Woman creates 'she shed' from formerly neglected garage
Even architect shocked by homeowner's vision.
Even architect shocked by homeowner's vision.
Even architect shocked by homeowner's vision.
Nearly two years ago, Michelle returned to her childhood house in Queens, New York. "I moved back home to take care of my mom — she turns 90 this year," she says now. "After being there a bit, I just wanted to have some kind of space on my own."
Luckily, she knew exactly what she wanted: a "she shed." The family's yard had a dilapidated garage, or perhaps former garage would be more precise. The space only had walls, which were leaning strongly to the left, with plants growing through the middle.
It was clearly going to take a solid contractor to make the garage habitable, and for the project, Michelle looked to a company called , which connects homeowners to contractors.
"Basically, you just upload your project with the 'before' photos, a brief description of what you want done, photos," she says. "[Sweeten] puts that together, and they decide what type of service you want. Like, is it a ?"
Sweeten's founder, architect Jean Brownhill, enjoys helping users create their dream homes, but even she was skeptical of what was possible with the garage. "Did you see the 'befores'?! I have to say, even with my training as an architect, I was like, 'Wow, this woman has vision,'" Jean laughs. "I think most of us would say, 'I need to call someone to remove it.' The foundation is the same, it's the same footprint, it's just completely reconstructed."
One surprising request? Michelle still wanted the structure to look like a garage —and function like one, if the need ever returned one day. "I wanted to maintain its identity as a garage, but twist it a bit to make it something you can hang out in," she says. "If you pull all that stuff out, those are still real garage doors."
It’s a touch Jean adores. "I love that garage door they chose, I love that diffused light," she says. "It almost feels like a loft."
Past the doors is a mostly self-sufficient space. A no-flush toilet eliminated the need for plumbing —"it's almost like a diaper genie," says Michelle — while the kitchen sink relies on a dry well in the back. The electricity pulls from the main house, though Michelle is considering switching to solar panels one day.
From there, she had real fun with the decorating. The bathroom is dominated by a bold, colorful wallpaper. "When a space is small, you can go crazy," Michelle says. "I knew I wanted to do something that would punch you in the face when you walked in the door."
Another funky touch is the kitchen tiles, which Michelle DIY'ed. "When I realized the price of the tile I liked, I decided to just make them," she says. "The theme is New York. There are New York touches in there. I found images and decoupaged them onto ceramic tile and sealed it."
Through the construction and design process, Michelle learned to really trust her own eye. "As I've gotten older, I've gotten more confidence in the ability to translate what I want," she says. "The construction side, when you don't know anything, is daunting. I just researched like crazy."
"I wanted to love everything my eye fell upon,” she continues.
Michelle is doing well, and so is her mother. "She's good! She's really good. She loves her space," Michelle says. "I told her she can use it if she wants a change of scenery. She shows it off all the time."
Check an outdoor DIY you can do in your own backyard in the related video above.