My She Shed office is finally done! I am so happy with how it all turned out. Now it took a minute to finish it up but I actually like that I took my time with this. Taking my time allowed me to work and relax in the space which allowed me to really be able to determine what works best for me in here. It is not a big space so it was really important for me to make it as functional as possible in here. I think everything in here feels right and that feels so good to me. I want to share all of the details of this project including the costs for just about everything in case you are interested in a DIY She Shed for yourself!  

My shed is from Tuffshed. I ordered and customized it all online via their website. I chose the Premier Pro Studio building and it is 10ft by 12ft in size. I chose a standard roof, in the charcoal color, and the building has the regular siding. I elected to purchase it unpainted because I knew that I wanted to paint it to match the color of our house. You can definitely purchase it painted and choose from the colors that they have online or provide your own paint. Of course, both of these options cost more money. I did not get any windows but I did upgrade my doors to the sliding doors. If I am being honest, I am not sure that the doors were a good choice. For some reason they are really difficult to open and I am not a fan of that. My dad suggested that maybe we put some WD-40 down on the bottom track to see if that helps. We will try that but I am still not impressed with the quality or installation of the doors. 

How much does it cost for a she shed?

My order from Tuffshed also included installation which honestly surprised me. I knew it would be quick but I was not expecting them to be done in like six hours. The team (of two guys) showed up late one morning and they were done by maybe 6pm that same day. The pieces are prefabricated and kind of came together like a puzzle. The total cost of the Tuffshed portion of the She Shed was $7,096.18. 

When the Tuffshed build team left the shed was pretty much a shell. The next thing we did was have electricity run from the house to the shed. This actually took longer than the shed took to be built. They had to go in and do something at our electrical panel, run something through the soffit, and then dig a trench from the house to shed and actually do all of the stuff in there. We had an electrical panel installed out here along with outlet plugs, four recessed lights, a main overhead light, and two outdoor light boxes. It took about three days in total plus the inspection from the county. We paid $2,284.20 for the electrical work. 

Next we decided to hire out for the drywall work. I knew from the limited drywall work that we have done in the past that this was not something we would have time to do properly. The drywall guys did not do the best job, but we didn’t discover that until later on. But it got done and I don’t really want to do deal with them ever again (that’s a story for another day). We paid $1830.00  for the drywall.

After the drywall, came the DIY stuff. We got the cheapest peel and stick flooring that still looked cute from Home Depot. It was traffic master peel and stick vinyl plank in Taupe Oak. I used three boxes and they cost $35 per box. For the paint, we already had primer, but we still needed to get drywall specific primer and other supplies, as well as the paint that I had color matched at Sherwin Williams. I don’t have an exact number for this but I estimate that it came up to around $150 for these supplies. 

These things really add up! I had no idea how much exactly until I sat down to write this post. In the next post, I will cover the costs of the decor and furniture pieces, including links for where I purchased everything. But first, I am going to tackle a few frequently asked questions.

What exactly is a she shed?

A she shed is essentially a shed that has been converted into an additional living space for the home. She sheds are typically equipped with power and are spaces that are heated/cooled. They are also usually for a woman, hence the name ‘SHE’ shed. Some people may draw a parallel between a man cave for men and a she shed for women.

What is the purpose of a she shed?

Obviously, people created she sheds for different purposes. My she shed is serving as my home office and creative studio space. It is where I will come to work primarily and serve as a retreat from the chaos of the main house. I have seen other people use she sheds strictly for relaxation or recreation like a gym. It really is up to you. I think that is the fun part because you can customize it to serve whatever purpose you need it to serve.

Do you need a foundation for a she shed?

Yes, some people pour a concrete slab or some other medium to form a foundation for their she shed. We elected not to do that and to use the foundation that Tuffshed provided. We were able to select that option on the webiste and they handled that with installation. Our she shed is not installed directly on the ground but instead uses the anchors from Tuffshed with a steel frame floor.

I played around a lot on the TuffShed website to figure out the design that I wanted and to play around with the numbers. It was fun to see how much one slight change could impact the cost of things. Keep in mind that this was built in the middle of the pandemic. I am sure that the cost to build this from scratch without Tuffshed would be very different. Come back for the second part where I will share the interior of the she shed with pictures and links!