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A Secret Garden Library

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A blue-green shed in fall foliage.

SONOMA COUNTY – Paige always knew that having a beautiful home library was a priority. Growing up, her family amassed an extensive collection of beautiful and rare books, many that she looks forward to passing on to her own kids someday. But when Paige and her husband began remodeling their current home, a library/office took a back seat to other more costly projects.

However, as the COVID pandemic wore on through the summer of 2020, Paige knew it was time for her dream space to take precedence.

“In August, I had just started researching home office sheds online. My daughter was getting ready to start her senior year of high school, and we all really needed our own space to work,” she recalls. “I had a vision for an office shed that could also be a Secret Garden escape to read and relax. And taking care of our library collection was a huge concern; I had to be sure we could control temperature and moisture to protect those treasures.”

Paige enlisted her son to help sketch up some ideas for her, and continued to make calls and do research. “It was between [Modern-Shed] and another large shed supplier. They gave me their standard, out-of-the box option and told me, ‘It will probably work fine.’ But when I talked to [my Design Pro] Jeff Bergerson, he really took the time to understand our vision and help perfect it. He really bought in to the whole idea!” Paige was so impressed with the care that Jeff took to both meet her aesthetic and care for her book collection, she knew that Modern-Shed would best meet her needs.

Paige decided on a 12 x 10’ size shed, with 2 windows and sliding doors built on a standard foundation. She choose dragonfly green color for the exterior paint and blue inside. To finish the interior space, she went with custom shelving and found an amazing chaise to complete the relaxing library. The installation took about a week, and then finishing the interior took just a couple weeks more. And by November, Paige’s daughter was setting up her laptop for school every day in their new space!

“My kids just love going back there for a quiet retreat, and the neighbors have all asked where they can get a shed like ours! We tell everyone to call Modern-Shed.”

Paige also advises potential clients to be realistic about the costs of each aspect of the building and finishing. “Jeff was great about walking me through his estimates for each step of the process, but I tried to convince him I could get it done for less. At the end of the day, though, Jeff was right on!”

“It was totally worth it,” Paige adds, “to get exactly the space we wanted and know that it’s done right.” We’re thrilled Paige and her family can enjoy their back yard escape for years to come!

To connect with your Modern-Shed Design Pro, visit our website.

Palm Desert Paradise

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PALM DESERT — When Tom and Casi moved into their 1,740-square-foot Palm Desert home four years ago, they identified a spot where Tom could eventually have a home office.

Each of them work from home — Casi works as a financial consultant for a high-end designer, while Tom, a former stand-up comedian and actor, writes content for programs such as awards shows or music specials for a Hollywood producer.

When it came to their new home, they worked with their builder/designer to create a space exactly how Tom wanted it — however, Casi was the first to land a job, so Tom found himself back to where he started, working from various spots in the house, such as the dining room table.

“Her jobs tend to be long-term, while mine are a month at a time,” Tom said. “The office became hers, so I patched along for a couple of years.”

When the COVID pandemic struck, they began to research home offices they could put up in the backyard. Their experience with Modern-Shed went quickly. 

“We were stuck at home, and in late August, well into the COVID experience, I showed Casi what I had seen online,” Tom recalled. “To my surprise, she agreed to build one. Our first email was sent in September and we were building in November.”

Tom was attracted to the design of Modern-Shed, with the transom windows and the look of the wood coming from the eaves. Casi watched all of the videos on Modern-Shed’s gallery online to get a sense of everything someone could do with a shed.

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Book Now for Summer Construction!

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As summer construction ramps up to a building boom, it’s time to plan early for your Modern-Shed!

Whether you want a home office, an art studio, a guest space, man cave, garden shed or something else, it’s important to get your orders in EARLY. Modern-Shed has a 12-week lead time before a shed can be installed. Spaces for the summer are filling up quickly!

Modern-Shed is also facing a high demand for home offices. If you’d like a home office quickly, here are some tips:

  • Know what you want: Research on this blog or on our online galleries to find the look of a shed that you like. Have a solid idea about the paint color, style, and number of windows you may want.
  • Sacrifice customization: At Modern-Shed, we pride ourselves in helping our customers find the exact Modern-Shed that they want — you are the one who will be using the shed for years, and we want you to be happy. However, if you are in a rush to build a home office quickly, it can be helpful to stick to a standard Modern-Shed size, such as 10′ by 12′. A custom-sized Modern-Shed will take longer to come to fruition.
  • Be persistent: Our design professionals are extremely busy and are working hard to connect with all of our interested customers. If you are serious about needing a shed in the next few months, continue to leave messages and send emails. Rest assured, someone will get back to you and work at getting you on the schedule if possible.

Thank you for your patience, and here’s to a bountiful summer!

It Looked Exactly Like it Was Meant to Be

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San Francisco Bay Area — Prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic taking root in the United States, Sami L. was traveling more than 250,000 miles a year for work. 

Now, like many of us, he hasn’t been on an airplane since February, and he doesn’t foresee getting on an airplane for work ever again.

“I traveled a lot for my job,” says Sami, who works in Internet cloud security. “Zoom and other video conferencing technologies are working so well that I don’t think the traditional conference will make a comeback, at least not any time soon.”

Sami was already preparing for a new work reality prior to the pandemic — when he wasn’t traveling for work, he had to commute 3 hours round-trip to his office in downtown San Francisco.

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“I wish we had done this years ago”

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SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA — This past spring, as the country began to grapple with the impacts of COVID-19, Kevin started thinking of the future.

“I began working from home and my kids were home from school, and I could see, looking down the road, that we might be in this for awhile,” he said. “This thing might rear its head again soon, and if that’s the case, I knew I would need a place of privacy to do my work, and the kids would as well.”

Now, with fall approaching and the “new normal” fully in swing, Kevin is happy he made the choice to build a Modern-Shed this past July. In fact, he wishes he had built one “years ago.”

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Pantone’s Color of the Year

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Pantone’s Color of the 2019 is Living Coral, a bright and cheery color that would liven up any room in your Modern-Shed or simple living space.

“Living Coral welcomes and encourages lighthearted activity. Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embodies our desire for playful expression,” notes the Pantone website. “Representing the fusion of modern life, PANTONE Living Coral is a nurturing color that appears in our natural surroundings and at the same time, displays a lively presence within social media.”

We love seeing the color on fashion runways and, of course, in home design.

Color in built in furniture
In this room, the cabinetry and trim are painted a gutsy red-orange hue (Habanero Pepper by Benjamin Moore). Photo by David Tsay for HGTV.com. 

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The space to be you

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MS10by12poolshed
This 10′ by 12′ Modern-Shed art studio could easily work as a pool house!

Northern California — As many moms know, taking care of children is a full-time job.

That’s what Jewelz learned more than a decade ago when she had her first son, who is now 11.

That job took over her life more and more as she grew her brood with two more sons, ages 10 and 8, and a daughter, age 5.

For nearly just as long as the time that she’s been a mom, the California artist knew she wanted her own art studio.

“With four kids, I had to take a break from doing art,” says Jewelz, who primarily enjoys watercolor painting, pen and ink drawing, stippling and is now interested in linol printing. “Now that my youngest is 5, I was able to get back to it.”

However, there hasn’t been much space in her family’s home for her work.

“I leave my art projects out, but we have a lot of playdates, so we always have some little friend helping out with my projects. Which, you know, is not the direction I want to go,” she says. “I needed my own space.” Continue reading →

Social Media Spotlight: Visit us on Houzz!

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Houzz is known as the premier social media platform for home remodeling and design, bringing homeowners and professionals together in a visual, collaborative experience.
On our Houzz page you can find photos of past projects, ask questions of specific sheds, save an idea for later, and more!
Scroll through our projects, drop a comment and don’t forget to leave us a review if you have a Modern-Shed already!

3 Tips for Designing in Small Spaces

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When you’re looking at decorating a small space, simplicity is key.

Many of our Modern-Shed customers realize this when they purchase one of our sheds. A small art studio hardly has room for a lot of clutter, but an artist still needs a place to store all of their materials, from small brushes to large easels.

Here are some tips we’ve culled over the years from observing our stylish customers. Continue reading →