Shed into an office

This is the story of how we turned our shed into an office for $5,000.

On March 12, 2020, the boys came home from school and started their distance learning. Pedar also had to leave his office in Roseville and begin working from home. It doesn’t look like Pedar’s office in Roseville will reopen. So, in October, being that we were seven months into our Covid-19 quarantine, I looked at our shed in the backyard and said to Pedar, “I think we should turn the shed into an office for you.” Pedar had been working in our dining room and his constant calls made cooking and cleaning in the kitchen a bit stressful. We always felt like we were interrupting him. Our 1800 square foot house was feeling smaller by the day!

We cleaned out the shed on October 18, 2020. It was a crazy hot day but we pushed through and emptied it out. We made a keep, donate and trash pile and set to work. We found a home for everything we wanted to keep in the garage, donated a few items and trashed the rest. It felt great to go through all of our stuff. We try to edit our stuff as we go, but items sneak up us and we needed to let go of more.

Our friend and neighbor Brad, is an incredibly talented contractor. He chatted with us about our shed project and said, “You should add a couple of feet to it, make it bigger. You could turn it so the doors are facing the yard and not the side-yard.” Ummm hell yes! So, one day Brad came over with these metal pipes and we rolled and pushed the shed into place. The boys all helped push and within a few moments, it was done. It was so cool! Brad helped answer any questions Pedar had along the way as well which was so super helpful!

Pedar took off the back wall, added a few extra feet, and then framed in the floor, wall, and windows. He and Casey added insulation to all the walls. Pedar dug a ditch from the garage to the shed and then we hired an electrician to bring power to the shed. We also hired someone to sheetrock and texture the walls. Pedar painted the inside.

Roofing the shed took an entire weekend and boy was Pedar grateful to be done with that chore. We purchased large pavers to create a path because that area of the yard tends to become a mud pit. However, the free bark we spread is really helping with the mud problem. (Friendly tip: Call your local tree trimmer and ask for a FREE load of bark. Its a ton of work to spread, but its free!) Pedar then put in the vinyl flooring and finished the molding; door trim, windowsills, and baseboards.

We painted the outside and I painted the doors black. I just finished landscaping around the shed and will add window boxes under the smallest windows soon.

We are very happy with how the shed turned out. Pedar was able to start working inside the week before Christmas. The house is quieter and calmer. It is fun to walk outside and go visit him. The boys love having a place to play games and we also enjoy having another place to watch a movie.

Original shed was 8 x12. Remodeled shed is 8 x 16

Started project on October 18 and finished on December 18.
Shed costs