If you’re looking for a way to expand your home’s living space without adding a costly new bedroom or expansion, then we have the answer for you: converting your outdoor garden shed!

Depending on the size of the shed and its proximity to your house, it’s fairly likely that you’ll be able to create a great outdoor living space on the cheap that doesn’t feel cheap at all. If you plan the conversion correctly and ensure that you invest plenty of time and energy into it, then you’ll be rewarded with a new and versatile living space that everyone will love to use.

Take a look below at our tips for a seamless, quality garden shed conversion.

First and foremost your shed conversion will almost certainly end in failure if you haven’t got a big enough shed to convert. You won’t be able to move ahead and use a garden shed as a living space if it’s only 2 meters by 3 meters and only a few feet high.

If you haven’t yet installed a shed then you’re in the best position. Look for big workshop-sized sheds from retailers like EasyShed and you’ll be able to purchase a sizeable addition for your home for only a few hundred dollars. These types of sheds will also be designed to withstand harsh weather so hanging out inside one won’t be putting anyone at risk.

This tip is vital to follow if you live in a city or town with major temperature swings each season. If you want to use your shed as a living area all year round, then you need to make sure it’s comfortable. The best way to do this is to add air conditioning or at least a fan to the garden shed so there is some sort of airflow.

Depending on where you live, you might even want to add a layer of insulation to your floors, walls as well as the ceiling before you do anything else. This power consumption will be lower if you do choose to add an A/C.

In-floor heating is fairly easy too so if you live in a colder climate you should look to integrate concrete heating just so the shed is more comfortable.

This is particularly important if you’re planning on using a lot of appliances and other tools in the shed. It’s recommended that you choose a 20amp circuit just so that you can power more than lights or a fan. If your garden shed conversion plan calls for the space to be used practically as another room of the house and will need plenty of electricity then you might need to set up a few circuits.

To ensure everything is done safely, it would be a good idea to speak with an electrician and to also run all wiring underground in conduit. You might need to adhere to your local council regulations too, so keep this in mind. 

One of the most complex stages of the shed conversion will be the addition of plumbing. Running water from your home to the shed won’t be the issue though, the drainage will be. With that said, if you are planning on plumbing, certainly leave this to professionals and boost your budget considerably.

Don’t feel as though you don’t need to follow any rules since you’re not building a new building. There’s a pretty good chance that you’ll still have to get a permit or at least follow a set of rules as well as have the garden shed certified. Considering a permit is a real possibility, you should make sure to ask local authorities for some direction on what’s required of you.

A big factor in making sure your new shed conversion is comfortable is natural light. You don’t want the only source of light in the shed to be coming from a small LED or CFL bulb in the middle of the room. Be sure to plan the shed’s interior layout to include windows and you’ll be able to add these in with little issue at all.

You won’t even need planning permission (in most cities) for the addition of windows either, so you can simply go ahead with these. Make sure they are double glazed however just so that energy consumption requirements are met.