Even people who grew up reading Charlotte’s Web sometimes have arachnophobia. It’s a very common fear, and a clutter-filled shed is probably not top of the list when it comes to places arachnophobes want to hang out. Tiger Sheds, based in Leeds, England, has decided to give those freaked by eight-legged creatures some solace with its “Spider-Proof Shed.”
Here are the features that supposedly make it an arachnid-free zone: Everything is airtight, even the door seal and windows. Spider-repellent lining paper is included, but it will cost you extra if want it to be imbued with peppermint, citrus, and insecticide. The paper is “sky blue,” a color that apparently insects and arachnids abhor. While Tiger Shed says there’s scientific research to back it up, Sherwin-Williams claims the idea that bugs hate blue comes from Southern porch ceilings coated with blue milk paint, which contained insect-repelling lye. Interestingly, the “haint blue” color was also thought to protect from restless spirits known as haints.
Another add-in is a “creepy crawly” den, which will apparently attract the spiders away from the den. There’s also a “No Spiders Allowed” sign to hang on your door, for those extra intelligent, courteous spiders. (“Oh, heavens me. I didn’t realize we were trespassing. Let’s move along to another shed, Glenda.”)
The $3,066 shed comes with a 10-year, anti-spider-infestation guarantee (which requires you to prove, with video footage, that more than one spider has been living in your shed for seven consecutive days — can you say Charlotte’s Web 2: Shed Wars?). But Nottingham University’s Sara Goodacre, who has studied spiders, tells the BBC she isn’t sure it’s possible to spider-proof any structure.
Besides, spiders help keep the fly and mosquito population under control, so they aren’t all bad.