WILL MOSES

That’s not the only creature comfort. Inside Stephaine’s she-shed you’ll find a fully stocked bar, a comfy couch, and a wall-mounted TV that connects to Netflix. But make no mistake: This is not a man cave. The small, welcoming space has been painstakingly planned and assembled by a female decorating mastermind, a woman who thrills to the hunt of desired objects.

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In her shed, Stephaine seeks to achieve what she describes as a “vintage nautical feel.” On one wall, “AHOY” is spelled out in a vertical arrangement, with a small ship’s wheel resting nearby. “Some things, like these letters—I saw them several years ago and bought them—I never had a place for in the house,” she says. Other decorative elements in the shed are more recent acquisitions, like the two vintage bathing suits that she found on Etsy and framed side-by-side on the wall behind the couch.

SHE-SOURCES

Thinking of my own cottage, I feel a kinship to this woman who scours flea markets, antiques shops, and websites in search of what she needs to transform vision into reality. I’m betting that when Stephaine gathers girlfriends in her shed, they want to stay awhile to learn the story of the resonant iron bell (a replica of the last-call bell in a Provincetown bar, and a gift to her husband from his mother) or the porthole window (discovered at one of Stephaine’s favorite haunts, Buddha & Beads).

“I love a treasure—something with a story, or with character,” she says. Stephaine is talking about her favorite finds, but it seems to me she could just as easily be describing her very own she-shed.

Do you know a house with an irresistible story? Contact Yankee home and garden editor Annie Graves, with photos, at annieg5355@yahoo.com.

“A few years ago we built a lot of man caves,” says Lynne McGrath of Pine Harbor Wood Products in Harwich, Massachusetts. “They were all about electronics: wide-screen TV, big speakers. The she-shed is more of a quiet getaway.” But whether a small building is destined to be a he-shed, she-shed, their-shed, or stuff-shed, Lynne has noticed that “whenever a couple comes in looking to build a shed, the woman is the driving force as to design, style, and use.”

Lynne operates Pine Harbor with her husband, Jamie, whose father started the business back in the 1970s. Today, Pine Harbor offers sheds in a range of sizes and styles (Stephaine Meads’s and Linda Colgan’s sheds are both customized Pine Harbor buildings). “We cut all the lumber here and then build on-site,” Lynne says. “A basic shed can be installed in a day.” Through a partnership with Walpole Outdoors, Pine Harbor offers delivery and installation across New England.

Here’s a sampling of other New England companies offering standard and customizable small buildings and ready-to-build shed kits:

Jamaica Cottage Shop

South Londonderry, VT. 866-297-3760; jamaicacottageshop.com

New England Outdoor Sheds & Gazebos

Methuen, MA. 978-705-6480; neoutdoor.com

Pine Harbor Wood Products

Harwich, MA. 800-368-7433; pineharbor.com

Reeds Ferry Sheds

Hudson, NH. 888-857-4337; reedsferry.com

Stephen Ray (shown in his studio, OPPOSITE ) jokes that his affinity for barns comes partly from a belief that “when I was born I went home with the wrong parents—city folks— instead of my farm family.”