Modern-Shed Backyard Office: The Perfect Solution

Modern-Shed Backyard Office: Custom 12′ x 26′

Modern-Shed Backyard OfficeWhen Anne Martin first laid eyes on a Modern-Shed Backyard Office, she fell in love.

She wasn’t expecting to. Her partner, Karen Stephens, had been trying to convince her for many years that it was time for Martin to move her business out of its expensive space on Wallingford Avenue in Seattle and into a new, pre-fabricated Modern-Shed Backyard Office.

Martin has been an aesthetician since 1986, providing facials and age-related skin care regimens to a steady stream of clients that hear about her business (Anne Martin Skin Care) mostly through word-of-mouth.

For the past 11 years, she worked out of a space she adored and resisted the idea of moving.

That is, until one of her clients invited her to see their new Modern-Shed.

“When I first saw it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is so cool,’” she said. “You could see how sharp the design was, how very modern it was. And yet for me there’s also a distinctly Asian feel to it.”

Asian and Buddhist influences can be seen throughout the home Martin and Stephens share in Wallingford — Martin ordained as a Buddhist nun in the 1980s, leading many private meditation retreats.

She’s also a self-proclaimed “wild fan” of Japanese samurai movies.

Their home radiates a soothing, peaceful Zen aesthetic, so it’s not surprising they wanted their Modern-Shed Backyard Office to have the same calming effect on Martin’s clients.

The couple chose Modern-Shed’s 12’ by 24’ Coastal Shed option, but happily discovered they could customize their shed to match their lifestyle.

Stephens brought her experience in commercial property management to the table, and suggested several additions that have made their Modern-Shed fit their needs.

For instance, the couple extended the shed’s overhang by 2 feet and built a deck along the structure.

Stephens chose cork flooring and tiles for the waiting room and bathroom, respectively.

It took less than a week for the structure to go up in January of this year, and by March 16, Martin had moved in and was seeing clients.

Her clients comment regularly on how the shed’s clerestory windows bring more light into her work room than her previous space.

“I loved my old space,” Martin remembers. “But truth be told, I have thought about my place probably twice since I moved out. Over the summer, my other place was so hot. This place is so lovely with the breezes it lets in. One client after the other after the other has commented, ‘Wow it’s so cool and airy here.’ That’s when I remembered, ‘Oh yeah, it was hot. Oh yeah, It was noisy on the street.’”

Martin paid nearly $2,000 in rent and utilities monthly at her old space.

Now, the couple is happy that they’ve invested in themselves with their Modern-Shed Backyard Office.

“Instead of paying a stranger, we invested in our home, in our property,” Stephens said. “That money that was for rent went back to ourselves, into our future and it gave Anne a way to work on our premises and created a place that we love. We now have control over our lives.”

– Arla Shephard

By modernshedinc



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