Creative way to help Carole battle condition

Carole Garwood, of Rastrick, was suffering with depression when her husband bought her the shed to use as “her space to escape” to do her arts and crafts that she had previously been doing inside the house.

At the start, Carole had redesigned the inside of the shed, focusing on her theme of ‘all you need is love’, but a friend suggested that Carole should take it one step further, so she decorated the outside as well with all her favourite things including birds and butterflies.

“It got to the stage [in my depression] that I knew I had to do something for me, so after my husband bought me the shed I went around finding things that I could decorate the shed with,” she said.

“The shed has allowed me to take my mind off of everything, which has helped.

“It is about me doing something that is my space and that has made me realise that I am just as good as everyone else and I thank God for that.”

The shed, named Carole’s Creations, has now been entered into Shed of the Year 2015 - as seen on Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces - after family and friends urged Carole to enter the national competition.

“For me, it is not about winning the competition but actually entering it and I feel that I have achieved something from doing this,” added Carole.

“I now live by the motto ‘life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about dancing in the rain’.”

Carole started the shed last December and the project is still ongoing.

She held a shed-warming party recently to showcase the artistic work to her family and friends.

To view Carole’s Creations, visit www.readersheds.co.uk.