Backyard Rooms

A backyard room can be a valuable addition to your property, providing space for your hobbies while clearing the clutter from the main house. There's a backyard room to suit every purpose, from Pop's wood-working masterpieces, Mom's magnificent sewing projects, and Junior's hopelessly muddy dirt bikes. What makes one a wood shed, the next a garden craft room, and the last a gearhead's garage?

Only the contents and the whim of the occupants ...

Melissa wrote:

I want to buy or build an outside craft room. Our house is too small and I need a place to store all types of craft things and a place to work on them as well. It needs to be weather proof and rodent proof as I will store everything from scrapbook items to dried flowers and beads. Any ideas on where to start?

You can bet I have some ideas on where to start, Melissa! Weather proof and rodent proof isn't a problem for a well-built backyard structure.

There are three questions that need to be asked from the git-go ...

• How much space do you need?
• What will your town allow you to build?
• How much can you spend?

Take a look at all the stuff you want to move from your house to the new backyard craft room. How many square feet of floor space will you need? Get out your tape measure, some grid paper, and your imagination. What might your dream layout look like?

Once you have an idea of the size of your dream backyard room, take a trip over to the town hall to find out if there are restrictions on what you can build in your backyard. There may be rules about property line setbacks, the size and style of the structure, and various construction requirements. Keep an open mind and be sure to thank the folks for their guidance. A little bit of kindness can go a long way with a construction project like this.

Once you know exactly what you need and what your town will allow, you can get more specific with your plans. Now it's time to play what-if with your finances. How much can you afford to spend to buy or build your new backyard craft room? Can you find a nice looking prefab shed locally ... one with enough headroom, windows, and ventilation in your price range? Or would you rather cut down on the expense, earn some sweat equity, and build it yourself from a set of shed plans?