How to Add a Small Backyard Shed for Working or Living

There are many ways to organize your household to take advantage of the space you already have, but even if you do so, many still waste some space without knowing they do. Your backyard space is the perfect example of that since people know it’s there but never consider getting a small backyard shed for it.  

These sheds bring many benefits to the table. 

Firstly, you can use them for what you want, so you can get a DIY small backyard shed and use it as your office space, gaming room, kids’ playground, or any other thing you may need the space for in the future. It’s up to you to decide what to use your small backyard office shed for!  

Are you interested in getting one of these but don’t know how they work? This is the page for you, so read on if you want to know more about small backyard pods. Here, you can also find 20 excellent small backyard shed ideas for you to try.  

Maybe you already have ideas of your own of what you want your small backyard shed for or what to do for it in the future, but it’s never a bad thing to combine those ideas with newer ones that can be useful for your home space, too.  

What Should I Consider Before Getting a Small Backyard Shed?

The more you know about small backyard shed ideas, the more you can take advantage of your space and the things you can do for it. Nonetheless, buying a garden shed for a small backyard isn’t as easy as many may think since you need to take many things into account.   

These are some of the things you should keep an eye on before buying a small backyard office shed. Things such as brands are not on this list since we aim for it to be a general tool for new people getting a small backyard shed for their house.  

Size/Function

If you are trying to buy a new DIY small backyard shed for your house, the worst you can do is buy an office pod or studio pod that doesn’t offer you the things you need it to give you. Not all small backyard shed plans are the same, so you need to look for the one that best suits you before doing anything else.  

Let’s start with size since it could even make you unable to use the DIY small backyard shed you bought. Buying a shed that is too big for your backyard means your purchase won’t fit there, but getting one that is too small for it instead may not help you a lot, either.

Even if your work pod or modern shed has the right size for your backyard, you still need to make sure they offer what you need for the goals you have for the shed.  

Try to study the tools or space you need your small backyard shed to have before looking for products on the market. Doing so will help you have clear priorities and a better vision of the space you need the small backyard office shed to have. 

Location Measurements

As we mentioned before, you don’t want to get a shed that is too big or little for your garden. How can we solve this? The only thing you need to do is take the measurements of your backyard and see what small backyard shed plans fit your house and needs.  

Local Zoning Ordinances

Things are not always as easy as ordering a DIY small backyard shed online since local zoning ordinances may have something to say about you having a shed in your house. Although there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to take a small shed to your household, it’s better if you study the law in case anything happens in the future.  

Type of Shed

One of the reasons why your small backyard shed ideas may not be good for your garden is if you are turning your eyes to the wrong type of shed. Yes, there are different types of office sheds.  

Each of them offers various things, and you should go for the one you are sure will address all your needs. Naturally, consider things such as affordability since getting the shed you want doesn’t mean buying something that is outrageously expensive or that your budget doesn’t allow you to pay. 

20 Best Small Backyard Shed Ideas

We understand if it’s difficult to think of small backyard shed ideas, so we want to help you find an option you won’t regret buying. All of the ideas on this list are excellent to cover many of the situations people look for a small backyard office shed for, but many of them may also help you with other things, so use this space however you want.  

Here are 20 of the best small backyard shed plans you can have for your house: 

1. Garden Folly

It’s never a bad idea to get in touch with nature and learn to be closer to plants from your place. Making your garden office pod a garden folly or a garden shed for a small backyard will save you a lot of trouble  

Making your shed a garden folly is not the same as making it a greenhouse, and people need to know what since it’s easy to confuse both terms. 

2. Get Comfortable Furniture

Getting the right furniture for your shed plays one of the most important parts of getting a new shed. The reason for that is the furniture you choose for your shed determines its vibe and what you can do there.  

Hence, try to only get the furniture you can feel comfortable using there.  

3. Use Rustic Materials

You can use all the different materials you want if you want to use them for a new backyard office pod or DIY small backyard shed. Some people use rustic materials for their pods since those materials make houses look better and are not that expensive.  

4. Fit Your Shed with Your Landscape

Fitting your small backyard shed ideas is not that simple since everyone is doing different things at a time, but it’s not a bad plan to use materials from your property’s landscape to make your new shed. Doing so will make your shed suit your landscape.  

5. Design a Modern Shed

While going for rustic materials, as we mentioned earlier in this article, is an excellent idea for some people, others prefer to go for other small backyard shed ideas for them and try something that looks more modern. We recommend you do that if you want your shed to look more modern than the ones from other people.  

6. Connect Your Shed with Your Main House

Even if you don’t need that connection in real life, making a connection between your house’s shed and your house is not a bad thing, and we recommend you do it. The reason for that is that it will make your property look way better than it did before just by investing in one tiny detail that is not even that expensive.  

7. Use Your Tools as Decorations

The best thing about working with people with a garden shed for a small backyard is they can use their sheds for what they want without that being weird. Therefore, they can use their tools as decorations without letting you know.  

8. Benefit from Garage or House Space

Organizing your space decently will make all stages of getting a new shed easier. The reason for that is that it helps you benefit from other spaces you couldn’t have noticed in the past such as other house or garage spaces.  

9. Try a Greenhouse

Remember when we said greenhouses are different from a garden folly? They are, but you can also have a DIY small backyard shed that works as a greenhouse in your house. Nonetheless, you need it to be made of the right materials and know a thing or two about taking care of plants.  

10. Use a Shipping Container

It may sound non-flashy or unsophisticated, but it’s not a bad idea at all to use a shipping container as a small backyard office shed. It may not look professional or elegant from the outside, but it will always look excellent on the inside if you take good care of it.  

11. Remote Working Space

You can use your shed for many things, and one of the most common uses out there is using it as a remote working office. Therefore, you can choose a shed with enough space for you and make it your tiny studio shed.  

12. Use Sturdy Materials

Regardless of the aesthetic that you want your place to have, we recommend you choose sturdy materials for it since you don’t want a shed that will tear out or deteriorate after a few months. There are many prefab sturdy options available for you on the market, so you can check if one suits your needs and fits your style.  

13. Buy a Ready-to-Go Shed

Although getting a DIY small backyard shed is something exciting if you like DIY activities, it can be a huge nuisance for you if you don’t. Therefore, we recommend you go for a prefabricated ADU or a prefab studio cabin if you don’t want to spend that much time assembling your shed.  

14. Get a Mini-Shed

We’ve been all over the article speaking about small sheds, but when we say mini-shades, we mean pods that are smaller than usual. People often use them as compact offices if they don’t need that much space or don’t have that much space in their garden.  

15. Design a Studio Workshop

Many people become interested in having a studio workshop nowadays, and it’s an excellent hobby if you have some free time to learn how to handle certain tools. Look for a project to start, and try to design your studio workshop in your small backyard shed!  

16. Sound-Proof Shed

Going to your shed should be something relaxing that helps you space out from the problems you have outside it. Regardless of that, it’s difficult to do that if there’s a lot of noise, so many try sound-proofing their sheds and have their pods as an escape from reality.  

17. Glass Shed

Having a glass shed doesn’t give you as much privacy as one would want from a garden pod, but it’s still stylish enough to be worth it if you don’t care that much about those things. Hence, we recommend you try this alternative if the aesthetic is important to you.   

18. Log Stores

People can use sheds to store many things, even if they also use them for other things. Thus, your small backyard shed can be a perfect log store if you like the idea of designing a workshop or working with someone who has one. Nonetheless, you need enough space for the logs.

19. Garage Shed

If you don’t have that much money to buy a whole new office pod for yourself, you always have the option of using your garage for the job. Turning your garage into a garage shed is not as difficult as it seems, and it can help you optimize the space you have there.                                                                                                                                                                    

20. Gaming Shed

Do you need a place where you can peacefully play video games or any other thing? Then, a new gaming shed may be what you are looking for. Get one for your garden, and enjoy a different way of going through the day!  

Conclusion

As you could see, there are different ways and a million ideas to design your shed, so it’s up to you to get the shed that best suits your current needs. Get one as soon as you can!