The Ultimate Shed Tiny House

Steve Hathaway let me know about this great article called the Ultimate Shed featured in the July/August edition of Family Handyman magazine. This shed/garage is 16 x 20 and around 320 square feet. You would of course need to insulate and finish it take to make a living space out of the shed it would provide, but seems like an interesting starting point for a tiny house. Also, the availability of the the plans is a plus, even if that only takes a would-be DIY builder as far as the structure.

I also like the idea, in general, of converting outbuildings to livable spaces.

Actual photo of completed shed, more photos of the construction in the print magazine.

The basic plans are offered for free at the website as pdf files and you can download them. I’ve put a couple of screen shots of the plans below so you can get an idea what they are like. Since this shed is 320 square feet you will need to check your local requirements before building it. I think it has great possibilities and I’m sure there are many more shed/garage options out there. Please share them with me as you find them and I’ll make this a new tiny house category. I was able to check out the magazine article yesterday and if you are serious about building this shed I would recommend buying it as they detail the construction of the building with photos and descriptions that are not available on the internet. Well worth the $4 you will pay for the magazine. Here is the online magazine link.


14 thoughts on “The Ultimate Shed Tiny House”

  1. Family Handyman magazine has free plans for a 10×14 sleeping cabin… http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/index.php?ci_id=3060&la_id=1&page=1

    Popular Mechanics has several free shed plans. Search their site for “sheds”… http://www.popularmechanics.com/search/fast_search?search_term=sheds

    Look for the Colonial Shed, the Groundskeeper Shed, and the Big Red Shed and probably others. Of course being sheds, those may not meet building code requirements for human occupation.

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  2. THanks much for posting this–I’m eager to see if it appeals to other Tiny House fans. I’m intrigued by the question of what to do with the garage door opening: picture window? french doors opening onto a porch or patio?

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  3. Actually, it’s all there: converting the garage door opening to a big beautiful picture window is all that’s needed, and, of course, cutting in a couple secondary windows (over the kitchenette sink, perhaps, another in the bed alcove?), besides the expected interior modifications (insulation, wiring, foundation/subflooring, etc.).
    But structurally, it looks to be a perfect little cottage shell!

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  4. Per Frank’s suggestions/links: while you’re there, check out the GREEN SHED IDEAS! Loads of pics and ideas, on some extreme green buildings that would also spark some great tiny house dreams! Thanks for the links that got me there, Frank!

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  5. An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who has been conducting a little homework
    on this. And he actually ordered me lunch due to the fact that
    I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this.
    … Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending the time to discuss
    this matter here on your blog.

    Reply

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