Dave and Gretchen’s Dual Purpose Studio

Gretchen and Dave live in a small house with a family of four, and they have no desire to move. It’s a story we hear over and over again here at Tuff Shed. Spoiler alert: this story has a happy ending. Gretchen and Dave got more space with a custom backyard home office from Tuff Shed. But their backyard building isn't just your average office; they transformed it into a film studio, editing bay, and quilting area. Keep reading to find out how! Dave is the freelance video producer and editor behind Dave Gordon Media . When his office building was being renovated, he needed to find a new workplace. His ideal setup was someplace quiet that could store a lot of professional gear. After a year of fruitless searching, one of his clients mentioned converting a backyard shed into a studio. He and Gretchen found people raving about Tuff Shed on Reddit, so they decided to go take a look at a few buildings. Our Portland Tuff Shed team helped Dave and Gretchen customize a building to transform into a custom film studio and editing bay. They decided on a 10x16 Premier Pro Studio , with a 9-lite residential door and two horizontal sliding windows. It’s long enough for basic filming and nice and quiet for recording voiceover. Gretchen took their building to the next level and installed six thermal helical piles for their Tuff Shed foundation to sit on. These piles are designed to help protect the shed from the freezing/thawing cycles of the ground and prevent shifting. Gretchen wanted in on the Tuff Shed too. As the creative behind Gretchen’s Kitchen , living in a 1,000 square foot home with a family of four and a hobby as space-hungry as quilting was definitely a challenge. So, when Dave was customizing his home office, she jumped in with the idea of adding a felt wall for quilt design. This wall does double duty — it dampens sound for Dave’s office, and it also gives Gretchen a place to design her quilts . A large, vertical workspace has been a boon to Gretchen’s designs and her back. Best of all, it’s in a separate building from her cats. As any sewist or quilter can tell you, cats are not nearly as helpful around fabric as they think. Gretchen and Dave transformed their Tuff Shed into their dream backyard office. They added Rockwool insulation themselves, and a friend of Dave’s helped out with drywall. As for keeping the space comfortable, they’ve got a space heater for the winter to supplement the passive solar heat from the south-facing windows, and a portable AC from Dave’s old office. They have a hookup to install a heat pump, but haven’t gotten that far yet. Gretchen and Dave were in no rush. So, they asked the local Tuff Shed rep to give them a call when the deals were delivering. Go ahead and take a leaf out of Gretchen’s book and check out our current specials. If Dave and Gretchen can make a shared home office / quilting studio, you can build your dream backyard building too! Check out our online configurator to start designing your own Tuff Shed. Our Tuff Shed team is only a call away to help The next happily-ever-after shed story could be yours!

Dave and Gretchen’s Dual Purpose Studio

Dave’s Home Office

Dave and Gretchen’s Dual Purpose Studio

Dave’s Home Office

Gretchen’s Quilting Wall

Finishing the Backyard Office/Home Quilting Studio

Special Financing at Tuff Shed

Design Your Own Custom Shed Now

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