The Shed

Alex and Kory have been working on a fun yet taxing project, starting in late 2023, and we consider it a mostly-done project since about May 2024!

During those quick-moving yet grueling months, we have created an awesome studio/office for Alex to design and paint out of a shed my dad built on the land!

Here is a bit of a recap of how we updated the building and got it in working order. The shed is a building my dad built from the ground up. By hand. Here is what it’s been like the past few years.

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Starting around Thanksgiving we started to clear it out with the idea to make it Alex's space.

We even sketched some ideas of how to better use the space with a loft.

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In December we ended up focusing our efforts on framing, and replacing windows/doors.

The old widow was a single pane, thin, aluminum window that was maybe a bit drafty. And the old entry was an old, holey, rickety garage door. We wanted to make the space feel a bit more homey and contemporary, with more weather-proofing.

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One of the main big changes to the layout of this space was creating a multi-use loft space on one side. We tackled this while working on the windows and door, while we had the walls still exposed.

Shout out to DIY Homestead Projects for their inspo (along with tons of other YouTube videos). The biggest challenge/exciting part of this to me was making sure the loft had a floating look. With having the studs still exposed, we were able to make a loft supported on jack studs attached to the main wall studs.

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We made progress on electric and insulation after that in the early spring.

The biggest driving factor for our timeline was Kory's brother visiting in April/May, so we really wanted to finish the puzzle of moving stuff from the old room in the house (which was becoming a proper guest room) into this new space.

Once the main electric got ran, we insulated and boarded up where we could. The existing walls were only built with studs, tar paper, and outdoor siding (which is basically MDF or wood, not concrete like the modern stuff). So we added OSB for real strength and stability.

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Once the drywall went up on top of the plywood, it really started to feel like a real transformation.

We played a bit of chicken-and-egg with the electric, the outlets, the plywood/drywall, and the AC install, but we got there! Around May-ish, the space was pretty much done and usable.

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Alex has been using the space as his studio and it's been going great. But.

Once Alex was in there on the daily, the tree situation made itself very clear that it needed to be dealt with sooner than later. The trees back in the day were close to the building, but over the years they really grew and became quite scary. The right tree was pretty much leaning into the metal roof—and any time a breeze came by, let alone a real storm, the creaking and movement was too much to ignore.

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So right before our summer vacation in July, we got these two trees removed. Now we have so much peace of mind!

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And here we are!

We are done and the space is great. With all things home, we're not really DONE done. The real last bit of this is to make a decision on our paint... TBD very soon! 🖤😈

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-kory and alex