Tiny Studio™

tl:dr; We turned a pre-built shed into an office to improve my health.

I work for a distributed organization that has a small office in San Francisco. Even at max capacity it would only hold about 1/4 of our total headcount. As of mid-2020, about 2/3 of employees work from home. I’m one of those. For the last four-and-a-half years I’ve worked from a tiny corner of our bedroom. It hasn’t been great. So, my family and I set out on an adventure to improve my working conditions.

I’m incredibly privileged to be able to complete this project. Both in cost, time, and space. I hope it inspires folks to consider how the physical space where they work influences their mental health and if possible, do something positive about it!

Why?

Working remotely for the Wikimedia Foundation is an option that I greatly appreciate. I’m now ruined for the rest of my professional career and can’t imagine working in a shared office again. Especially an office with an open floor plan or innocuous cubical walls. That said, there are considerations and outright downsides to working remotely that can have a negative impact on one’s health. Ya got to stay on top of these or you can find yourself not enjoying, well, life.

Isolation, lack of “water cooler” talk¹, a clear separation of home and professional work, and difficulty in creating a healthy environment to work (inside or outside your home) are a few issues that may arise.

Personally, I was feeling anxious all the time, I lost interest in hobbies that involved a computer, did not feel like my office was a space to myself – but that the bedroom was dedicated to work – and was constantly feeling agitated due to the mildest of interruptions. It was really bringing down all the positives to remote work. After a low point brought on by depression something had to be done. I tried lots of things to cope. I bought a sound machine, worked from the library more often, went to the gym more consistently, and talked to my mental health counselor more about what I could do. Even with all that, I wasn’t feeling myself. I’m the kind of person who needs to work outside the home.

This is a project we undertook to help my own health. I’m documenting it here to hopefully inspire others who are fortunate enough to consider something similar. Starting in the summer of 2019 my wife and I created a space for me to work outside our home. I’m jokingly calling it my Tiny Studio. Because it’s tiny and the word studio is mockingly pretentious. It’s just a shed. 🙂

How it came to this

A little background. We live in a small (1,200 sq ft) brick home built in 1936. It is a one-and-a-half story², three bedroom, single bath. I have two children. We purchased this home 14 years ago after our first child was born. It’s located five minutes from both sides of our family, within the school district of choice, and was/is within our budget. With two kids and ourselves the three bedrooms are spoken for. My basement is unfinished and tiny.³

My youngest daughter is currently five and not yet in school. My wife works from home as well. This gives us limited space to arrange for an “office” where one is frequently working and distractions are at a minimum. The result is that for the last six or so years I’ve had an office in the corner of my bedroom. Literally the worst place to work from.⁴ I do sometimes work from a local library that’s a five minute bike ride away, but when working there I’m not guaranteed a quiet space for work and have to use a study room if I want to take a meeting. The rooms are first-come first-serve with a one hour time limit, for which I have been kicked out in the middle of a meeting. I have tried to work from other locations, like a cafe, but find the noise and space too distracting.⁵

I’ve also looked into co-working space. They are not close to where I live (suburban, edge of rural), are costly, and would require a substantial expense of driving to and from.⁶ The solution my wife came up with was to have a separate little building on our property that I can go to and work. My tiny studio.

I was inspired by the workspaces of others. Michael Pollan⁷ and Stephen King⁸ as examples. A space close to home, inviting to others, outside of the house proper (and decidedly not in the bedroom!), and within our budget. A space where I can focus on my endeavors and literally, physically, separate work from home life.

So, with the encouragement and support – and quite frankly tenacity – of my wife, we discussed, shopped, researched, and eventually purchased a 12 by 24 foot pre-built building. We opted for a few extra, and nicer, windows, a 6ft porch (leaving 18×12 ft interior space), and insulated floor. The building is wired for 100 amp service with all internal wiring installed. The inside was not finished, no insulation or flooring. We did that part ourselves.

What are the options

So again, my options came down to three possible solutions.

Sign up for a co-working space. Costly and not convenient to where I live. See above.
Build something ourselves. Costly in time and requires skills + tools (and space for tools!). Prone to messing something up as you learn and having to fix later.
Buy a customizable pre-built building. Finish it ourselves. No insulation or power run, but we can do that and install an A/C. More initial cost, more time spent with family.

What we ended up with

We went with a local company called 5-Star Buildings. They offer various layouts and customizations, a decent warranty on craftsmanship, delivery, and were friendly and responsive to our needs. They were also local to our region, which was a contender in playing our part in the local economy. We chose a template that was more house-like than shed-like and chose a few options for better insulation against the weather.

Specifications
- 24×12 ft with a 6ft porch leaving 18×12 for interior space.
- Six 2×3 ft insulated windows
- Metal roof
- Insulated floor

We opted to finish the shed as we saw fit. From insulation, gutters, drywall, ethernet, paint and trim – we’re doing it all ourselves. This has a cost of time and tools. I’m fortunate enough to have gathered a collection of common tools and a little common sense. I am by no means a handyman. As for time, we’re taking it slow. Learning what we need to know (pretty much everything) and taking the project one step at a time.

Considerations

These are some considerations I’ve noted as we’ve worked on this project. Your experience will vary!

Build vs. buy – Total cost of ownership is one thing to consider. The time you need to invest to build something from scratch is expensive (You can’t make more time) and depending on how much experience you have it can be costly.
How much space is enough? – I wanted enough space that I would not feel cramped and that other people could be in the space with me and feel comfortable. My current arrangement is a 10×6 ft corner of my master bedroom, so anything above that feels luxurious.
Foundation is the most important, uh, foundation for a solid, uh foundation. Wood and dirt do not mix. We went will concrete pillars for the installation as we thought they would be more flexible and easier to install for the gradation of the land. We were gravely mistaken how easy these would be to install.
Power and internet – I live on top of a hill and my yard is anything but flat. Therefore we had to find the most flat location in our yard that wasn’t too close to existing buildings, and not in the way of the woods or any easements. The location we selected is about 250ft from our house. This means we have to run power and ethernet that entire distance. If you can place your building closer or run separate power, do it!
Zoning and building codes – Where I live if you want to build a smaller non-primary building it has to be on the property where you have your primary residence. It can not stand alone on a parcel of land that does not have a primary building. In 2018 my wife and I purchased the lot of land next to our property but kept it as a separate parcel. This parcel is where we wanted to build the shed. But given the aforementioned rule we could not. We had to spend the time and money to legally merge the two parcels of land together in order to be within the zoning code. Paperwork and bureaucracy abound.
This land is made of rocks – Unexpected things will arise with timelines. People get sick, work keeps you busy, the weather doesn’t agree with you, and the presence of giant Cretaceous era rocks you need to remove. Whatever estimation you make, it will take longer and cost more.

Costs

All costs are USD and rough.

Item	Cost	Notes
Building	$10,500	Pre-built shed. See above for more details.
Foundation	$4,500	16 pillars run along the main skids under the building. Was $1,000 more than quoted due to the need to remove large person-sized boulders that were not anticipated and a few small trees.
Anchoring	$106	Earthquake anchoring
Permits	$82	For local ordinance and tax purposes
Landscaping	$500	Includes the cost of installing steps ourselves, gravel and landscape fabric, necessary given the terrain.
Landscaping	$150	Smoothing out the land from construction and planting decorative plants
Electricity	$100	Renting a trencher, calling Dig Rite(a local service to check for existing buried lines)
Electricity	$355	Renting a mini-excavator to dig it rite, I mean right.
Electricity	$200	Sand and gravel for trench. Repairing lawn with seed and hay.
Electricity	$672	For 2-2-2-4 gauge aluminum power cable from house to shed and conduit. Approx 280 feet distance.
Electricity	$700	Hire an electrician to do final hookup inside of house and shed.
Ethernet	$425	A/V box, cable, conduit, connectors, power, wireless router and testing tools for Ethernet/router setup.
Insulation	$300	Wall and ceiling insulation (R13 and R19 respectively)
Gutters	$150	Vinyl with downspout and drainage
Security	$140	Kevo smart deadbolt lock
Security	$140	Building is far enough away from primary residence to warrant some sort of surveillance. Purchased a Circle 2 wired camera.
A/C	$1,200	DIY 115A mini split-air heating and cooling unit
Fan	$120	Ceiling fan for air circulation
Tools	$450	Various tools were needed to finish the project. Including pneumatic nail finisher, scaffold, mitre saw
Interior	$500	Drywall, tape, mud, screws
Interior	$150	paint
Interior	$500	Flooring (vinyl plank flooring)
Interior	$125	Smoke and CO2 alarm
Total costs	$22,065
Spark project	$500	Foundation assistance ⁹
One time remote working stipend	$600	Foundation assistance
Total assistance	$1,100
Total expenditure	$20,965	As of May 22, 2020

Progress log

??? – June 2019 – talked about it and talked about it. ¹⁰
?? June 2019 – Ordered building
July 2019 – cleared land for shed, including buying a chainsaw to chop down trees! I’m now a lumberjack.
July 2019 – hired landscaping company to build platform for building. They had previously done some drainage work for us around the chicken coop.
09 August 2019 – building ready for delivery ¹¹
14 August 2019 – Preparing the land in the new orientation ended up being way more work than anticipated. Come to find out there were giant rocks a few feet beneath the ground. Landscaping company had to bring in an excavator (!) to clear the land.
19 August 2019 – pillar forms successfully installed.
27 August 2019 – shed delivered! (Inside)
13 September 2019 – My dad and I installed some steps. This makes getting into the shed much easier. :p
19 October 2019 – Since 12 September: I was traveling for work, so not much progress. RF transparent enclosure and ethernet cabling installed. I learned how to make my own cables. On the 19th of October I rented a walk-behind trencher for a day (~$100 USD) to create two one-foot-deep trenches from the shed to my home. Best practices dictate separating ethernet and power to decrease the chance of interference. This proved to be more difficult and physically exhausting than first thought. The machine weights 230 lbs and you don’t actually walk behind it, but pull it toward you. A great ab workout, but terrible progress in the rocky soil. I barely completed a third of a single trench, and not to the depth required. I have decided to look into alternative methods.
04 November 2019 – Installed gutters and downspout on one side of the building. Chose the side most uphill to address drainage. Will tackle other side (which is higher off the ground) at a later date. Started to install wall insulation. We originally bought too thick of insulation and had to make a trip back to the store to get the correct dimension and destiny. As of this point one (short) wall is complete. Pro tip: buy or rent a pneumatic nail gun and make sure to wear appropriate clothing and a respirator!
18 November 2019 – Using an ethernet cable tester I verified my four ethernet lines inside the building were properly wired 💪. I labeled each before covering up the runs with insulation. My dad and I installed the majority of the remaining wall insulation. We purchased three bundles of R13 for the walls and three bundles of R19 for the rafters. So far that seems like a good amount and we shouldn’t have too much extra. Next course of action is renting a small excavator to finish that trench.
27 November 2019 – We rented a mini excavator and dug a 1 foot wide by 18 inches deep trench between the house and shed. The total distance was approximately 300ft. It was a slog, but with the exception of a 2ft section we must dig by hand it was fairly straightforward. Took two full days. We rented the trencher over the Thanksgiving holiday to extend our rental by a day without a fee. 🙂
08 December 2019 – Ran conduit and cable for power and ethernet.
19 December 2019 – Electricity connected by professional electrician. This was relatively simple. We had already laid the conduit and cable to the house and shed. The electrician did have to drill a new hole in the side of the house, which was a little nerve wracking.
28 December 2019 – Finished insulating the walls.
12 January 2020 – Insulation complete. Had to buy a small scaffold to reach the upper peak of the ceiling. The step ladder was not tall enough and having a platform to “walk” along was helpful. Pro tip: We first tried to install the insulation at the full length of the ceiling. That was difficult to manage and heavy to hold above your head. Instead we opted to cut the insulation in half for each section. Much more manageable.
Feb-March 2020 – Start installing drywall.
April 6 2020 – Took a week off work. Spent a lot of time working on the studio. Finished two walls of drywall. Rented a drywall lift and installed ceiling drywall. 4′ by 8′ drywall is heavy. Rent a lift! Installed A/C disconnect on the outside of the building. Installed header in rafter for ceiling fan. Made a little bridge to the studio out of some scrap wood. This is covering a swale we dug during this project (itself another project I could go on about!) and allows for easier access to and from the office.
April 20 2020 – More progress on drywall. Starting thinking about paint colors and flooring options. Probably going to do one feature color (red like the exterior) on the wall furthest from the door. Then a light neutral gray on the walls, and white on the ceiling. Since we’re currently in the midst of a global pandemic, thinking about how to minimize our trips to the store by combining all items we need in one go. I should only need 8 more boards of drywall which is at least two trips. My car can only fit 4 boards at a time. :/
April 26 2020 – Finished installing drywall. Now to mud and tape. Installed ceiling fan mount.
May 05 2020 – purchased ceiling fan and paint.¹² Also purchased second tub of drywall mud. So far this project has uses nearly 10 gallons of this stuff!
May 11 2020 – purchased A/C unit.
May 2020 – Mudding and taping of drywall seams. Messy and time-consuming.
25 May 2020 – Finished installing gutter on the tall side of the building. Dug and filled concrete form for A/C unit.¹³
27 May 2020 – Finished drywall and applied first coat of primer.
30 May 2020 – Started painting walls. Installed A/C unit.
31 May 2020 – Finished painting!
01 June 2020 – Started working from the studio! No flooring or window trim yet.
05 June 2020 – Finished flooring
07 June 2020 – Finished floor trim, started trimming the windows. Moved in some furniture.
20 June 2020 – Finished window trim. Moved in the rest of planned furniture. Hung some family photos. At this point I’m officially moved it. There’s a few more items to take care of, like gutter guards and porch railing, but at this point I’m working out of the office comfortably and consistently. So about a year later this project is complete and I’m now working remote remotely from my Tiny Studio™ 🙂
12 July 2020 – Installed side railings for the porch. Front railing coming after I find a giant 4×6 rough hewn cedar post!
16 August 2020 – Installed front railing and post. I had to custom order the post from a lumber yard in Georgia. Re-stained the porch as over the last year we drug a lot of dust, dirt, and mud across it.
10 October 2020 – Built and installed stair railing. Took some math to do, which is not my strong suit. Last thing we had to do prior to final inspection!
27 Oct 2020 – Final inspection. Building passed with flying colors.

Work to do

Making a list of what needs to be done was super helpful in organizing what to focus on next. The order of this work is generally chronological. Some items are a few minutes, others might take a weekend or two.

Select building
Select location
Prepare foundation (slab or pillars, but no untreated wood touching the ground!)
Lay landscape fabric and gravel under building
Trench between house and shed for electricity and ethernet
Run electricity and ethernet to building in conduit
Wire building for ethernet
Hook up electricity
Install gutters
Install security camera
Install deadbolt lock
Install insulation
Install wall covering
Install ceiling fan
Install A/C system (mini split system)
Prime Drywall
Paint walls
Frame windows and trim
Install flooring
Finishing touches (floor trim, touch up, window treatments, etc.)
Move in!

Gallery

The trademark in the page title is a joke. 🙂

Footnotes

You have to make the effort to find other adults to talk to. You can’t just bump into them on the way to the copy machine. I just dated myself with a reference to a copy machine. ಠ_ಠ
The half story was added sometime in the 80’s we think. Previously there were only two bedrooms on the first floor. Whomever turned the upper level into living space combined the two original bedrooms into a master bedroom.
The house is so old it has a wood burning furnace and coal chute. Both unused.
Harvard says bedrooms are for sleep and sex!
I’m also the kind of person who can’t listen to music or podcasts while working. My brain isn’t wired to do it.
I also didn’t have a clear understanding of my employer’s policies are around expenses for co-working space. It’s further anxiety to figure out if you can ask, who to ask, what to ask for, and what the expectations are. To me, upwards of $200 per month for a floating desk downtown seems expensive.
Science Friday – Desktop Diaries: Michael Pollan
Infamous for slowly learning the importance of work and life balance.
I want to acknowledge that while I received no special assistance or compensation for this project, the foundation has contributed via staff benefits.
My anxiety and fear of the unknown prevented progress on this project for well over a year. It wasn’t until a bout of suicidal ideation came around in early 2019 that my wife and I recognized something more needed to happen. She agreed to take on the work of organizing the project, which to me felt incredibly daunting. I agreed to let my anxiety go. As my dad reminded me, they are scary choices, but not life-or-death.
In the first picture above the building company was ready to deliver the shed, but our space was not ready! They drove by to understand the lay of the land before delivery, which helped the landscapers understand the limitations. Originally we wanted the building perpendicular to the field, but that wasn’t possible to do the grade of the land and the limits of the tool used to install the building. Video of a similar machine in action
Valspar paint. Notre Dame for walls, Posh Red for feature wall, and plain white for ceiling.
We ended up having to tear out this concrete pad. I didn’t make it wide enough around the mounting brackets and when I went to install the anchoring bolts I cracked the pad. The solution? Purchase 4 pre-made concrete pads (4x8x10) and center them on each bolt.