by Michaela Hart
Photography by Mark William
a backyard she shed becomes crafting central
A little over a year ago, crafting supplies and projects had completely overtaken Ale Hickman’s kitchen and dining table. Longing to recapture her home space, she decided the old chicken coop in the backyard had to go—replaced with a new space she could call her crafting own. She designed and her husband built a new, permanent craft space, a tidy gray-sided building with bright white trim and welcoming paneled front door.
Hickman has been crafting for fun forever. As a child, with an interior designer grandmother she played with sample books, fabric swatches and paint brochures galore. Now a busy mother of two (plus dogs), her “crafty” life has a delightful she shed focus, with plenty of dedicated room for her hobby-turned-business, called Best Day Ever.
Hickman became interested in making things she could finish quickly while her children were napping, joining 100- day challenges on Instagram. Some of her creations were wildly popular online. To her surprise, a candle covered with Halloween bat stickers went viral on Pinterest. As a result, Hickman began her deep dive into crafts as a business.
Her new workspace sits amid pots of flowering annuals, a graceful desert willow tree and gravel walkways that provide easy-care landscaping. Organized bins and boxes of supplies on simple metal shelves line the kid-friendly interior with a vivid rainbow arching over one corner. Several workstations (enough room for multiple crafters to work) are set up for various creative activities. Two big windows open the space, bringing the yard and garden in. The floor is indestructible concrete; the walls and ceiling are textured and painted bright white.
There’s even a quiet corner with an easy chair and throw rug, perfect for relaxing with a book or a lapful of needlework. All of these design elements synchronize into the perfect spot for running a creative business, and as such, Hickman’s crafting operations have successfully migrated from the family kitchen table to her charming, purpose-built she shed tucked in a peaceful backyard corner.
With an intriguing personal slogan (I want to make everything once!), it’s likely her crafting she shed will see many years of glitter and glue. Who wouldn’t want to make a hanging disco ball out of yarn and sparkly pieces of compact discs … sounds like she shed heaven fun, doesn’t it?
