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© William P. Wright, Sharon Cohoon / Sunset

© William P. Wright, Sharon Cohoon / Sunset

© William P. Wright, Sharon Cohoon / Sunset

© William P. Wright, Sharon Cohoon / Sunset

© William P. Wright, Sharon Cohoon / Sunset

© William P. Wright, Sharon Cohoon / Sunset
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A (salvaged) room of one’s own
By Sunset
See how one woman used recycled materials and hunted down bargains to create a personal backyard getaway.
Lisa’s playhouse
Lisa Phipps has a knack for using found materials in fresh ways.
She started recycling in earnest when she moved to a small farmhouse in Port Orchard, Wash. Like Virginia Woolf, Phipps wanted a room of her own. Money was tight, so she and her husband, Frank, used salvaged materials to build a shed.
The more you recycle, the more the ideas flow, Phipps says. “You just have to loosen up and have fun.”
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A (salvaged) room of one’s own
Bargain door & color
Bargain door
Phipps got hers from a church that was being torn down. “It cost me all of $5,” she says. The shutters, shelf bracket and candelabra on the shelf were all garage-sale finds.
Color
The cottage’s shocking chartreuse color was one of those girlfriend-plus-wine inspirations, and it proved to be one of Phipps’ best decisions. Like a parrot in the jungle, the shed seems to recede in the garden because of its vivid hue. “From most angles,” she says, “it disappears into the trees.”
A (salvaged) room of one’s own
The plants
Ultrablue hydrangeas look good against the chartreuse cottage. They started as a single cutting from a friend’s garden.
A (salvaged) room of one’s own
The bricks
Phipps salvaged several truckloads from various places. She chiseled the old mortar off each brick before using it in her garden.
A (salvaged) room of one’s own
Water trough
Phipps turned the trough for horses she once owned into a water garden. Tucked among ferns and edged with baby’s tears, it contains water iris.
A (salvaged) room of one’s own
Treasure trove
An awkward spot where several paths intersect displays some of Phipps’s favorite finds, including a red glass slipper, a porcelain doll’s head and a Victorian boot hook. The pieces were set into wet concrete.



