Life, sheds, and art.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to another Shed Wife, Tina Miller, about sheds, art, and husband/wife partnerships.
Tina, let’s start at the beginning. How did you first get introduced to the shed world?
My experiences with the shed world started back in 2008, when my husband Richard worked at Ulrich Barn Builders. He was selling the returned barns only, and I jumped in to help where I could. I handled cleaning them out, making small repairs, changing doorknobs, and touching up the paint.
On busy days, I even helped Richard with sales. I wasn’t a fan of the handwritten paperwork or manually calculating prices—so I left that part up to him. I’ll never forget one day when I kept customers moving along, Richard handled the paperwork, and together we sold seven barns in one day. That was a good day.
That sounds like a real team effort. What was it like living behind the sales lot?
For part of those seven years, we lived right behind the lot, which made it easy for me to walk down and help for an hour or two. I was helping my husband succeed, and in turn, helping our family. The nicer and cleaner the barns looked, the more he sold, so I took pride in keeping them in good shape.
You must have some stories from cleaning out those returned barns.
Oh, I sure do. We discovered all kinds of things. Sometimes we’d see shortcuts like insulation only in every other stud space, vents blocked with spray foam, or scary wiring just taped together. One cabin even had stairs added that went … nowhere. The bottom section ran straight into the backside of the landing—it was impossible to keep climbing.
We always held a rental return for 30 days before emptying it, just in case the owner wanted it back. Once, Richard had a feeling we should wait longer on a particular barn. A man called us asking if it had been cleaned out yet. When Richard told him no, the man was so relieved. He had been deployed, and his wife had returned his barn … with all his valuable tools still inside.
Wow, that must have been emotional. Did you often find personal belongings left behind?
Yes, quite often. Boxes of photo albums, family memorabilia, things that tugged at your heart. Sometimes owners never responded when we tried to return them, usually because of divorce or other hardships.
But I’ll never forget calling one elderly woman about her photos. She broke down in tears—her kids hadn’t kept up the payments while she was in the hospital, and she thought her late husband’s photos were gone forever. It was powerful moments like that which made the job meaningful.
Along the way, you picked up some tips for cleaning sheds. Care to share?
Absolutely. Two of my favorites use a simple pump-up garden sprayer. First, get L.A.’s Totally Awesome cleaner from Dollar Tree or Dollar General. Spray it on walls inside a stinky building and rinse—it’ll take away most odors. For black moldy spots on wood, use RMR-86 from Amazon. Spray it on and watch the mold disappear before your eyes. It’s like magic.
After Ulrich, where did your journey take you?
Richard later moved into the rent-to-own side of the industry, working for AFG for three years. He loved serving his clients, but when they changed their system, his role ended.
Around that time, we visited Dave Miller at SmartPay in Pennsylvania. I was impressed with how easy their system made contracts. I even told Richard, “If we ever go back to selling barns, we should use SmartPay.” I didn’t know then that he’d eventually work for them.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, you started creating art. Tell us about that.
As I cleaned out barns, I found tiny treasures—trinkets, jewelry chains, watches, and ornaments. I couldn’t throw them away, so I saved them. Around that time, Pinterest inspired me with artists making art from found objects. So, Richard and I built a blue-and-white art studio shed in our backyard. It took two years to finish in between his busy shed work, but it was a labor of love. In 2017, Art By TinaJewel was born.
And your art has had quite an impact on the shed community, too.
Yes. A couple of years ago, one of my detailed “No Left Lane” art pieces sold for $4,700 at a Shed Haulers Brotherhood auction. All of that went back to support the hardworking folks who deliver barns and sheds. That community is close to my heart—and to Richard’s, since he supports RTO dealers and the shed industry through SmartPay.
You’ve clearly been both a partner in the shed business and built your own path. What encouragement do you have for other women in this industry?
Be your husband’s biggest fan and encourager. Support him in what he does, even when it means late nights or road trips. Read the trade magazines so you can talk about his work. Go along to industry events—make them date weekends or family trips. It’s fun, it builds memories, and it makes him feel like you’re right there with him. If you see me out at a Shed Builder Expo or a Haulers Bash, come say hello—I’d love to meet you.
