Nothing describes modern creativity better than the ongoing trend of converting a simple garden shed into a luxurious, yet highly functional, structure. Gone are the days when a dusty storage shed only brings joy to those who want a bit more space.
Nowadays, luxury storage sheds are sweeping the nation with men building their man-caves and women decorating their she-sheds. As one shed-owner aptly puts it, people are now trying to outdo each other when it comes to upgrading their respective portable sheds.
From Eyesore to Eye Candy: The Rise of the Garden Shed
Once upon a time, garden sheds were considered necessary evils in every backyard. Their main use was to keep most of your clutter away from prying eyes. However, recent urban development has made the traditional Australian storage shed extinct – only to be upgraded into converted rooms that can provide extra room for either living, working, or playing.
People, especially those who live in the suburbs, are quite determined to maximise whatever land is available for them. For this reason, Aussies are increasingly trying to carve out rooms out of portable sheds and other similar “bonus” spaces (i.e. garage rooftop).
Of course, it is not that easy to convert garden sheds into livable spaces. There are certain rules a homeowner must observe to successfully upgrade their portable sheds into a haven that offers comfort and luxury.
Aside from being beautiful and functional, sporting a luxe shed in your backyard can dramatically increase your property value. In fact, some of the most stylish luxe storage sheds have a price tag of not less than $1 million, depending on the location. That’s the price of a luxe shed alone; just imagine how much it can increase your current property value.
3 Simple Steps in Upgrading Your Storage Shed
-
Conceptualise
Obviously, building luxe sheds is not cheap, which is why it is most important to establish why you are building one in the first place. Do you need it as an extra room for the family (i.e. family room, baby room)? Or do you simply want a nice place to work or engage your hobbies in? There’s a myriad of reasons why you want to build or convert a traditional shed into something more fabulous. Your purpose in building a luxe shed will pretty much dictate much of its theme, layout, and décor.
-
Design
Depending on your budget, you can either leave the design of your shed’s interior space to a professional or you can do it yourself. If you want to spend every penny of your budget in constructing a luxe shed, you might want to do the design and decoration yourself. However, there’s a risk of miscalculating how much space you need when you do the planning on your own.
All designs start with measuring the interior space. From there, drawing the floor plan should be relatively easy. The floor plan must include the furnishings and their placement to see if there is space enough for everything.
-
Convert
After checking with your local council on their guidelines for converting or building sheds, you can already act on your design. Converting a garden shed into a livable building is only a matter of adding insulation, ventilation, interior cladding, flooring, and electricity as basics. Any other renovations such as adding shelves and furniture, as well as doing exterior renovations, are just icing on the cake.
10 Amazing Garden Shed Luxe Conversions You Can Try
You can treat the old dusty shed as a diamond in the rough. Here are some conversion ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
-
Home Office
Nowadays, working from home is quite normal, especially when you have babies or toddlers to take care of. However, if you have kids, you know exactly how hard it is to do some office work when the little tykes are running up and down, demanding some love and attention. Converting your garden shed to a luxurious home office can help you keep up with your work without entirely leaving your kids alone. You can even meet and impress your clients in your new home office.
-
Retreat house or Meditation room
Again, one of the hurdles of living with kids (or living in urban areas, in general) is finding a space where you can relax in utter quiet. Luckily, you don’t need to spend a fortune on flying to far off places to have a moment of peace. You can start doing that by converting your shed into a retreat or meditation room.
If your shed is in your garden, you can replace one wall with a tall window to let the natural light in and get inspired with all the greenery. You can also try placing some wooden plank sidings to make your retreat house stylish and inviting.
-
Hobby room
Whether you are into arts and crafts, yoga, music, games, or you just need ample space to display your collections, a hobby room is a wonderful place to show off your favourite pastime. When creating a hobby room, you need to be mindful of how much space you’ll be needing for work and storage.
You’d also need to decide how much electrical power your hobby room’s going to need and if you need some sort of special ventilation (e.g. converted dark rooms for those who love photography).
-
Outdoor living room or dining room
Summer in the suburbs means outdoor activities like family barbecues. Of course, what better way to entertain your guests than to welcome them in the luxurious shade of your converted shed? With some comfortable country-style outdoor furniture, you can make your guests feel right at home.
For a warm and welcoming atmosphere, you can try taking out one wall of your shed to make it more open and inviting. It’s also a nice way to get some fresh air circulating whilst you share a sumptuous meal.
-
Granny flat
A granny flat is defined as a fully self-contained living area usually located on the grounds of a family home. Though it’s a popular accommodation for elderly relatives (the reason why it’s called a ‘granny’ flat), young urban dwellers, particularly those in Sydney and Melbourne, are reaping the benefits of these accessory dwelling units.
Granny flats are essentially miniature versions of full-size houses. This means that a single granny flat contains one bedroom, a kitchenette, a living area, a bathroom, and a laundry.
-
Writer’s nook
>Every writer has their own quirks. James Joyce loved writing whilst lying down on his stomach. Franz Kafka did not start his writing until he was utterly exhausted from his day job and other responsibilities, which meant writing from midnight until the wee hours of dawn. Victor Hugo famously locked himself inside a room with only a bottle of ink to meet a deadline.
The only thing these famous writers have in common? They each have their own spaces where they can do their thing. For budding and aspiring writers, having their own writing nook is crucial to getting their thoughts and ideas into words.
-
Kid’s Playhouse
What kid hasn’t dreamt about having their own hideaway or secret place? Playhouses are a great place to let your kids be kids. Building and designing one is also a fun way to bond with them. You can convert a simple garden shed into a traditional yet practical playhouse. Adding some details like windows, a deck, cladding, some colourful paint, and a swing set can make your child the envy of his or her peers.
-
Guest Space
Sometimes, your guests need a bit more privacy than a normal guest room can offer. For this reason, it is quite popular to turn your old garden shed into a chic, modern guest space. Guest spaces are ultimately a livable bedroom with all the amenities of a miniature house, much like granny flats. The only difference is that the bed in guest spaces is made as the focal point of the room.
-
Personal Pub
If you are a wine connoisseur or simply appreciative of the fine tastes that only alcoholic beverages can give, then turning your shed into your very own pub might not be such a bad idea. You can put in a bar and the obligatory bar stools and dart board to make it look more legit. It’s a place where you can drink in peace to your heart’s content (and not in full view of the kids). It is also much safer since you don’t need to drive home after chugging a couple of glasses of your favourite drink.
-
Closet
Who said anything about shed conversions being only good outdoors? Garden sheds with dimensions as small as 1.50m by 0.78m by 1.80m can be converted into a deluxe closet. Additional points if the garden shed is made of cedar, or other similar wooden materials. It is an out-of-the-box shed conversion that can excite anybody who has some clothes and shoe storage problems.
Converted garden shed not luxurious enough? Try these tips!
You don’t have to stop at simply converting your shed to something livable – you can go the extra mile and make it elegant and classy as well.
The first thing you need to do is to seal up any cracks to prevent any drafts or dust. It also prevents pesky bugs from ruining your shed. Make sure to caulk every possible hole to make it as airtight as possible. Also, opt for thicker cladding. It makes your converted garden shed more appealing and durable.
The next step is to put on some fresh coat of paint. The good thing about painting converted sheds is that it is a relatively small space, so you don’t even need to hire a professional to get this done. You can choose some popular colours like pastel shades; just make sure that the colour you choose won’t clash with your own home’s colour scheme.
For the lights, you can opt to get some natural light in with a skylight window. Not only will it brighten up your converted shed; it will also allow some fresh air in. It is also quite refreshing to look up the night skies from your hideaway whenever you feel like it. As well, no man sheds have built-in windows installed. Windows create an illusion that a room is bigger than it really is, so it is much better if you have some installed. Tall windows are great for adding some height and depth, although installing one might be a bit too much for those who want a little privacy.
For added comfort, add some insulation (or in some cases, a drywall) and an HVAC system since the Aussie climate is prone to some extreme temperatures. Of course, this means some serious thought on electrical wiring, so if you don’t have any experience, then it is highly recommended that you call a qualified electrician to fix things.
You also need to convert the flooring into something more durable and comfortable (like tiles). If this isn’t possible, then laying down some nice rug would do the trick.
You can also make the converted shed more inviting by adding some detail on its entrance like building some steps or replacing the entire door with something more appropriate. Glass sliding doors are popular since they take up less space and can double as a window that lets the natural light in.
Lastly, you need to put in basic furniture, along with some décor to give your converted shed that “x” factor. Depending on your budget, you can bring in some new furniture or you can repurpose some of your old ones to dress your converted shed.
Looking for a Garden Shed to Convert? Contact EasyShed
If your old shed is too far gone to convert, why not buy a new one? With EasyShed, you can choose from a wide array of high-performance home and garden storage sheds. Our ultra-stylish sheds are perfect whether you have a wide backyard or a small garden. We even offer storm sheds for those living in areas where cyclonic and snowy conditions are normal. Contact us now to inquire.
