Monday, January 10, 2011

Welcoming the Doldrums of Winter

Happy 2011!
Whew!
I'm finally feeling like I have time to take a deep breath after the craziness that extends from late summer into fall and then into the ubercraziness of the holidays. Thus, I am taking inventory of the project situation, both those balls that I have in the air and those that are yet to be tossed.

First up on the "balls in the air" category is the shed. Yes, a modern shed!! For my backyard! Very exciting!
This ball got tossed in large part due to Boy, who got himself all whipped up last fall and decided that both our vehicles needed to go in the garage this winter.
For the first time ever.
Ahem.
And that left us with a lot of housebuilding tools and lawn and garden stuff in the way, and as driver of vehicle #2, the one newly installed in the garage, it only took about two days of entering it by climbing through the passenger door before I was ready for a bit more free space. So I busted out my pencil and sketch pad and slide rule and designed us up a nifty little shed.
(just kidding about the slide rule, but come to think of it, maybe I need one...?)

Truthfully though, calling this project "a shed" isn't quite fair, because that implies a simple, strictly utilitarian building, and WHERE, I ask you, is the fun and Modern in MNishness in that? Strictly utilitarian, no (and yes, for the umpteenth time, I'm sure Boy wants to strangle me for turning what could have been a simple project into something more complex). A backyard destination that happens to look fun and interesting and still be functional and hold our stuff, YES! Sign me up!

Here is my original sketch of the proposed structure:
shed sketches

For ease of construction and limited waste, The dimensions are 8'x12', with an additional 4' or so given over to a deck that wraps the north and east sides. I knew I wanted to tart the place up with windows and doors (that whole "not just a shed" thing) so I more or less designed the fenestrations and facade based around recycled windows and doors I found on Craigslist. Over the course of a week or two I collected up a very nice gently used vinyl slider, a big (new!) picture window, and two cool bubble windows all for ~$200 and a bit of schlepping. The other supplies--lumber, sheet goods, fasteners and a mini roll-up door came to around $1200. So far, a reasonable budget for a bunch of great storage and a cool addition to our property.

And speaking of budget, I had one. For those of you big spenders, there's lots of cool pre-fab shed options. Those in the modern genre are mostly outrageously expensive. And I mean outrageously, like on the order of 10x or more what I wanted to spend. Great inspiration, not great for our bottom line. And besides, I get itchy when I haven't built anything in a while...

So to come, the dirt of the shed build and other balls yet to be tossed!
One of my goals this year is more Modern in MN, more often, so I hope to be back with you again shortly...

4 Comments:

Blogger Alice said...

and I'm struggling to get a toilet home... You go girl!

2:44 PM  
Blogger Rebecca Beagle said...

Can't wait to see what you come up with shed-wise. We've got a modern-ish shed on our to-do list as well, but it's still a couple of years away.

2:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is awesome! Before our house was even finished, I was thinking of a modern shed. I'll be able to live vicariously through yours for a bit until I sketch out mine.

I too agree that the pre-fab modern sheds are outrageous! I'm super, super excited to see what you come up with :)

Heather J

7:33 PM  
Blogger Wes said...

Bookmarked and watching your progress. Something very similar is on my list. My plan is to incorporate mine into a deck project. Making my modern "shed' more of a studio/office space.

The more photos and details you can share the better! Your site has been an inspiration and help several times over the past few years with our home projects (concrete countertops and ikea kitchens especially).

1:37 PM  

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