Backyard Sheds Quickly Becoming Prime Real Estate for Homebound Corporate Workers

AV integrators have an opportunity to outfit backyard sheds with technology and security to help workers stuck at home continue to be productive.

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Maybe Cheryl was on to something when she rebuilt her “she shed” in the now-famous State Farm commercial. Little did she know at the time, though, that she’d become a trailblazer for all the workers who suddenly found themselves looking for a reliable home office during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CNN recently ran a feature on the sharp spike in backyard sheds across the U.S. during the coronavirus outbreak as more workers try to maintain a normal and productive work-from-home life while also giving themselves some separation from the more traditional home office.

AV integrators might find themselves working on more projects like this as working from home becomes more common and permanent and the needs for more robust AV tech and better WiFi connections becomes more pronounced.

Here’s more from the CNN report:

Scott Roberts, vice president and head of business development at LinkedIn, decided to build a 12- by-16 foot, year-round, designer shed in his backyard to use as his office.

Employees at LinkedIn are expected to work from home through the end of the year, if not longer, and he knew he would need his own space.

“Working from home has quickly become living at work,” said Roberts.

He said his home in San Francisco, where his family of five lives, has a fair amount of space. But with everyone working and distance learning, often at the same time, the family needed some more personal spaces.

“It is really critical to separate the spaces we use,” he said. “I have to be focused. If you’re not able to create some separation between life and work, this will become so much more difficult.”

The shed was the answer. This freestanding unit by Studio Shed, a Boulder, Colorado-based firm that sells prefabricated backyard buildings, starts at $16,250.

“I think there is something psychological about the separation between work and home you get from a commute,” Roberts said. “But what if it is just walking into the backyard? With a shed I can go from a 30-minute drive, to a 30-step walk. A shorter commute, but still a separate space.

Mike Koenig, president and co-founder of Studio Shed, said in the CNN report that sales of his company’s line surged this spring, especially for its Signature Series model that ranges from 64 to 240 square feet, and starts at $10,500.

The company sold five times as many home office units in May, June and July as they did in each month last year and it is on track to sell 10 times more this August than last.

By the way, these aren’t cookie-cutter sheds either, according to the CNN report:

The studios can be custom designed online with a 3D design tool or quick shipped as a kit with standard details. The kit includes optional interior details, electrical and insulation. Typically, they go from online customization to home delivery in just a few weeks.

Another backyard shed company, Sheds Unlimited, based in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, with a sales region from South Carolina to Maine, has seen such an increase in sales that the lead time to deliver a shed is now 10 to 13 weeks, according to Janelle Stoltzfus, an administrator at the company.

While the company makes storage sheds and garages, there has been an increase in the number of sheds being used as offices.

“We have had a lot of people looking for home offices,” said Stoltzfus. “They’ve asked us to install shelves so they have a place to work.”

I have a feeling this trend is going to continue long after it’s deemed safe for all of us to return to our traditional offices. In most cases, workers have proven they can get just as much—if not more—done from their home offices as they did in the traditional corporate setting.

While this certainly stands to benefit AV integrators on the residential side of the industry more than those in commercial work, it would make sense for corporate leaders to pair up with these shed builders and ensure they’re equipped with the tech and security their employees need.

Related: MGM Work from Vegas Packages Offer Change of Scenery to Help with WFH Burnout

This probably isn’t what most of us expected when we started to see AV and furniture companies coming together last year in a big way, but it seems like it’s a growth area that’s just getting going. I wonder how long it’ll be before the little red schoolhouse is replaced by a little red backyard shed.

By the way, my shed smells like a combination of mothballs and freshly cut grass so I’d need a new model—preferably with insulation to combat the harsh New England winter—before I’d ever consider moving from my home office into the shed.

I’ve always been late to adopt trends though, so it’s no surprise I’m lagging behind on this one too.

Backyard Sheds

An example of a backyard shed from Studio Shed. (Photo courtesy of CNN)

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