Sheds aren’t the worn-down wooden shacks of yesterday, gathering dust and holding little more than garden tools and a lawnmower. Today, we’re able to integrate attractive and functional architectural elements to create highly customizable sheds, allowing customers to turn one into almost anything they can think of. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite shed ideas below to spark your creativity.
Home Office
As anyone who has ever worked from home can tell you, it’s much easier to get work done—and enjoy your personal life—when you have a dedicated office space. By turning your shed into a dream home office, you can enjoy the peace and productivity of having your very own workspace. Then at the end of the day, you can leave it, and your work, behind you to enjoy time with friends and family.
It’s incredibly easy to outfit sheds with the wiring and interior finishing anyone would need for a home office setup; so, if a home office is something you’re looking into, you’re in luck.
Man-Cave / She-Shed
Everyone deserves a private retreat—a space at home they can call their own. Turning a shed into his or her special place is easy these days, especially once you get the wiring and design sorted. There’s something irresistible about a personal getaway located right in your back yard. It gives you a place to be yourself and enjoy downtime with friends, all while keeping the ruckus outside!
Artist’s Studio
It’s no secret that being an artist requires plenty of room and what better place to turn into a personal art studio than a customizable shed? Making your shed into an artist’s studio can put you right in the middle of inspiration as you work on your latest design or painting while enjoying the outdoors and ample natural light. Spacious floorplans, large windows, and an excess of natural light are perfect for feeding your inner muse.
Music Room
Sheds provide the ultimate detached music room with their flexible design, and the capacity to be easily soundproofed. You can set up your sound equipment, instruments, and anything else you’ll need in a place that’s separate from your home—giving you space and quiet to work on your music. It also gives everyone in the house a bit of peace and quiet, too!
Tiny House / Guest Room
Tiny houses are all the rage and if you want to “go big,” consider using a shed as the starting foundation for yours! Sheds offer durable structures that can be enhanced with additional work and turned into comfortable, quaint, and tiny homes. Plus, recent laws have made adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit in California much easier. A detached ADU is the easiest, most affordable way to add a living space to your property – whether you use it for guests, in-laws, or rent it out.
Playhouse
Parents can easily turn a shed into a child’s playhouse with a little imagination. Playhouses could incorporate playground equipment like slides or swings, or look the part of a tiny house the children can play pretend in. Dedicating a space for kids to play means you can easily contain their playthings and the messes they make, without having playtime take over the entire house.
Reading Room
Coming up with a quiet spot to read in your house can be problematic if you have a big or noisy family or a very active roommate. Creating a designated place for reading can make curling up with your favorite book so much easier—and enjoyable. Think simple furnishings, soft white lighting, and an extra comfy chair or two can turn a shed into your favorite book nook. If you’re interested in further developing the reading room, you could easily turn it into a stand-alone study with some bookshelves, comfortable seating, and a desk.
Pool House
Pools are fun to have but having one can sometimes necessitate space for pool-related storage, a bathhouse, or something to hide the pool equipment and/or pump. With a shed, you can do all of that—and more—once you decide on your biggest necessity. If you want a convenient area near the pool that people can use to get ready or clean up once they’re finished, a shed altered to fit that purpose can work wonders.
Workshop
Sheds are a great place for a private workshop and can be outfitted with the organizational tools to make working comfortable and efficient. With the right know-how, you can set up wiring and ventilation as well to make the workshop safe and functional. Having your workshop separate from your home can also help eliminate some of the noise working and operating tools/machinery can create, which is a bonus for the entire family.
Cabin
Similar in function to tiny houses, a cabin often provides homeowners with a place to lodge guests (whether family or individuals who pay for the opportunity) or reside for short periods. Sheds offer a functional starting point for your very own cabin; and due to the more rustic design of many cabins, you can keep amenities (like wiring) relatively simple.
Craft Room
Sometimes you just can’t fit your crafts into a convenient space, or the room you wanted to use has been taken over for some other purpose. Turning a shed into an inspiring craft room is the perfect way to lay claim to your own creative space without having to worry about someone disturbing a project or your supplies from taking up too much house space.
Prayer/Meditation Room
For some families, spirituality and self-reflection are essential components of daily life. Sheds can be converted into spaces reflective of an individual or family’s spiritual needs with ease. One of the best reasons to use a shed as a base for a meditation or prayer room is that it creates this special room dedicated to a single purpose. It becomes a room you can depend on for its part in your connection to faith or self-betterment, making it, in a sense, sacred.
