Have you ever dreamed of having your own little space to call your own, somewhere you can retreat to away from domestic goings on, noise and sticky fingers?

Apparently she sheds are the new man caves and they’re popping up all over the country, created by women who want somewhere they can go to read, think and even sleep.

To be honest you don’t even need a shed: if you haven’t got one you could always commandeer an alcove or a corner at home.

Over the last few months I’ve been gradually creating my own she shed, ever since I gave up cajoling Misery Guts and the kids to come to our allotment with me and I adopted it as my own private bolthole.

Previously a place we stored gardening tools, a hose and a paddling pool, the shed is now my very own version of a man cave where I can sit and read a magazine, sip (hot) tea and eat a sandwich in peace without being interrupted 10,000 times.

Google ‘she sheds’ and you’ll find sheds with chandeliers, sumptuous sofas and full-on drapes. You can even buy your own She Shed sign, and there are all sorts of styles and designs you can choose from to personalise your she shed for you. A she shed needn’t cost a fortune to create, so I thought I’d share what I did.

Here’s how to make your own she shed without breaking the bank:

1. Make a list of what you need to make your shed comfortable. A bit like those rare occasions you get to leave the house sans kids, you’ll probably find you don’t actually need that much at all. A chair, a cushion and some form of tea making facilities just about covered it for me. Oh, and I’m considering installing a wine rack. That’s not a joke.

2. Upcycle. Have a look around the house and see if there’s anything you don’t use at home but you could use in your shed. I upcycled an old wicker storage box we weren’t using and made it into a table, pinched a pair of Laura Ashley cushions I’d put away so the kids couldn’t wreck them and relocated an oil lamp we’ve only ever used once or twice.

3. Take a trip to your local pound shop. Poundland has just launched a gardening range in partnership with Charlie Dimmock (the one from Ground Force who got dads all hot under the collar) and everything, is, you guessed it, £1. They very kindly sent me a box full of goodies ranging from tools I can use in the garden like secateurs and a kneeling mat to things to beautify my shed, like this duck-egg blue bird box and cute ‘home grown tastes better’ sign.

I’ve never actually shopped in a pound shop before (how have I missed these?!) and always having been of the opinion that you get what you pay for I thought everything would look and feel like it cost £1. But I was surprised at the quality of the range and would never have guessed it came from a pound shop.

4. Decorate with plastic. I used plastic bunting instead of pricier fabric bunting (£2.99) and bought what Misery Guts would call ‘tat’ made out of plastic instead of glass, like this pink plastic humming bird (also £2.99).

5. Don’t forget to think about facilities! My she shed is equipped with what no self-respecting she shed should be without: a potty! My shed isn’t at the end of the garden but on an allotment, and you’ve got to go somewhere…

Charlie Dimmock has also made a video featuring top tips on gardening for beginners, gardening with kids and gardening when you don’t actually have a garden.

Do you fancy having a she shed or man cave? Or if you’ve already got one, I’d love to hear about it!

We were sent the Charlie Dimmock gardening products free of charge for the purpose of review by Poundland. As always all opinions are my own and based on my own honest experience.

Linking up with…