This bonus building can create a comfortable room for all your creative needs.
By Susan Hollis
Recent years have seen property owners take up a great reimagining of every square metre of their properties, inside and out.
Functional, decluttered, unique and beautiful home spaces have become a collective obsession — and that extends to our yards and outbuildings. Whether it’s an old storage shed, a prefab studio or a custom-built, stand-alone office, an outbuilding can meet the need for that extra bit of breathing room you haven’t been able to capture inside your house.
If you’re lucky enough to already have a structurally sound, unused shed begging for a makeover tucked somewhere on your property, the possibilities for conversion to a living or workspace are near at hand — but where to start?
Playing with Function and Form
Pamela Billinghurst of Pamela Billinghurst Interior Design recommends addressing a few big-ticket items right off the bat to make a major impact on the shed, bringing function and form into play through the necessities.
“If the budget allows, equip the shed with insulation, heat and lighting for comfort,” says Billinghurst. “If the ceiling height is generous, add a built-in loft bed with a small sofa below. This way, the space can double as a guest house or a fun place for kids to have summer sleepovers with friends, while maintaining usable floor area.”
To bring an airy feel to a small floor plan, Billinghurst recommends installing a skylight and/or French doors for maximizing natural light.
Making Space
For those without an existing outbuilding, a number of local companies can turn your dream of a stand-alone studio into reality in a couple of days.
The Shed Guys have been building sheds and shelters since 2000, and offer a variety of styles from which to choose. The smallest is their six-by-four-foot Lean To, and sizes go up in two-foot increments to a 12-by-24-foot option (important to note that building codes come into play when going beyond a 10-by-10-foot structure). The family-run business is seeing a shift in the type of people opting for outbuildings.
“The past few years, we’ve seen a large increase of new homeowners, whether moving from elsewhere or just downsizing,” says Aaron Morson, who works as a builder and handles customer service for his family’s business. “A large percentage of our customers have recently moved. We even get orders from customers who haven’t moved yet, but need something ready immediately when they move in.”
Shedding Old Concepts
kSheds Construction, owned and operated by carpenter Kyle Knorr, has seen a 40-per-cent increase in business since the pandemic. His clients use his sheds for all sorts of purposes, including saunas, motorcycle storage, even a small, private, client-friendly lawyer’s office.
“I had a customer use one of my sheds for a kitchen, for making pies,” says Knorr, whose interest in the sector was piqued in a Parksville high school woodworking class focused on building and selling sheds. After five years of framing and shed-building, he was able to go full time with kSheds in 2017 — that’s how popular the industry has become.
Different from prefab kits, companies like The Shed Guys and kSheds Construction build on site and can customize the interior and exterior to a client’s preferred style, seamlessly integrating the building into the lot’s overall esthetic.
“It’s been a common trend that people want backyard studios and offices for working from home,” continues Knorr, noting the transition can be seamless. “I make them custom to match the exterior of the house in colours, material, detail and all.”
GARDEN SHED QUICK FIX
Whether opting for a custom shed or the revamp of an old storage building, big gains can be made with a little footprint. Use some of these tips to turn your shed into a room of inspiration.
- For the least work, start fresh with a design perfected by its builder, like one of kSheds’ most popular models — the Cedar Basic, the Rancher Basic or the Hardy Studio — or one of The Shed Guys’ options, like the Classic Shed or the popular Lean To.
- To add square footage without taking down any walls, add on a wraparound porch complete with plants and outdoor furniture.
- Integrate toe-kick drawers in built-in cabinetry to maximize the kick space for extra drawer storage. An extra-high six-inch kick is ideal for this detail.
- Kit-out the interior with fixtures and furniture that can withstand the test of time, like flat woven indoor/outdoor area rugs and outdoor furniture. The Blu Dot Dog Days collection is compact, has high-performance upholstery and looks good from all angles (available at Chester Fields).
- Integrate clever storage solutions and modular furniture, such as a shelving system that can be added to over time (like the Cane Line Frame Shelving System).
- If wiring for electricity isn’t possible, choose solar lighting options such as portable outdoor lamps (like the Marset Chispa from Gabriel Ross).
- Keep it clean. Never underestimate the impact of a simple scrub and a new paint job on the interior or exterior of an old building.
