A PLAYHOUSE FOR GROWN-UPS

From a very young age, Shirlie Kemp, formerly one half of Wham!’s back-up singing duo Pepsi & Shirlie, seemed destined to have a she shed. Her creative and imaginative personality was shaped by a father who desperately wanted to grant his daughter’s wish to have a Wendy House. ‘He was a builder, so he couldn’t buy a kit,’ Shirlie recalls. ‘Instead he built me a beautiful tiny house with leaded windows, which took up half the garden.’

Shirlie’s entire childhood and teen years were spent playing either in her playhouse or her best friend’s. The fun and memories of those days came flooding back to her in 2010, when she felt that something was missing from her life. ‘I told my husband that I needed a place where I could go and do anything I wanted and not have to worry about anyone else liking it,’ recalls Shirlie, now an accomplished photographer and stylist.

She hired a builder who constructed the 10ft x 12ft shed, veranda and stairs. It took three weeks and cost £3,000. Named Wind Whistle, it sits on a gentle rise in the garden of the Hertfordshire property she shares with husband Martin, former bass player of Spandau Ballet and a judge on BBC1’s recent talent show Let It Shine.

Once the shed was finished, Shirlie painted everything white, inside and out, so she could use it as a photography studio, as white creates a versatile backdrop. Martin has had several of his portraits shot there. ‘No one would believe they were taken in my little studio shed!’ she says.

Decorated and furnished in shabby chic style, Shirlie’s she shed is the venue for a multitude of purposes including garden parties and iced lemonade on the veranda, as well as being a busy photography studio.

The interiors change season to season, as mixing things around is what makes her happy and keeps her she shed serving as a stage set for her life. It’s the ideal place where her work and play time can converge.