Finding a place to enjoy your hobbies, practice yoga or indulge your inner artist has never been easier. Some of us are musicians who wish we had extra space to rock out on our drum set. Gardeners desire a sunny, indoor space for potting, planting and propagating, and storing their supplies. Still others just want a place of their own, away from the noise of the family home, maybe to read a book or meditate. Sheds explores all the ways you can create these spaces, from sprucing up prefab sheds to building your own. Find out how to build and decorate party barns, guest rooms, even a chicken coop. Options and ideas for materials, design and decor abound!
Sheds
Exploring the Possibilities of Sheds
3D-Printed She-Shed?
Purpose-Built Sheds
The Perfect Potting Shed • A potting shed is a sanctuary and a workshop, a destination and an escape—and it’s near the top of many gardeners’ wish lists. So what is the perfect potting shed? It’s as various as gardeners themselves.
A Garden Office • As more workers carve out space for home offices, sheds once devoted to rakes and leaf blowers become opportunities for renovation.
Is It Time for a Toolshed? • Do you park your cars in the driveway because the garage is full of tools? Do you postpone projects because the tools you need are buried behind the motorcycle that doesn’t run and last summer’s pool toys? Do your lawn mower and weed whacker reside under a tarp in the backyard?
She-Shed Getaways • Working women—is there any other kind?—need somewhere to get away from it all, even if it’s only for a little while.
A Home for Collectibles • Collections have a way of outgrowing the spaces allotted for them, taking over attics, garages and basements. There will be a day, in the collector’s mind, when all those pieces can be housed together and enjoyed at leisure.
The Writing Shed • Mark Twain famously wrote many of his best works in a 12-foot-wide hut that his sister-in-law had built for him.
Guest Quarters • What a luxury it is to share your home with the people you love!
The Hottest B &B in Town • Offering the guesthouse shed as a short-term rental helps some homeowners recover part of the renovation expense. Adding a big-screen TV and wifi makes the shed paying-guest-ready.
Chicken Coop for the Urban Homestead • Maybe there’s a storage shed in the backyard that you can convert into a coop. Or maybe you’ll decide in the middle of the night over a second glass of wine to purchase a kit and build a coop yourself. That decision leads to hiring a carpenter to put it together, because—who knew?—DIY turns out to be, really, not your best thing.
Hardworking Workshops • There comes a moment in the life of a handy person when a worktable in the garage is simply not enough. To fill the need for functional workspace, the shed must become a workshop.
Wellness Shed • Maintaining mindfulness in a fast-paced world can be challenging, but for those who find the time, backyard yoga and meditation studios provide the needed space. And shortening the commute to the yoga studio might help some of us recover that time!
Party in the Back • One of the perks of living in a house is having a backyard for entertaining. Sheds converted for celebrations take that perk to a whole new level.
Music Sheds • For many musicians, freedom is having a designated place to play, listen to and record music, whenever they want and as loud as they like. It’s not only freedom for the musician, though; everyone in the household benefits!
Dreaming of an Art Studio • An artist needs a place to stand quietly and think, to piece together mosaics of ideas, to slap paint on canvas or turn bowls on a wheel. An artist needs a place to explore imagination without interruption, to creatively ponder ideas. An...
