put to some use. Jennifer believes items should be repurposed when possible.
The ceiling of Jennifer’s shed has a pretty chandelier with five lights. One wall holds a cute clock in the shape of a sewing machine. The clock pendulum is a pair of scissors. A special find that Jennifer shared is her She Shed Calendar. She found the calendar at the mall and it is really attractive as each page displays she sheds all built with different designs and themes.
A gifted sign over the doorway says, “Welcome to my she shed.”
“Sometimes when I’m working in here, Barry comes in and takes a nap as I work,” said Jennifer. “It is so wonderful how much we both enjoy this little shed.”
Becky McRee is an author who lives in Newton.
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Newton’s Jennifer Horton sits at the work space in her unique she shed. The work space is made from an old physician’s exam table and features a cork board wall.
Two identical sheds stand in back of the Hortons’ Nottingham Estates home in Newton. On the left is Barry’s utility shed. Jennifer’s she shed is on the right.
Jennifer Horton sits outside the she shed she helped build. "Women need their space," she says.
Inside Jennifer's she shed, one wall features painted boards of many colors. The she shed has electricity and is furnished with a small refrigerator, TV, microwave, sewing machine, air conditioning and comfy furniture. A person could live in this little shed by adding plumbing facilities.
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