12 Essentials to Stock Your Backyard Shed Like a Pro

The humble shed. For generations, men have retired to the backyard shed to tend to pot plants, tinker with engines, bang on some nails, or simply escape the wife. The shed is a place of self-expression, of creativity and purpose. It gives meaning to life and creates satisfaction. It offers time to reflect on domestic arrangements and the opportunity to ponder life’s greatest mysteries. It’s a place to hone your skills and trust in the capabilities of your hands.

In other words, the backyard shed is bloody awesome.

But not every backyard shed has it right. Some shed owners simply don’t know how to stock this coveted piece of man’s paradise, and as a result the backyard shed fritters away into a desolate forgotten land. This is sacrilege! We simply can’t let this injurious treatment occur, so to help you out, here’s a list of must-have items for every backyard shed…

1. Power drill

The power drill is one of the most useful, versatile tools ever to enter the toolshed, yet surprisingly, many tool sheds don’t have one. A power drill can be used as a high-powered screwdriver, sander, paint mixer, and brickwork hole puncher. Drills come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and degrees of power, so talk to your local hardware worker to find out what drill best suits your needs.

2. Shovel and spade

People commonly get shovels and spades confused as the same tool, but while similar in look, they both serve different purposes. Shovels are great for scooping dirt and soil from one area to another, but a spade will slice through even the hardest, most compact soil.

3. Gloves

Gloves come in handy for all sorts of indoor and outdoor work, preventing your weekends being ruined by nasty blisters, cuts, and thorns. Ideally, you want to shop for a good pair of leather gloves that will protect your hands from most things, including chemical burns.

4. Scissors

Deadheading flowers, snipping herbs, and opening bags of potting soil doesn’t require anything fancy – just a simple pair of household scissors. Any real gardener should always carry a pair of scissors.

5. Pruning shears

Pruning shears, also called hand pruners, are strong enough to prune hard branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes up to 2 cm thick. There are three different blade designs: anvil, bypass, and parrot-beak. Anvil pruners have only one blade and tend to crush the stem, while bypass pruners are more like scissors with one curved blade. Parrot beak pruners work well on narrow stems.

6. Peg board

A peg board makes for a great organiser, is inexpensive to buy, and can be easily fitted to the wall of your shed. It allows you to hang and display your tools, allowing for adjustment where needed.

7. Solar shed light

Installing a solar shed light can provide you will a full night of illumination if needed, providing the solar receptor faces the sun. They work just like normal lights with a light switch on the wall, but using LED fixtures, you won’t need to worry about regularly changing the bulb.

8. Flip down TV

Why choose between your favourite TV program and the project you’re working on in the shed if you don’t have to? A flip-down TV screen is great for long hours spent in the shed or for watching ‘How To’ guides for building things. When not in use, it neatly tucks away under a shelf.

9. Hammer

This one’s a given, right? A hammer delivers a sudden blow to an object and is a must to drive nails, fit parts, forge metal, and break objects apart. Hammers have been used since before 2,600,000 BCE, so if you haven’t got one already, hurry down to the hardware store now.

10. Utility knife

One of the most popular types of workplace utility knife is the retractable or folding knife, also known as the Stanley knife, box cutter, or craft knife. Designed to be a multi-purpose cutting tool, it’s lightweight and easy to use for marking cut lines, trimming plastic or wood, or cutting tape, cord, cardboard, and other packing materials.

11. Handsaw

Handsaws have been around for thousands of years, used to cut wood. Look for a tungsten tip saw blade, which will take high levels of wear and tear and still cut with precision.

12. Toolbox

A properly outfitted toolbox is essentially a problem solver you can carry around your home and garden. It should be able to take on just about any small problem, be it plumbing, mechanical, or woodwork. Be sure to include a tape measure, a selection of screwdrivers both big and small, a variety of nails, spanners and sockets, pliers, allen keys and a level.