Sheds and shacks can be a saving grace for home owners, creatives, gardeners, or contemplatives. Have you considered a small space recently that could give you on-site storage or reprieve from the rat race?
Gaetan Veilleux designed and built himself a sweet little 10×12 garden shed in Edmonds, Washington. His father was a master carpenter/cabinetmaker so Gaetan learned a lot about building growing up, but that was over 30 years ago. He looked to books from the library and the internet to relearn things such as installing windows, hanging a door, and building the roof.
Gaetan’s wife, Deborah Binder, helped source some of the materials like finding roofing materials through Freecycle and Craigslist. Deborah revitalized the dutch door, also known as a stable door or a half door, that she found at The RE Store in Ballard. The door restoration required that she learn how to cut glass and reglaze the multi-paned upper half of the door. The shed also has a Velux skylight (Oooo… fancy!) that the couple bought from a local window and door store. It was out of the box and had been used as a showroom demo. They scored it for 75% off the list price. The windows came from The RE Store as well.
The shingles were a fun find for Deborah. She writes:
“I had been watching a house being built in Edmonds on my daily dog walking strolls. For months I saw a huge pile of shingles on pallets sitting in the front yard. As the grass grew taller and the house seemed finished I wondered what the builder was going to do with all the shingles. I called the number on the sign posted in the front yard and reached the site manager. He said I could take as many of the shingles as I wanted for FREE. So I took them all. When I priced them out I realized that I saved at least $500. We have a small amount left that we plan to use on another project. The shingles were pre-painted blue, but we plan to paint the shed this coming Spring (2013) to match our house.”
Check out The RE Store’s guide to designing your own little shed with this free pdf download: Extra Space or a Special Place