Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

A "She Shed" she said?

There is still work to do, but at least it is fully painted.

If you've seen that insurance commercial that shows a "she shed" on fire after being struck by lightening, then you've got an idea what the ultimate shed would look like. That one has big windows, french doors, a small deck out front, and of course a chandelier.

I started hearing about she sheds a couple of years ago from my Wife and her friend. They are both into what was once referred to as scrapbooking, though that has morphed into more "artsy" pursuits. The idea was pushed by some some of the artist/crafts person magazines. These just used to be referred to as backyard work shops.

Backyard sheds are nothing new. Smaller, closet sized sheds have been used to house yard care products, such as fertilizer and insecticides, along with garden and yard tools. Larger sheds were used to house lawn mowers and such.

Even bigger ones could be used as an out door wood shop, or hobby shop.

If you had enough room in back a detached garage and auto shop could be constructed in the back yard. That is if the city ordinances allows it. I thought about that seriously for awhile, Then I could have a real shop where I could work undisturbed and out of the way.

This would be a major undertaking. Expensive and it would have to fully conform to all building ordinances. The proper access to the backyard is paramount, although I hadn't planned on driving cars in and out on a daily basis.

I even considered building a shed out back to use as my den (I hate the term man cave).

The alternate idea of setting up my den as part of the garage was quickly dismissed.

I was considering an 8' x 10' or 10' x 12' shed. My current, "in house" den fits right between those two sizes, it's roughly 10' 6'' x 11'6'' and its a very good size. I use my den to read, listen to music, and visit with my guests. It is a quiet relaxing haven.

Could I have achieved this in a backyard shed?

Sizewise, there wouldn't really be a problem, although the inside of the shed would have to be better finished and equipped with electricity. Though it might be located at only fifty feet from my patio door, it's still a long and inconvenient walk back to the house to use the rest room. Walking through the rain, and the dark in the Winter might not be too pleasant.

I did have a fantasy of making the outside resemble a 1940's style Spanish bungalow, painted terra cotta color. I thought that I might construct an archway and a fenced off front deck or patio. It might resemble a tourist cabin or a unit in a bungalow court.

This would be a sweet backyard retreat.

I like the looks of this relaxing bungalow courtyard.

I would imagine that tourist cabins were more like glorified single camper tents, and did not have inside bathroom facilities. There would have to be communal toilet and shower facilities like a KOA or National Park campground. Okay for a night or two on vacation, but not an arrangement you would want to live with on a daily basis.

Had my Wife ever considered using a shed as her artists' studio? Not really. She often works well into the night, and wouldn't want to be alone out there in the dark. She would also be cut off from contact with the family and that always important bathroom. There is also the always important security issue. Inside the house she is as safe as she is ever going to be. A couple of years back our neighborhood, our whole city in fact, went through an epidemic of residential burglaries, based on several factors. While our neighborhood had always been considered one of the safer ones in the city, it was hit pretty badly. Being outside the house could be somewhat hazardous in some conditions. Fortunately, municipal  issues were resolved and the burglary rates returned to normal numbers.

My (Her?) idea was to give my Wife plenty of workspace in the house itself. I had turned my Son's old bedroom into her scrapbook room a few years back, when he went off to college. I hung slatwall and shelves, set up a desk, cabinets, and a large table. It resembled a well stocked scrapbook store. But it was a bit small.

My (Our?) plan was to give my Wife the entire living and dining room "L" area. Our existing dining table was moved into the middle of the living room and became the main work surface. The former dining room now houses a work island and storage. Lots of storage. You can never have enough storage! Library card catalogs, printer's cabinets, old machinist and chemistry lab cabinets. All of those wonderful little individual drawers! Not to mention a slew of new stuff from Ikea.

And chandeliers! I've hung three of them in this work space. Though very "frou-frou" these actually are a very good solution to lighting. This space has very high ceilings, 14 ft. It's hard to distribute enough light to work comfortably in an area like this. It also has large windows, almost the entire west wall, as well as a sliding door to the patio. There have been more additions and decor added, but the overall effect has been quite satisfactory. We are still able to use the space for the Holidays and family get togethers.

While this space is completely under my Wife's dominion, I still take a lot of satisfaction and pride in seeing it. I contributed the grunt work and a lot of running around gathering the components from innumerable antique and craft fairs. When the current reorganization is finished, I will do a post highlighting the studio as I did for my den. With my Wife's permission, of course.

So many times we homeowners feel bound by the old rules of room use that were decided upon by our home's builders, years ago. The dining room is filled with a formal table and china cabinet that are seldom used. The living room is filled with fancy furniture, sometimes wrapped in plastic covers, that is almost never used. So half of the main living space of the house is underused. It's not like our house has any extra room to waste. Our house has a family room adjoining the kitchen and this has become our main living space, although we also use my Wife's studio space.

My Son's old bedroom became my den, which I use to entertain my visitors, and other family members, can duck in there to talk on the phone, read, and we use it occasionally as a guest room.

All of this is kind of off the subject, but it is just to illustrate that there are different alternatives to using backyard sheds. Although our shed is pretty in pink, it is going to be used as a storage unit, not a workspace.


This is all part of the "life" that gets in the way of our automotive pursuits. Not always a bad thing.


All this to empty out the garage for me.