Seattle Shed Packed With Creativity and Budget-Friendly Ideas
Two years ago, architect Jim Friesz received a call from a friend who lived in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. A neighbor was looking to remodel her Craftsman home’s detached two-car garage, and the friend thought Friesz, who had recently co-founded a new design studio, might be interested in taking on the project. “We were just starting out as a firm,” Friesz says.
The project appealed to the designers of Mutuus Studio for a number of reasons. The homeowner wanted the shed to serve a variety of uses, including working from home, gardening, exercising and entertaining. And it had to be done on a strict budget. “It was an exercise in restraint,” Friesz says.
The project appealed to the designers of Mutuus Studio for a number of reasons. The homeowner wanted the shed to serve a variety of uses, including working from home, gardening, exercising and entertaining. And it had to be done on a strict budget. “It was an exercise in restraint,” Friesz says.
Photos by Rafael Soldi
Shed at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman and her 7-year-old-daughter
Location: Ballard neighborhood of Seattle
Size: 360 square feet (33 square meters)
Designers: Jim Friesz and Kristen Becker of Mutuus Studio
Before any renovations started, the designers brought on general contractor August Bergdahl of Crescent Builds to help them clean up the structure. “Someone had helped [the homeowner] with a previous version of the idea,” Friesz says. But the roof was leaking and the shed was in bad shape. “All of that had to get demoed,” Bergdahl adds. Once they dried out the shed, fixed the leaking roof and tightened the building envelope with caulking and new framing, they got to work on the redesign.
The designers immediately noticed how inviting and well-designed the outdoor space already was. Their goal was to better connect the shed to the garden and to have it feel like an outdoor escape for the homeowner. “We had this vision of the interior being warm and glowy from the inside,” like a lantern emanating light, Friesz says.
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Shed at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman and her 7-year-old-daughter
Location: Ballard neighborhood of Seattle
Size: 360 square feet (33 square meters)
Designers: Jim Friesz and Kristen Becker of Mutuus Studio
Before any renovations started, the designers brought on general contractor August Bergdahl of Crescent Builds to help them clean up the structure. “Someone had helped [the homeowner] with a previous version of the idea,” Friesz says. But the roof was leaking and the shed was in bad shape. “All of that had to get demoed,” Bergdahl adds. Once they dried out the shed, fixed the leaking roof and tightened the building envelope with caulking and new framing, they got to work on the redesign.
The designers immediately noticed how inviting and well-designed the outdoor space already was. Their goal was to better connect the shed to the garden and to have it feel like an outdoor escape for the homeowner. “We had this vision of the interior being warm and glowy from the inside,” like a lantern emanating light, Friesz says.
Find a remodeling professional on Houzz
Given the shed’s size and budget restrictions, a close collaboration between the designers and the contractor helped drive the design’s creativity. “He’s a special type of contractor,” Friesz says of Bergdahl. “We can do [a project] with more on-site collaboration and less drawings.” This project, for example, only had a rendering and a couple of plans. “He makes the process super easy.”
Together, they decided to cover the walls with cedar planks, a budget-friendly material that added visual warmth and texture to the space. “August and I came up with this idea to use very economical cedar fence boards,” Friesz says. “The walls are a little rustic” because of the nature of the material, he says. The gaps between the boards accommodate the irregularities of the board shapes. As the wood isn’t exposed to UV rays, it will remain this color.
Though they sealed the exterior, they decided not to insulate the structure. “We wanted it to remain as an unconditioned garage space,” Friesz says. It protects the homeowner from the elements but doesn’t need the tight building envelope of a home.
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Together, they decided to cover the walls with cedar planks, a budget-friendly material that added visual warmth and texture to the space. “August and I came up with this idea to use very economical cedar fence boards,” Friesz says. “The walls are a little rustic” because of the nature of the material, he says. The gaps between the boards accommodate the irregularities of the board shapes. As the wood isn’t exposed to UV rays, it will remain this color.
Though they sealed the exterior, they decided not to insulate the structure. “We wanted it to remain as an unconditioned garage space,” Friesz says. It protects the homeowner from the elements but doesn’t need the tight building envelope of a home.
Buy wall hooks in the Houzz Shop
The shed before the renovation featured three small rooms (two offices and a storage room). The homeowner wanted to use the shed for working, entertaining, exercising and gardening. Instead of creating individual spaces for each use, they decided that one large room would better maximize the square footage.
Budget was a major factor, as it often is, and in this project it influenced materials, finishes and other design decisions. The remodeling pros cleaned and scraped the existing concrete floors but didn’t polish them, and they left the ceiling as is, patching and painting especially worn areas. They added more extensive electrical systems, as the shed didn’t really have any before. “We spent a little bit of money on cool light fixtures,” Friesz says of the Schoolhouse Electric lights.
The beam running across the ceiling marks the place where the wall had divided the shed’s two offices from the utility space in the back. While the team discussed replacing the beam, it was unnecessary from a structural perspective and would have used up all of the budget. “Cladding it in steel added support, aesthetics and saved money,” Bergdahl says.
Budget was a major factor, as it often is, and in this project it influenced materials, finishes and other design decisions. The remodeling pros cleaned and scraped the existing concrete floors but didn’t polish them, and they left the ceiling as is, patching and painting especially worn areas. They added more extensive electrical systems, as the shed didn’t really have any before. “We spent a little bit of money on cool light fixtures,” Friesz says of the Schoolhouse Electric lights.
The beam running across the ceiling marks the place where the wall had divided the shed’s two offices from the utility space in the back. While the team discussed replacing the beam, it was unnecessary from a structural perspective and would have used up all of the budget. “Cladding it in steel added support, aesthetics and saved money,” Bergdahl says.
The shed’s size and range of uses required the designers to get creative with storage and detailing. First and foremost, it’s a garden shed, so tool and garden storage was important. They framed two new closets — one for gardening tools and one for general storage — and used off-the-rack prehung doors. The contractors carefully installed the cedar planks across the doors so they would blend in seamlessly with the rest of the walls.
They built a daybed in between the closets, including underbed storage and plywood paneling. They coated the plywood with Seafin Oil, a simple penetrating tung oil. It brightens the color a little, Bergdahl says, and also helps protect the plywood from dirt and oils that it may come into contact with.
They built a daybed in between the closets, including underbed storage and plywood paneling. They coated the plywood with Seafin Oil, a simple penetrating tung oil. It brightens the color a little, Bergdahl says, and also helps protect the plywood from dirt and oils that it may come into contact with.
The design team detailed a built-in bookcase nook on one side of the daybed, which Bergdahl’s team then executed.
They left one of the bays between studs empty and covered the backside of the studs with plywood. Cedar planks mount to the front and a wood shelf attaches to the top. “It’s not refined materials, Bergdahl says, but “the consideration of things aligning makes a big difference.”
On the other side of the daybed, a similarly detailed ladder leads up to a play nook for the homeowner’s 7-year-old daughter. “She really wanted to include her daughter in the design,” Bergdahl says of the homeowner, and they were able to do so with an unused space above one of the closets. “She goes up there with her books and her stuffed animals,” Freisz says of the daughter, shown here.
A folding NanaWall door opens up the shed to the garden. “This was key to the design,” Bergdahl says. “Once we got involved, [it was] about this door and making this connection.” The team had to modify the existing wall in order to accommodate the door, so they ended up re-siding the whole structure.
The other entrances are the existing carriage doors for the shed (which the contractors adjusted in order to make a tighter fit). The single door was salvaged from one of the offices.
Pro tip: Don’t put off getting a professional involved in your remodeling project. When working with an existing structure like a shed, Bergdahl suggests bringing a professional in early on to help you assess the structure and its feasibility.
The other entrances are the existing carriage doors for the shed (which the contractors adjusted in order to make a tighter fit). The single door was salvaged from one of the offices.
Pro tip: Don’t put off getting a professional involved in your remodeling project. When working with an existing structure like a shed, Bergdahl suggests bringing a professional in early on to help you assess the structure and its feasibility.