GUYS! I seriously can not contain my excitement over the fact that I now have my very own space to work on projects and organize my tools! IS THIS REAL LIFE?!

This is my 12’x16′ shed from Tuff Shed. It is incredible quality and I was able to customize it through their website. The Tuff Shed team built it on my property in ONE day! You can read more about this here.

This is what it looked like when it was finished being built…

BLACK SHED EXTERIOR

The vision I had for this shed was dark and moody garden cottage on the outside…and bright and airy on the inside. I immediately got to work in making this happen.

First I taped off and painted all of the exterior window trim and drip edges. I used my favorite Rustoleum spray paint in black for this! Then I used some scrap pine fence boards to build some cute little window boxes. I screwed these into the siding and painted them in the same paint that the shed was painted in (Black Magic by PPG). I filled these with some UV rated faux greenery stems (products linked here) for a low maintenance planter box!

I built some steps for the residential door and then a ramp for the double doors so that I can roll my saws outside when I need to! Additionally, I installed outdoor lighting after my father-in-law helped me run electricity (more about that below).

When customizing the shed, I had decided that I wanted a workbench and pegboard along the back wall. When the shed was built, they also installed/built this for me. But after some planning, I realized that I wanted to go a different direction. I really wanted to maximize storage space and decided to create a new workbench with fill hidden storage drawers/cabinets underneath.

A MODERN TUFF SHED FOR DIY

My first step was to remove the existing pegboard and workbench. I removed these materials carefully so that I could reuse and save some money! Once I had a blank slate, I went to Ikea and grabbed some Nordli drawer units. I bought the units that did not have bases & tops since I planned to stack and connect these together. This is my initial sketch of what I was hoping for when planning storage here!

Using 2×4’s I built a frame on the floor where my drawers and cabinetry would go. I laid these flat to do so, since I did not want my worktop to be too high for me. Once this was done and the frame was screwed into the floor, I began placing and attaching my drawer units. For a little extra strength, I used more 2x4s to build a supporting frame behind the drawers to attach them to. Each drawer unit came with hardware to attach it to another. After attaching them, I screwed in each unit to each other through the sides and then into the 2×4 floor frame and supporting frame.

INSULATING & RUNNING ELECTRICAL TO THE SHED

During the storage drawer build, I also worked on insulating the walls. Using R15 insulation, I began to fill in all of the wall cavities. After continuing insulation up on the ceiling, I ultimately decided to remove it. In my area we have some pretty intense heat in the summer which would potentially cause some issues with moisture and condensation under the ceiling insulation. But since this shed is completely shaded by a canopy of trees and the ceiling already has a radiant barrier on it… I thought that it would likely be fine without any insulation at all. If for some reason I change my mind down the road, I could easily remove a few ceiling planks and have spray foam insulation put in!

I know a few things about electrical…but not close enough to run electrical to a new building. So David’s Dad (Ron) came over to help me with this! We rented a trencher to dig a trench through our yard from the outside of the garage (where the electric panel is) to the shed. Then Ron connected new wiring to the electric panel on an open circuit. We buried this line in the trench all the way to the shed and made the connection inside with a new electric “sub-panel”.