So what is it about sheds? In many cases, it simply comes down to this … folks get to a point in their lives where everything no longer fits in the house. The closets are overflowing, the garage is packed, the basement’s full, and the attic’s bulging. Over the years, you’ve accumulated a ton of stuff that you just can’t bear to part with: that dusty old computer, a monitor that works just fine but is no longer cutting-edge, decades-old hi-fi equipment that still works but is too uncool for the living room, power tools, lawn tools, and what have you. So where do you put it? Why out in the shed, of course!

But ultimately, it’s more than just that. Sheds fulfill more than just pure storage needs. They can be a home away from home without leaving home … or even a home office. Call it the Walden thing. Can you believe that people all over the world are using their sheds as home offices?

I have two computer-based artist friends that use their outbuildings as studios. One works in a big room on the side of her carriage house. The other specifically built his shed (a small-footprint backyard barn, really) as a studio.Both are really cool spaces. It’s a fascinating concept … that the work-at-home thing can be done on the property, but outside the main house. And it’s not just my artist pals that have tuned into the idea. A while back, Thomas Dolby, the musician perhaps best known for She Blinded Me With Science wrote that he composes music in his garden shed (with a view of the Pacific Ocean, no less).

Alas in all these years, I haven’t written a single article in my shed. Not a one. Sure, the wireless network is strong enough to surf, but the shed’s lacking a comfy chair to sit on … and I’m not ready to start writing while sitting on the lawn tractor … well, not just yet.

Life and art turn full circle. I’ve been an aficionado of sheds for more than a decade. My early PageMill books included a tutorial for a mythical little website about home office sheds, with the name SohoSheds. Amazingly, I never thought to register that domain name, until today. Even more remarkable … considering that I built my little website about sheds (as a sub site on geekbooks.com) back in 1999, after building my first shed. I’ll likely build another small shed in 2007, a decade later, to handle even more overflow.

One of these days, I’m going to get around to producing a coffee table book about beautiful little sheds …

So is there a shed your future … a home office shed, perhaps … or a larger outbuilding?

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Tags: sheds, backyard barns, home studio, home office shed