When I was younger, we moved to a small quiet town in the middle of nowhere in order to escape a crime-ridden neighborhood in the big city. My parents ended up buying an unkempt lot with a concrete foundation, overgrown shrubs, and a shed that was burned and charred. Slowly they built our new home on the foundation and cleaned the yard. All that remained was the monstrosity of a shed in the back yard.

After finally completing our family home, we knew we had to do something with the shed as well. We knew before anything could happen we had to start off with an assessment of the shed. Quickly we came to the conclusion that it was in a very bad condition and we would most likely have to tear it all down and start from scratch. That wasn’t a problem for us as we loved DIY projects. Growing up with a bunch of handymen (and women) we did not flinch at the thought of building a shed, as we had already spent years building our family home.

We wanted to build a new shed to give us a place to store our tools and other household items. We thought a new shed would also help add some appeal to our backyard space.

Before we started construction we had to find out if our township even allowed sheds? And if so, were there any restrictions on the size, placement, etc. Before buying a shed it’s best to brush up on Zoning Laws and HOA Rules, contact your city officials to learn about zoning law restrictions for sheds. In many areas, sheds up to a certain size—typically 120 square feet—are allowed by zoning laws without prior approval, but restrictions on shed placement are common. The overall height of a shed is another zoning issue.

Once we knew our city requirements, it was time to ask some questions to assess our needs. We considered exactly how we wanted to use our shed, what design would best suit those needs, and how much our budget would allow. We learned what features are most popular, and why. We also researched what’s really involved with building a shed ourselves, as opposed to hiring a pro to do the job. After analyzing all of this information we decided it would be better to buy a shed, even though we would save money building our own shed, as we decided we simply didn’t have time to build it ourselves.  

Before choosing the exact design style and size, we decided on placement in the yard. We had to level out the spot that our electricity wires will reach. Once we found the best spot for our shed, we had to make sure it worked with the zoning laws.

Once the city approved our spot, we then started the search for the perfect shed. Jumping from website to website, making tons of phone calls we finally found our top shed designs. The hardest part of this process was making the final decision of which one better suited us. We loved The Lofted Barn with Windows, Majestic Wood Storage Shed, and some from American Sheds. Choosing between these was very difficult as we adored them all, and each one fit our needs. We spoke to each company to determine the details about delivery, installation, warranty, financing, and most importantly how long it would last.

In the end we chose a 16×32 Barn Loft Shed from American Sheds because it had the longest life span and was made with the best quality materials. It had enough space for our workshop and to comfortably hangout in. We chose a local company so delivery and installation would be  completed within a week. Of course buying instead of building saved us a lot of time and labor.

This process of choosing a barn loft shed was nothing compared to building our family home. With the help of shed specialists at Lowes and other shed manufacturers it became an easy process in the end.