How To Turn Your Humble Backyard Shed Into A Modern Home Office

A lot of people are interested in working from home these days, but if you want to work from home effectively, you need to have a private place to be productive. Finding this space in your home can be challenging but have you ever considered transforming your underutilized shed into a home office? If so, keep reading, as we have included some steps below explaining how to transform your shed into a sleek home office.

Step 1: Plan Out the Space

The first thing you need to do is plan out the space appropriately. Start by taking basic measurements of all of the dimensions. How much square footage is there total? How much available square footage is there after your stored stuff is considered? Then, think about everything you may need for your home office. 

Pro tip: Get some graph paper, or just a blank piece of paper and sketch out the shed’s floor plan. Next, either sketch in or use paper cutouts of your desk, cabinets, and other things you will be placing in the shed and arrange them in an initial layout for your workspace. If you can get everything to scale or close to it, you will be able to hit the ground running when it comes to determining what you need.

A few essential items include:

• You need to have adequate space for a desk, and you might need extra space if you have an L-shaped desk or one with storage cabinets
• You need to have a spot for your computer and decide on your system configuration. Do you have a laptop with a docking station or a desktop with multiple monitors? Do you need room for speakers? Things like that. 
• Do not forget about other office essentials, such as chairs, chair mats, writing supplies, printers, etc. You will also need storage solutions for your supplies outside of your desk. Consider buying drawer organizers or desk organizers to help with this. 
• Observe the area for any open wall space. Floating shelves can be used to maximize storage and provide a clean aesthetic.
• You may also want to have a spot for a mini-fridge, where you can put drinks and snacks for close convenience and provide a sense of homeyness. 

Pro tip: Remember that you need to have extra space around the furniture for yourself and other people to walk. We recommend starting with the bare minimum and then adding pieces if the need arises.

Step 2: Power and Internet

Next, you need to think about power and internet. The internet question will probably be relatively straightforward. If you have Wi-Fi in the house, you may need to get a repeater to allow the signal to reach the shed depending on its location. If you want ethernet, you will need to run a cable to your home office.

For electricity, you have a few options. You may want to get an independent generator if you don’t want to wire the house directly, but this uses gas and can get expensive. If you want to run electricity to the shed, you will need to hire an electrician to do so. You may need to get your insurance company to sign off on this before you move forward.

Step 3: Consider the Lighting

No matter what season or time of day it is, you will want to have good lighting in your office. Thankfully, there are multiple types of lighting options available. Halogen lights can be used for overhead lights, as they are cheap, but you also may need desk lights for task lighting. The most versatile option is LED lighting. LED lighting is great because the bulbs last longer and produce more light.

Don’t forget natural light! Some sheds come with a small window or two to help regulate temperatures and allow for airflow if desired. You may want to consider cutting out another window panel and installing a new window while you’re at it. The sky’s the limit!

If your plugin slots are limited or you don’t want to run too many cords around your desk area, you may want to invest in a battery powered LED desk lamp. The batteries will typically last a week or two depending on usage and you can just buy two sets of rechargeable AA batteries and a charging station (it can even be solar!) so that you just have to swap the batteries out once every Monday morning while your coffee is brewing to have a nice light all week.

Step 4: Heating and Insulation

No matter what the weather is like outside, you will need proper heating and insulation. Make sure the shed is waterproof to prevent water from leaking into the home office. You can keep the shed warm using tube heaters and cool by using table fans. You may want to talk to an expert about different options for insulation. You will need to insulate the ceiling, floor, and walls for optimal coverage. That way, you can save money on heating and cooling and remain comfortable year-round.

Complete Your Home Office Shed

These are the most important steps you should consider following if you are interested in turning your shed into a home office. Your shed could make a great home office, but you need to plan carefully if you want the project to unfold successfully. Make sure you invest in the right tools if you want to get as much use as possible out of your home office and consult a contracting professional if you have any building-related questions. Lastly, don’t be afraid to get creative, we are talking about shed home offices, after all.