I need to learn everything about storage sheds and barns

August 7, 2007 4:36 PM

I am writing an ebook about storage sheds and barns, and would love to learn a few things. What do you use your storage shed for? I know most people use it to store their lawn mower and gardening supplies, but others are using sheds/barns creatively,

and I'd love to hear those creative uses of sheds and barns.

Also if you have a shed or barn story you'd like to share, I'd love to hear some of those as well (if you include your story, please let me know if you'll allow me to use it in my eboook).

Did you build your own shed? If so, what are some of the things you learned? What would you do differently?

If you purchased your shed, what was your experience? Are you happy with your purchase? What would make your online shopping experience for a shed a more pleasurable experience?

Of course, if you can think of anythign else that has to do wiht sheds, I'd love to hear it: everything is valuable for my research.

Thank you for your help.

posted by adriana to home & garden (21 comments total)

The uk.rec.sheds archives will probably be a useful, if repetitive, source of ideas.
posted by Leon at 4:37 PM on August 7, 2007

You should look up on Staddle Stones. Pretty esoteric topic. If you could do good research on it, I'm guessing that would make your book that much more appealing.
posted by Deathalicious at 4:44 PM on August 7, 2007

Brew shed. I don't have one, but I aspire to, some day.

Here is an awesome example.
posted by jclovebrew at 4:45 PM on August 7, 2007

i have a friend who keeps a telescope in a shed. the tell scope is on a platform, which has locking wheels. there is a little patio area in front of the shed. he wheels the telescope out on to the patio, and star-gazes.
posted by Flood at 4:47 PM on August 7, 2007

I use my shed to build airplanes. Radio-controlled gliders, that is -- with wingspans from 40" (1m) to 10' (3m). One very important quality of the shed is that cats are not allowed in there (they have the run of the house).

The shed came with the house.

(Alas, the roof has started leaking, so airplane building activities are on hold for a couple of weeks until we can get it fixed.)
posted by phliar at 5:21 PM on August 7, 2007

I kept wood for furniture in my shed. There are quite a few model railroads in sheds.
posted by Mitheral at 5:23 PM on August 7, 2007

I'm failing to find the exact setup I'm looking for, but there are many who buy storage sheds and convert them into tortoise sheds. Oh, here's a nice example of a shed that someone built. I've seen other accounts of store-bought sheds that have been insulated/converted to house desert tortoises all year long in northern climates.
posted by iguanapolitico at 5:32 PM on August 7, 2007

We have a ~20'x20' shed in our backyard that came with the house. It has a sloped roof and is about 9' tall in front, about 6 in the back. It is constructed of corrugated aluminum and 2x4s and has power and water.

Originally 1/4 of the shed's floor space was the inside half of a chicken coop, another 1/4 has a concrete slab, the other half is dirt. There was an AMC Rambler parked there until right before we bought the house.

To date I have removed the chicken coop, several wheel barrows full of poop, at least a dozen black widows, and two large desiccated rat carcasses. It now houses lawn and garden equipment and spare car parts (classic mustang restoration in progress in garage).

Hey, you asked!
posted by Big_B at 6:14 PM on August 7, 2007

jclovebrew that is awesome. reminds me that i need to get back to brewing beer.
posted by Big_B at 6:19 PM on August 7, 2007

Where else do you keep your annoying neighbors?
posted by TomMelee at 6:21 PM on August 7, 2007

My friend has her pottery wheel and kiln in her's It's really small and I swear she is going to set it on fire one day.
posted by bleucube at 6:39 PM on August 7, 2007

I was thinking of getting a second shed to compose music in...
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:20 PM on August 7, 2007

Here's some neat modern sheds I found via Treehugger. I want one of these!
posted by a_green_man at 8:03 PM on August 7, 2007

An Aussie guy did a book called Blokes and Sheds a few years back. It was well received, though I haven't read it.
http://www.ibys.org/bs/
I see there is also a follow up stories from the shed.
posted by bystander at 8:18 PM on August 7, 2007

My husband longs for a brewing shed. As the song says: "All Australian boys need a shed".

On a different note, Roald Dahl did most of the writing for his famous children's books in a garden shed. I visited his home in 2000 and his widow gave me a tour. I've got photos and commentary here.
posted by web-goddess at 9:21 PM on August 7, 2007

A house that I moved into in Santa Cruz, CA had a very special shed in the side yard. The previous renter had installed it.

Instead of a normal roof, it a had translucent plastic one (like you'd see in a greenhouse). Instead of a concrete slab floor, it was floorless, allowing access to the rich (and very well tended) organic soil below. There was a full, electronic irrigation system plumbed into the house system, and typical greenhouse vents hidden under the eaves. It was quite a setup.

The thing is, you couldn't see any of this until you opened the shed. From the outside, it blended right into its residential setting -- just like all the other ones on the block. Even up close.

I ended up planting a strawberry patch in it, which eventually provided us with a nearly bug-free year-round supply of fruit.

One evening, one of my neighbors saw me open the doors to the garden, and came running up to tell me to close 'em, 'cause the cops were just down the street...

She seemed genuinely bummed when she learned that I was growing berries. Apparently, the previous tenant was known around the block as "Brownie Bill", and she'd grown fond of his confections.
posted by toxic at 9:47 PM on August 7, 2007

I have a summerhouse at the end of my garden. It's a tongue and groove design and building it from the kit was great fun. I use it for work and working out - it's got lighting, power, a small table, a big comfy garden chair, a rowing machine, exercise mat and a big punchbag handing from the roof.

I love it. It's my cave.
posted by dowcrag at 1:16 AM on August 8, 2007

I grew up on a small family horse farm, and as anyone who grew up on a farm can tell you, it's impossible to have too many sheds. I assume you're not much interested in horse barns, as those are pretty self-explanatory. My farm back home has one horse barn, one storage barn, and two sheds.

The storage barn holds hay/straw for the horses, three tractors (Ford 9N, Ford 4000, Ford Powermaster), several tractor implements (plow, spreader, rake, mower), two trailers, 2 bikes, bags of grain, bags of shavings (for the horse stalls), several ladders, and various other tractor maintenance items. My parents had that barn built as soon as they moved in, and my dad always joked that it sat empty for all of 30 seconds upon completion.

The two sheds are in the middle of fields for the horses to get out of the weather. 3-sided. It was my job last summer to restain them and repaint all the trim -- not fun.

OH! I forgot two more sheds, one in each of the sheep fields to allow them to get out of the weather as well. Not exactly the most exotic use of sheds, but they serve a very important purpose. On more than one occasion my mom has gone down to feed the sheep in the morning and discovered that during the night one of our pregnant sheep had given bith (usually to twins) in the shed! When the temperature outside is below 0, those 3-sided sheds can make the difference between a lamb's life and death.
posted by lohmannn at 6:50 AM on August 8, 2007

I would like to make a well-equipped home gym in a large shed or separated garage.
posted by nineRED at 7:32 AM on August 8, 2007

Great replies! Please keep them coming.
posted by adriana at 11:29 AM on August 8, 2007

Here in the great Northwest there is the phenomenon of the "shed-boy"
posted by roboto at 5:27 AM on July 14