This is a GREAT Christmas gift idea for the person in your life that could use some personal space to work. Whether they need a home office for running a business, the occasional telecommute, or simply a nook for paying bills and organizing a schedule, help them by thinking beyond a folding metal desk and TV tray. If the one you love works remotely on a regular basis, they deserve more than a makeshift workspace, right?
There are many reasons why having a home office can be practical and beneficial.
If you don't have a room in your house that you can convert into an office, consider using a shed as a backyard office. It offers a quiet space that can be wholly dedicated to whatever work needs to be done.
If this is the route you choose to pursue, think about what shed style would be best, where the office shed should be located within property boundaries, and ways to set it up so that it serves both professional and comfort needs.
An office shed should be tall enough to move around in comfortably and large enough for office furniture essentials such as a desk, file cabinets, a bookshelf, and office chairs. Our High Barn style sheds, for instance, are the perfect style and are available in a variety of sizes.
Whether you're buying a shed for your backyard office or you're converting the one you already have in place, there are steps you can take to transform your space into a shed office.
Find out if a building permit is needed before you buy an office shed. You can do this by contacting your local municipality, county government, or city business officials. Most buildings require permits, especially for residents in a town or city where there are often restrictions on size, color, or placement of a building. There may be unexpected building limitations listed, and you don't want to miss them.
Note: A building should NOT sit on top of buried power lines or other utilities. If you're in South Dakota like we are, consider calling South Dakota 811 to locate underground utilities before you decide on a storage shed location or visiting their web portal for faster processing of requests.
Learn more about shed placement.
Before ordering your shed, there are some internal elements to consider: Will the desk you want fit in your office shed? How many windows would you like to have? What type of accents would make your office more appealing — flower boxes, a landscaped pathway from your home to your office, etc. Think about these things as you ponder what you'd like the office shed to be like inside and outside.
As you plan your home office design layout think about how much embellishment you want. As you consider these things for your backyard office, make sure these add-ons reflect your personality or company brand. You can keep things simple or you can dig deeper to uncover more ideas such as office decor and organization.
For ten tips that will help you create a practical at-home office, read 10 Tips for Designing Your Home Office by HGTV.com.
Additionally, our home office ideas on Pinterest includes how to run power to your shed, tips for organizing cords under your office desk, popular office chairs, and more.
Find your ideal office shed — browse our Image Gallery or customize our Home Expansion Package to suit your needs.
Note: Discover how small structures are regulated by the Minnesota State Building Code. The Minnesota State Building Code is the standard of construction that applies statewide for the construction of buildings (MS § 326B.121).
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