By MARIE TABELA | Special to the Palisadian-Post
If you watch HGTV and go on journeys with families looking for that perfect new home, you have undoubtedly heard many mentions of the highly coveted “man cave.”
It typically features an area for men to engage in activities such as playing video games or pool, watching TV, and festooning the walls with deer heads and whiskey bottles.
They have become an escape hatch for many house-hunting husbands and fathers.
Finally, women have found their answer to these temples of testosterone: the “she shed.”
Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
It takes the personal oasis idea to a whole new level. They can be renovated old sheds for a few dollars—or custom-built for a few dollars more. There are now guidebooks, like “She Sheds—A Room of Your Own” by Erika Kotite. Lowe’s has pamphlets.
They can be Amish plain or whimsical, as illustrated by the Hometalk bloggers who imported their own from Vermont, of course.
Often, the sheds feature exterior paint and gardens to look like small houses of their very own, and on the interior, the space is customized for its desired purpose.
For some, that is meditation, yoga, curling up with a good book, or even a workspace to hone in on personal interests and hobbies.
No hobbies? No problem.
The she shed can also just be a great place to relax and spend time with yourself or whoever you choose to grant access (think of it as your adult answer to secret blanket fort clubs you built as a child).
Women are finding that the personal space—decorated exactly to their liking without anyone else’s input—allows them to relax, refocus and cherish something of their very own.
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