Choosing a Studio Shed

The idea of the “she-shed” has come and gone, and left behind a whole new understanding of how sheds can be used to add extra space to a property that could stand more room to move. With the rise of work-at-home jobs, a home that’s already stuffed full of life can be made even more useful for work or play with the addition of a studio shed.

What’s a Studio Shed?

A studio shed is just that: a shed that offers workspace that’s just as safe, secure, and dry as any indoor room in your home. People use them for a range of applications, from arts and crafts spaces to outdoor reading rooms, and even work-from-home spaces. After all, there’s nothing as satisfying as closing the door on your work and walking away from it for the night. It sure beats staring at piles of work left undone, just sitting in the corner of the living room.

But you can’t just throw up an empty shed and hope it’ll be enough. When you’re shopping for a studio shed, it needs to be a space that you can wire, insulate, ventilate, and heat and cool. You don’t need a bathroom or water, but hey, if it’s in your budget, a corner bathroom or kitchenette isn’t a bad addition. Think of your studio shed as a Tiny House, except that it’s a Tiny Office.

Some Tips for Choosing the Best Studio Shed

There are tons of shed kits and pre-built sheds out there that would make perfectly decent studio sheds. When you’re looking for a shed for your ideal outdoor workspace, it’s important that you keep your ultimate use for the space in mind. You almost certainly will need a bigger shed than you imagine, and it’s easier to deal with too much space than not enough. Adding a shed onto a shed when you realize the first one is too small is really pushing the limits of quantum mechanics, after all.

Remember that adding interior walls and insulation will reduce the space you’re looking at by at least several inches in all directions. It might not seem like a lot, but if you’re trying to save money by taking the smallest shed that’s doable for your studio space, those few inches may mean the difference between everything fitting inside and it ultimately becoming a fancy house for spiders.

Large double doors on the longest wall will give you more options when it comes to how you’d like to use your space. It will also give you opportunities to open the studio up to the environment on those really lovely spring days. Pre-installed windows are also a feature that you will appreciate as you’re putting your studio shed together. The less you need to modify the shed to suit your needs, the faster it’ll go together, and the less you’ll ultimately spend in making it your own. And windows are a must, both for ventilation and for safety.

Finally, if you’re looking at shed kits, make sure that the shed kit you’re buying actually comes with a floor. If it’s pre-built, this will be obvious, but if it’s not, you may find that your kit doesn’t come with a floor by default, and you’ll have to add that onto the expense sheet. Wooden sheds are much easier for climate control than metal or plastic, and similarly easier to modify should you need to later.