How to Paint a Shed
A garden shed can be one of the most eye-catching features in a garden. If your shed is visible from inside your home, it’s even more important to get the colour choice right.
Not only does painting a garden shed revive and refresh your garden, our robust ‘Intelligent Exterior Eggshell’ finish provides a protective and weatherproof coating to the wood. This will ensure it stands the test of time and looks beautiful for years to come.
Birdhouses: Spearmint, Carmine, Garden.
Wall: Dark Lead Colour
Tips for choosing a colour
Choosing a colour for your garden furniture should be a fun process, but we have put together some expert colour tips if you need a little guidance…
Choosing a colour that combines well with lots of different hues of green in a garden space is a good place to start. Reds, Blues, Pinks, Neutrals and Yellows all combine well with green.
If you are looking for a delicate, romantic colour for your garden shed, ‘Celestial Blue’ and ‘Normandy Grey’ are perfect choices. Both colours will create a more traditional, ‘country garden’ feel to your outdoor space, as well as being complementary to the natural surroundings.
Wall: Urbane Grey
Window Frames: Royal Navy
Chair: Mister David
Consider combining two colours together to highlight features on your shed. Shown here, ‘Windmill Lane’ has been used on the windows, doors and paneling and ‘Acorn’ has been used on the walls.
If your shed is more of practical space and you would prefer it to be less noticeable, consider painting it in the same colour as the backdrop (whether that’s a fence or a wall). This will cause that the backdrop and the shed to ‘blend’ into each other and the shed will become less visible to the eye. Our ‘Invisible Green’ is ideal for this.
There’s much more natural light in your garden, so you can afford to experiment with darker tones. Here, our ‘Juniper Ash’ has been used to paint the whole shed, paired with an accent of ‘Atomic Red’ on the bench.
To showcase garden furniture, painting the shed in a tone such as ‘Lamp Black’ will act as a backdrop to a pop of colourful furniture like ‘Trumpet’ and ‘Turquoise Blue’.
Once you have chosen your colours, you will need to choose the correct finish for your project…
We recommend our ‘Intelligent Exterior Eggshell’. This finish is quick drying, virtually odourless, weatherproof and self-priming, meaning it can be applied directly onto new or bare wood.
If you would prefer to use an oil based paint with a low sheen, use Tom’s Oil Eggshell.
A Guide To Painting a Wooden Shed using ‘Intelligent Exterior Eggshell’
Priming & Preparation
- Ensure that the shed surface is cleaned.
- Previously painted woodwork must be thoroughly cleaned and sanded, removing any loose or flaking paint.
- Ensure that any resinous knots in softwood and all hardwoods are sealed with Aluminium Wood Primer or knotting compound.
- If you’re making a drastic colour change or painting onto previously painted wood, we’d recommend applying one coat of ‘Intelligent ASP’ (all surface primer). This will help you to achieve your desired colour with fewer topcoats, as well as priming the surface ready for painting.
Far Wall: Yellow-Pink
Cladding: Scree
Woodwork: Loft White
Painting
- Ensure the wood is completely dry, as damp wood should never be painted.
- Stir the paint thoroughly before use. Evenly apply the first coat of ‘Intelligent Exterior Eggshell’ and allow to dry.
- Your shed will be dry to the touch within 2-4 hours, but you will need to wait 16 hours before re-appling the second coat.
- Apply a second coat of ‘Intelligent Exterior Eggshell’.
- Two full coats of ‘Intelligent Exterior Eggshell’ are recommended to achieve full depth of colour.