What I’ve learned about working from a shed
I’ve recently had a number of people asking me questions about building a “she shed” or “cloffice” as they are now being called.
The concept of building a stand alone home office is becoming popular as more people are working from home and possibly planning to do so in the long-term.
As a business owner, having a dedicated work space that allows you to focus and be productive is so important. My office has been a saviour during the past year and a half of COVID while everyone has been schooling and working from home! I feel incredibly grateful to have this space.
I created this post to share the journey of transforming our shed into my home office and some of the lessons I’ve learned working from the shed over the past eight years.
It all started when someone joked that I was going to have to work in the shed.
When I left the corporate world to start my own business, I quickly realized that I didn’t have a space in the house to claim as my own.
My husband has worked from home for years and had clearly claimed our home office as his own. I initially set up in the corner of our bedroom which was not ideal.
Does this chaos look familiar?
This led to us standing in the shed one day wondering if it could actually become an office. It was very small at only 35 square feet, but I could visualize my own space away from the distractions inside the house, so we got planning. Luckily, I have a very handy husband who can build anything I dream up.
It took some vision to start from here!
We started by replacing the cedar roof with shingles to make it watertight and insulated the walls, floor and ceiling with spray foam.
The shed had existing electrical for lighting only, so we added additional capacity to handle the air conditioner and heaters and ran the plugs on the lighting circuit. A dedicated network cable was also run to the office via the underground conduit to provide a reliable connection. A WIFI access point was added, providing connectivity options of ‘plug in’ network and WIFI.
We changed out the roof, window and door to make it water tight.
Here are a few things that I’ve learned to consider:
Optimize the space while allowing for breathing room
In the first iteration of my office, I had a small desk in one area and a bench behind me that housed filing cabinets and a space for a printer. It was topped off with a cushion to double as a seating area that I envisioned lounging on.
While it was functional, the space between my desk and the bench was constricting and my desk space was quite small and irregularly shaped.
The reality was that my dog was the only one that sat on the bench and I realized I didn’t actually need a printer in my office. When I revamped my office in the Spring, I took out the bench and created a larger desk which feels much more expansive.
The 2.0 version of my office has a larger workspace and feels more spacious.
Lesson: Don’t try to jam too much into a small space and make sure you allow for an adequately sized desktop.
Consider options for natural and artificial lighting
Natural lighting is very important to help the space feel larger. The existing shed had a window, but it didn’t let in very much light because of the exterior overhang.
We decided to add a skylight to allow in more light. In the summer, I add a sheer curtain over it to help control the heat and in the winter I leave it exposed.
The skylight offers natural light.
The initial light I installed was a cute little chandelier, but it threw a patterned light. It has now been replaced with a globe light that can be set to different colour temperatures and levels of brightness. As a bonus, we put it on a smart plug so that it is easy to turn off from inside the house when I accidentally leave the light on (which happens often!).
Another consideration is window placement if you are building from scratch. Ideally you should not have a window behind you as it can interfere with your computer screen and can be an issue with backlighting on video calls.
In my setup I do happen to have a window behind me, so I’ve added sheer curtains that I can pull closed if needed to mute the light.
Lesson: Think about how you will maximize and let in lighting throughout your space.
Think about airflow
Airflow is important to think about, especially during the shoulder seasons of Spring and Fall when you want to have fresh air moving through.
Airflow is a challenge in my office because it was an already existing space I was modifying. The door and window are on the same side of the office and the building is positioned against a fence on two sides so there is not any through flow of air.
In hindsight, I may have considered choosing a skylight that would open to allow for more air flow.
Lesson: Consider having your door and windows on opposite walls to allow for air to move through.
Temperature and humidity control can be tricky
This is the area we’ve struggled with the most as maintaining a consistent temperature and a reasonable level of humidity is a fine balance in a small space.
I started out with a window air conditioner in the wall that had both cold and hot air settings that theoretically should have worked year- round. The window air conditioner presented two challenges. It was too loud to have on during conference calls so I would end up turning it off for calls and sweltering. It was also positioned too close to me in my small space and would blow freezing air directly at me.
I got rid of it before I had a chance to use it for heat in the winter and instead installed two electric baseboard heaters which keep me perfectly toasty all winter.
For the second summer, we replaced the window air conditioner with a…wait for it…doghouse air conditioner. The system is intended to cool a small space and the cooling unit is mounted outside the office. The bonus is that it is nice and quiet with only one vent on the wall in my office. The drawback is that it has to be turned off or on the outside unit as dogs don’t typically adjust their own temperature.
We recently added a smart plug to that unit as well so that it can be turned off and on from a smartphone.
I also have a small de-humidifier in my office to regulate the level of moisture. Being a small space, the air conditioner runs very little to maintain a cool temperature, which means it isn’t pulling a lot of moisture out of the air. In the height of the summer months, the humidity can get out of control and nothing is worse than having all your papers stick together.
Lesson: You may have to get creative with your heating and cooling options. Buy the smallest BTU air conditioner that will cool your space, or you’ll end up in a cold, damp office.
Beware of Critters
More than once I’ve had skunks try to sublet the underside of my office. While the underside was sealed, they are sneaky little guys and will get through anything. We’ve now added additional reinforcements and chicken wire around the back side of the office which seems to be keeping them out.
I’m also currently battling with some ants that love to burrow through the spray foam walls. Ant traps are my best friend right now.
Lesson: Expect that you may have a few more co-workers than planned if you don’t think ahead.
Think of small space hacks to multipurpose
I recently started filming more videos for my business and invested in a ring light on a stand that I was constantly tripping over. I found a boom arm on Amazon that allows me to pull down the light and phone holder when I need it and tuck it back up out of sight when I’m not using it. It’s turned my small office into a production studio as well!
Lesson: Sometimes you will need to get creative!
Make it fun and functional
Create a space that you love going to. For me, that means white walls with accents of colour and some shelves for books and décor. We also finished a small space above the window as a mezzanine storage space where I keep a couple of banker boxes for files.
Add whatever else you need to support your business and creative process. I have a couple of whiteboards that I can go to when I need to get something out of my head. One is an open board and one has become a vision board.
Lesson: Make it a space that feels like you and that you are excited to spend your days in.
I hope this helps anyone embarking on their journey to create their own home office! If you have any other questions that I haven’t answered, feel free to reach out to laura@goodtogrowmarketing.ca.