Would You Take A She-shed?

I daydream about having a room for myself in the house; but I don't think I need one detached. They are SO cute though! I would have a ball designing one. I've looked at plans for playhouses for my kids. I'd just have to make it with a ceiling tall enough for DH (who is over 6') and someday it could be a she-shed or maybe a man-cave. I think everyone needs a little space to call their own. It's good for you. (I'm saying this as the mom whose son suggested she take her lunch to her bedroom with her laptop yesterday. )

margecat , I saw that one! It's so cute!

And yes, I've been all over Pinterest, too. Some of those.....I don't have the money. Or the creativity.

That being said, Look at this! Legacy 2 Story Workshop Shed No, it's not a house! It's a shed! Needless to say, that's way beyond my price-range. Till it gets insulated, drywalled, lighting, etc, we're probably talking a small fortune.

I do like the idea of a two-story shed. (And so does my granddaughter. I was talking to our son and DG was listening. She got so excited I thought she was going to pee herself! She's waiting to come up for the weekend and we can sleep there. And she says it's Girls Only. And it's not even built yet.)

We live on almost 1-1/2 acres of land, so another shed isn't a problem at all. The problem is figuring out how to do this? And can we really afford to do this? We're still kicking things around. Thanks for listening and helping!

If I had that "shed", I'd pee myself with excitement, too. It's GORGEOUS!

Some of the more budget-friendly sheds have a loft-like "attic", which could use for sleepovers.

As for how to do it, I'd start with seeing if you need a permit. The place that sells sheds can tell you how to place it, and what you need for the foundation, etc. You'll probably have to get permits for the electricity, heat, etc., though you may get away with a window unit A/C or a portable one, if you don't want an ugly unit in the window. Does Richard do home improvements? If so, you can probably do insulation and drywall to save money. Before you do, that, I'd talk the electrician first to see what he/she needs to do. It may be better to do that part first.

After all of THAT is done, decorating will be easy, and fun. GO FOR IT, GIRL!

My mom has a sewing room (which has basically become the entire basement of her house) and she calls it her grotto. If I had a house and lived with someone, I would love to have my own space.

margecat Since I work in that field I know that no permits are necessary (it's not a living space, or it would be different). We have no zoning in our township, so no zoning permit. I'm going to talk to "our" electrical-weenie; he's a good guy and he's really not expensive. He's done so much for us with the kitchen, the bathroom, the shed we did a few years back. He's a real sweetie.

As for doing things ourselves, not really. Rick is somewhat OK with it; we could lay the foundation and such and do interior work. I asked him if he thought we could do a kit and he doesn't want to. He'd rather just buy the thing and have it delivered. I don't really want a loft; in ten years or so, I may not get up and down a ladder that easily. But a second floor might be doable because of actual stairs.

At this point, we're kicking ideas around, more than anything. That link that I had? No way could I afford something like that! Til you put all those extras in the structure and then insulation, drywall, electricity, etc. I'd have to go back to work just to afford the thing! But it sure is a nice dream.

In April, we're going down to visit our granddaughter at school for Grandparents' Day. That is just in the morning. So Rick suggested that we go to Morgantown and check out Amish Storage Sheds and Prefab Garages from PA just to see what we'd get for our money and how we could arrange something for the back yard.

I talked to our electrician. He'll do the work for us, no problem, but can't give us an estimate until we figure out what we're doing: size, one floor or two, etc. Rick said he wants a tv in there and that's final; I'm not really happy about that. He also said he wants internet in there, too, which is probably a good idea and I guess I can always hook the laptop up there and keep the desk computer in the house; that will also let me use the iPad in there. But still....it's supposed to be for me to have a place to read. Darn it. But I guess that if he's helping me pay for it, he should have what he wants, too. He gave me a set price and anything over that amount is my responsibility. I have to be careful with the money.

We're kicking around drywall v. paneling v. shiplap v whatever. Lighting. All that good stuff. We walked around the yard last night, thinking of this spot or that spot, where the septic bed is, the garden area, how to get around it, all kinds of stuff. We have an in-ground pool and lots of trees to have to get around.

I have a small under-desk fridge here at work, which we can throw in the shed. And my office plants. I had no place to go with my plants once I retired (plants and our cats do not mix!) and was either going to have to throw them out or give them away. They're going to the shed. As is our extra Keurig. I still need coffee!

So I think we are going to do something, just exactly what is still up in the air. Stay tuned!

These are really nice! I like that you can customize them by adding windows, transoms, etc., and you can put them all where you want them. I'm excited to find out what you see there.

I'm excited, too, Mother Dragon . They emailed me a brochure on their sheds, which shows pretty much everything they make. Plus they're willing to work with us on our own design, if we want. We're getting into their busy season, so, once we order, it could be a good ten weeks or so til it actually gets here, depending on what we decide to get. Which gives us time to get the site work done. (And if there's something on their lot that I really like when we go down on Wednesday, it will be a lot sooner than that!)

And I may need a building permit after all. Rick suggested putting a half-bath upstairs. That triggers a permit. Which is OK, but, you know, I wanted a shed. Nothing exotic. Just a place to lounge, to read, to hang out. And it's turning into this huge deal. Which is exactly what I didn't want. He said that, when it's done, I'll be happy we did the bath. I suppose he's right. I won't have to go running into the house saying, "Gotta pee! Gotta pee!" But every time I turn around, there's more and more money involved in this thing.

Oh, and Mollipop will have the run of the shed, too. Of course, you all knew that already. I had said NO cats. None. Zilch. But well, I'm looking at end tables with litterboxes and the like. And I told Rick that he'll have to put window sills on the bottom floor windows, big enough for a kitty butt. I just can't see spending time there without Molli, too. I hope she'll like it and will feel comfortable there.

Winchester said:

I'm excited, too, Mother Dragon . They emailed me a brochure on their sheds, which shows pretty much everything they make. Plus they're willing to work with us on our own design, if we want. We're getting into their busy season, so, once we order, it could be a good ten weeks or so til it actually gets here, depending on what we decide to get. Which gives us time to get the site work done.

And I may need a building permit after all. Rick suggested putting a half-bath upstairs. That triggers a permit. Which is OK, but, you know, I wanted a shed. Nothing exotic. Just a place to lounge, to read, to hang out. And it's turning into this huge deal. Which is exactly what I didn't want. He said that, when it's done, I'll be happy we did the bath. I suppose he's right. But every time I turn around, there's more and more money involved in this thing.

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I agree. It would be easier to just add the half bath now than wish you had down the line - and of course a litter box for Mollipop.

We kind of have it narrowed down. Kind of.

I'd really like to do a two-story, if we can. I like the shed dormer on top with the windows in the front. No windows in the back because of neighbors. No cupola or weathervane. This one is 12 x 24, which is the size I'm looking at.


I like this, too. I like the idea of the dormers on the front, but I'm not sure how much light the windows would actually have. There's a shed dormer on the back, which I'd rather have on the front, kind of like the picture above. Either way, I do want windows on the ends, as well. No double door on the end; not necessary. But I do think a purple front door would be awesome! This one is 14 x 24.


Now the one story sheds. I like this one with the transom windows on top and at the top of the regular windows. No need for a double door, but I do want windows on both ends. This one is 12 x 20.


This one-story has the windows on the ends. I like the colors of the shed and shutters, too. A single door, not two. This one is 14 x 24. One-story sheds are about half the cost of a two-story.


These pictures are from Sheds Unlimited. We're going there Wednesday afternoon to look around.

Sheds Unlimited also sent me a brochure. In the brochure is a pool house/cabana, but I can't save it to post. The pool house is half room, half porch. A one-story. I like it, but not sure how big it is and I'm not sure I want to give up my room space for a porch. Rick likes it because of the porch. And I like it, too, but just not sure of the room space.

This is from another company, Black Creek, which is in northern PA. Rick really likes this one. It has a hipped roof, standard with this shed. Sheds Unlimited also does a hipped roof as an option (meaning more money). But he likes this. I think this one is 12 x 20. Again, no double door, but windows at both ends and I'd like double windows in the front. Black Creek also does the site pad work (for an additional fee); Unlimited Sheds does not. Black Creek only does single-story sheds.

That first one is bigger than my house!

Those are really pretty. And thank you to whoever explained what a she-shed is! That commercial about Cheryl's she-shed has perplexed me for some time.

Norachan said:

That first one is bigger than my house!

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Mine too!

I'm a little late here, but since my house is like a little yoga school, I would adore a place to 'do my thing'. I've thought about it, but, unlike your situation Winchester , our planning regulations are an absolute PITA.

I really like the first two best because they let in so much light. The first seems airier and more spacious. I'm sure they'd add window ledges and window boxes for a fee.

I think i'd have the half bath downstairs because as you get older, having to run upstairs to pee is not a good thing.

I wouldn't give up my room space for a porch. You'd lose probably a third and more likely half of your room space for a place you could only use part of the year. And as I said before, it would become a "we" space. The porch would have to furnished and arranged to suit you both, not just you.

I'd probably shock the neighborhood because if I had a she shed, it would be white with dark blue trim with the brightest red door I could find - bright lipstick or fire engine red. Red window boxes with fake blue and white flowers. Or I just might paint it in vertical, slightly offset black and white stripes like an optical illusion. Another way, I could do it so it would look like it's falling over. There used to be a business, Best Products, whose buildings were all strange. One looked unfinished, with the bricks falling down. As it is, here we can't even have a little storage shed hidden the back yard without getting fined.

You're only going to get one chance to get what you want, so go for it!

Could someone explain what a half bathroom is? Not this, I guess.

Norachan That's hilarious!

Our building codes aren't really all that bad. In fact, as long as I keep it under 1,000 square feet and don't do plumbing or put a bed on the second floor, we don't even need a building permit. The bed/plumbing will kick in Codes regulations. So if I don't do a second floor (with the bed and bath), I'm good. And we don't have a Homeowners' Association either, so we don't have to deal with them. Nor do we have Zoning. (If we don't do a second floor, I'm not doing a half-bath either. I don't want it on the first floor because it takes up too much space.)

Our bedroom is 12 x 20, so I pretty much know how big that size is. I'd like to go a little larger, esp if we don't do a second floor, but we'll see. I really think a two-story is going to be more money than I'm willing to pay, especially with the dormer. It's not the structure itself, but all the "options" that kill us. Yes, to the window boxes, Mother Dragon . We have them on our tools shed and plant them with pansies, Rick's favorite flower.

Colors: I'm thinking of Heritage Grey, trimmed in black with a purple door. For some reason, I really the idea of a purple door. Not a bright, in-your-face purple, but purple.

We went up to both spots in the yard again yesterday. There's an old tree (a white pine) that has seen better days in the area off the pool and Rick will be taking that tree down. Removing that tree and an old maple will give us the room there; we measured it out and we're good. We'll have to take some branches from some of the surrounding trees, if we do the two-story, but that won't be a problem. (One of the neighbors saw us out walking around with the measuring tape; he came over to ask what was going on. He had a few ideas for us, too.)

Turns out we don't need a concrete pad; they recommend concrete for their garages, but not for a shed. We'll put in a stone pad, like we did for the other shed. We're not completely level at that site, so it will be interesting (we live on a hill) to get the pad leveled out. One of my co-workers said he'd do anything we needed him to do to help us....he works for food. And our son will be around.

While we were at Lowes, we did some checking into insulation and the like. Insulating the floor could be a bit tricky.

That's where we're at now. We have the site figured out and we know what we have to do at the site. We just need to figure out what we're getting and when!

This has GOT to be a lot easier than the bathroom was!

I think a she shed is a good idea for a married couple or a family but I live alone in a house and don't need the extra space.

Winchester said:

That's hilarious!

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But I really don't know what a half bathroom is.......

Norachan said:

But I really don't know what a half bathroom is.......

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Just a normal sized toilet and a sink. No shower or tub.