Shed-style Greenhouse

This unique outbuilding is part greenhouse and part shed, making it perfect for a year-round garden space or backyard sunroom, or even an artist’s studio. The front facade is dominated by windows—four 29 × 72" windows on the roof, plus four 29 × 18" windows on the front wall. When appointed as a greenhouse, two long planting tables inside the shed let you water and tend to plants without flooding the floor. If gardening isn’t in your plans, you can omit the tables and cover the entire floor with plywood, or perhaps fill in between the floor timbers with pavers or stones.

Some other details that make this 10 × 12-ft. shed stand out are the homemade Dutch door, with top and bottom halves that you can open together or independently, and its traditional saltbox shape. The roof covering shown here consists of standard asphalt shingles, but cedar shingles make for a nice upgrade.

Because sunlight plays a central role in this shed design, consider the location and orientation carefully. To avoid shadows from nearby structures, maintain a distance between the shed and the structure that’s at least 2-1/2 times the height of the obstruction. With all of that sunlight, the temperature inside the shed is another important consideration. You may want to install some roof vents to release hot air and water vapor.

Building the Shed-style Greenhouse involves a few unconventional construction steps. First, the side walls are framed in two parts: You build the square portion of the end walls first, then move onto the roof framing. After the rafters are up, you complete the “rake,” or angled, sections of the side walls. This makes it easy to measure for each wall stud, rather than having to calculate the lengths beforehand. Second, the shed’s 4 × 4 floor structure also serves as its foundation. The plywood floor decking goes on after the walls are installed, rather than before.