Storage Sheds
Stow anything from bikes to tools
What do scarecrows, shovels and ski equipment have in common? They are kept in an outdoor shed when not in use. When organized and equipped with shelving, storage sheds are the perfect place to house a variety of indoor and outdoor items.
A storage shed typically holds seasonal items that are used only once or twice a year. Christmas, Easter and Halloween decorations, seasonal sports equipment and folding chairs for holiday dinner crowds are typical residents of sheds. Outdoor summer furniture, bicycles and yard art that cannot withstand the winter weather rotate in and out of the storage shed depending on the season. Retired furniture, miscellaneous household goods and toys and clothing that the children have outgrown also find a place in the shed for temporary storage. Beware the out of sight, out of mind issue associated with an outdoor shed. Once the items have been moved out of the house to await the garage sale in the spring, it is easy to forget about them. The next thing you know, there is 10 years worth of unwanted items in the storage shed.
Garden sheds are specifically for items used in the maintenance of the yard. Lawn mowers, weed eaters and leaf vacs need to be in a place of easy access due to frequent use. Shovels, rakes and spreaders can take a place in the back, being careful to leave room for getting them out when needed. Smaller items such as hand-held spades, hedge clippers and smaller garden needs are best placed on pegs mounted on the walls to prevent them from being lost. Other easily stackable items can be conveniently housed in the garden shed such as extra pots, plant hangers and bags of mulch and potting soil.
Tool sheds often combine the contents of both the garden shed and the storage shed. Items used for lawn care and extra chairs often find their way into the outdoor shed. However, the tool shed of every handyman's dreams is full of only tools. These sheds are the perfect place to store large power tools used for bigger projects, such as table saws and grinders. When wired for electricity and outfitted with a work bench, the tool shed can double as a work room.
Whether it is a garden shed, a tool shed or a storage shed, outdoor sheds create additional space for items that you rarely use but still could not live without.
by A. Coulter
