Turn a garden shed into a home office

If you are in desperate need of a home office but simply do not have anywhere to set up indoors, you could consider turning a garden shed or Wendy into a home office in the garden. When you think about how much a garden shed or Wendy costs compared to the cost of adding on a home extension, you would save thousands of Rands.

 

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With a few upgrades any garden shed or Wendy can be transformed into a comfortable space to work from.

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While at first glance you may not think that a dingy garden shed can be turned into a practical home office, a few modifications here and there and you will be pleasantly surprised. Here are a few options to consider if you are thinking about turning a garden shed into a home office:

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Choose a suitable spot in the garden

You will need space the place the garden shed, preferably close to the house if you plan to run electrical wiring to power up your home office. You also don't want to be too far away from bathroom facilities, especially during the rainy season or winter months.

Running an air conditioner to cool down the interior can be costly, so if you can position the shed under the shade of surrounding trees that would help towards keeping the interior cool during the hot summer months. You should also consider a design that offers plenty of air circulation either with large opening windows or double doors.

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Choose a shed that's large enough

You will find online suppliers of sheds that offer various sizes. Choose one that is large enough for your needs. If you only need space for a small desk to set up a laptop and shelves for files, a smallish shed will suffice.

Take into consideration the price difference between a small-, medium- or large-sized shed. Sometimes the difference is less than you expect and a larger shed will offer more space. 

Sheds are reasonably inexpensive when compared to the cost of building an extension onto the existing property and today's garden sheds come in a wide variety of materials, designs, sizes and colours and can include all the custom extras you need, like windows, doors or even a covered patio.

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Clad the space

Most garden sheds are constructed of pine planks or split poles. While these may look attractive in the garden, you will want to clad the interior of the shed if you are going to be working in the space. Depending on the style of home office you want, you can choose to clad the interior with OSB or plywood sheets, or put up drywall board. All options are easy to install; simply measure up the space and have sheets cut to size so that you can screw these onto the interior framework.

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GOOD TO KNOW

To keep the shed cool in summer and warm in winter it's a good idea to have insulation fitted before cladding the interior walls. Fibreglass insulation is available at your local Builders Warehouse, or you can choose to have eco-friendly insulation materials professionally applied.

Most garden sheds come with a basic pine tongue and groove floor but you can cover this with vinyl sheet or carpet if you want to finish off the interior. Alternatively, a whitewashed wooden floor will brighten up and make the space appear visually larger.

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Power up the shed

Unless you only need a space to set out your laptop, you are going to need electrical power for lighting and office appliances. You could just run an exterior-graded extension cable from the house to the shed, but it is far better to have an electrician install a power point or two and fit decent LED lighting. LED lighting won't generate heat, and in a small space such as a garden shed you need to keep it as cool as possible.

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