30 Garden Shed Ideas for the Ultimate Outdoor Oasis

By Jessica Bennett
Updated March 16, 2020
Credit: Laurie Black
Garden sheds don't have to be basic, utilitarian structures. Besides housing gardening tools and supplies, these backyard buildings can create a charming focal point for your backyard and additional outdoor living space. Create an outdoor oasis you'll want to retreat to all summer with these gorgeous garden shed ideas.
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Cottage-Style Garden Shed

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Garden sheds do more than provide outdoor storage. They can create a comfortable workspace, provide a backdrop for prized plants, or deliver a destination where you can relax and entertain friends. This cottage garden shed serves as a sweet focal point amidst a whimsical garden. Its sunny yellow siding complements surrounding shades of green.

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Salvaged Shed

Credit: Jacob Fox

Salvaged windows and barn-board siding lend vintage character this garden shed. Thoughtful details, such as the window trim on the exterior and the cupola perched on the roof, transform what could be a basic storage shed into an inspiring garden-side retreat. For even more personality, don't be afraid to use a bold color for your garden shed. Because sheds are smaller, a bright hue like red will simply pop, rather than overwhelm, as it might on a larger house or garage.

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Glass Garden Shed

Credit: Lynn Karlin

This all-glass garden shed doubles as storage and a greenhouse area in colder months. A light and airy design like this works well in a yard where you really want the surrounding landscape to shine. Adding window boxes and gingerbread molding ensures the design leans homey, not austere.

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Farmhouse Garden Shed

Credit: Laurie Black

This backyard shed's design is a nod to the property's farmhouse. But beyond its charming shake siding and robin's egg blue door, the design is practical and savvy. Many of the materials used to build the shed were salvaged from a home renovation. The shed can also be moved if needed, as it's set on concrete piers on gravel and sand instead of a permanent foundation.

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Shed Landscaping

Credit: Robert Cardillo

With crisp white siding, Kelly green accents, and a low profile, this garden shed takes its cue from Cape Cod-style homes. It nestles up to its own complete garden, delineated with a picket fence. The landscaping brings substance and a focal point to an expansive, open backyard.

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Salvaged Shed Materials

Credit: Laurie Black

While many garden sheds look like miniature houses, this shed forges a different design path. Salvaged materials form the greenhouse's structure and set a casual tone. The surrounding formal topiaries and hedges, inspired by English designs, juxtapose the shed's eclectic vibe.

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Rustic Garden Shed

Credit: Bob Stefko

When considering your garden shed design, take your cues from its surroundings. Set among towering trees and winding stone paths, this shed features weathered wood and traditional cottage design elements, fitting in its forest setting. The steely blue-gray door and shutters suit the design, while a glazed finish gives the features added dimension. Board and batten siding offers distinction to the garden shed's simple form.

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Modern Shed Design

Credit: Laurie Black

This shed's streamlined design nods to midcentury modern style. Strong white trim on the windows and doors emphasizes the garden shed's strong angles. The overhanging roof creates the effect of a covered porch; metal flashing and a wood soffit bring a final flourish to the design.

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Miniature House Shed

Credit: Bob Stefko

This cottage potting shed borrows design inspiration from the main house, using the same earthy green and white paint colors. Extras like a deck, stone path, and cottage-style mixed planting borders make the backyard shed design feel more like a home than just an outbuilding. Several garden shed decorating ideas, including lace curtains in the windows, a quaint bench, and outdoor art, add homey appeal. In a practical move, downspouts ensure rain doesn't damage the plants that surround the building.

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Growing Shed

Credit: Laurie Black

Clever garden shed ideas don't stop with building materials. This shed proves a structure can be part of the garden itself with a living roof of succulents. Mushroom gray siding recedes, letting the lime green sliding barn doors and sapphire blue roofline shine.

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Grand Garden Shed

Credit: Robert Cardillo

If you have the space, you don't need to settle for basic or subtle for your backyard shed's design. This large shed looks like a grand home in miniature, thanks to its copper roof and welcoming porch with a handsome colonnade. A colorful bench and potted plants make the shed a true extension of the home.

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Charming Cottage Shed

Credit: Lynn Karlin

This garden shed matches its exuberant cottage garden surroundings. Architectural details, such as the scalloped trim, clapboard siding, window boxes, lace curtains, and weather vane make it the perfect focal point for the garden. Terra-cotta-colored roof shingles and a gray-blue exterior fashion a just-right color palette.

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Cottage Garden Style

A beautiful cottage garden awaits. Create this charming look in your backyard with our garden design tips. Plus, learn what plants are must-haves for a pretty cottage design.

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Matching Garden Shed

Credit: Alison Miksch

Look for ways to incorporate your garden shed design into the landscape. Here, a steeply pitched roofline on a simple garden shed echoes the angles found in the triangular raised beds and birdhouse. Even the picket fence behind the Adirondack chairs carries the theme through with pointed peaks.

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Open-Air Garden Shed

Credit: Dan Weeks

A flagstone path leads through this potting shed, making for easy access to the tools stored on the interior wall. Table surfaces inside also provide essential garden workspace. Weathered wood and wide-plank construction impart rustic charm.

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Antique-Style Garden Shed

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Gothic arched windows add to the antique feel of this garden shed. Stamped-metal roofing and hanging planters on the fence repeat the arched shape. A row of boxwoods brings order and definition to the entry garden.

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Materials for Raised Garden Beds

Complement your garden shed with equally impressive raised garden beds. Here's an overview of the most common materials for building raised garden beds. Explore your options for materials and find the one that's right for you.

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Hillside Garden Shed

Credit: Dan Weeks

The porch and entry door of this garden shed face downhill, providing a commanding view of the garden. Lattice surrounding the base of the porch offers a handsome backdrop for plantings. Window boxes and hanging baskets enhance the shed's homelike design.

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Rustic Garden Shed Retreat

Credit: Dan Weeks

Peeled hemlock porch columns, varied-width pine siding, and a durable metal roof turn this shed into a rustic retreat. The shed rests on a concrete block foundation surrounded by stacks of stones, giving the building a sense of permanence. This shed design idea also provides an attractive way to level the shed and disguise the change in slope.

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Tudor-Style Garden Shed

Credit: Dan Weeks

A steep faux-slate roof and king post porch gable lend Tudor style to this potting shed. Oversized, false metal door hinges are in keeping with the shed's historical references. A bench on the front porch invites visitors to sit and stay awhile.

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Cottage Shed Design

Credit: Mike Jensen

A playful profusion of flowers, whimsical sculptures, and found objects set the tone for a practical, lighthearted approach to gardening. This structure combines a large storage shed with a sun-drenched potting-shed annex for a spacious gardening spot. Red window frames and trim add a subtle dose of color to an otherwise neutral shed.

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Green Garden Shed

Credit: Edward Gohlich

Join the green roof trend by growing sedum and other succulents on top of your garden shed. The succulents keep the shed cooler and soak up rainwater. Plus, the plants brighten the garden with their colorful foliage and blooms.

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Playful Potting Shed

Credit: Janet Mesic Mackie

Detailed scrollwork on the porch of this potting shed brings a playful touch to the structure. Heart-shaped cutouts in the shutters, a Dutch door with lace curtains, and a white wicker chair complement the casual country look. Although the structure is slightly hidden from view, rich red paint ensures this garden shed doesn't get lost in the landscape.

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Two-Story Studio

Credit: Michael Partenio

Extend your garden shed upward for even more drama and function. A second-story dormer window infuses this shed with natural sunlight. Dentil detailing at the eave line and doorway imparts a touch of elegance, as do the checkerboard tile floor and topiary planters flanking the doorway. Inside, ample shelves and a table work surface maximize function.

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Welcoming Garden Shed

Credit: Bill Stites

A wide entry door, with sidelights and an arched top window, creates an elegant, welcoming approach to this garden shed. The shake siding in a weathered finish balances the formality of the doorway's design. A sturdy brick walkway leads from the millstone fountain in front to the doorway.

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Victorian-Style Shed

Credit: Dan Weeks

This potting shed was designed to complement the Victorian farmhouse on the property. Walls of windows fill the shed with light. Outside, antique paving bricks, a wrought-iron fence, and sweeping planting beds anchor the shed in the expansive landscape.

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Garden Shed Getaway

Credit: Edward Gohlich

Cedar-shake siding and shingles adorn this elegant garden shed. Decorative white trim and mortared stone steps enhance the appeal of this destination structure, which is perched atop a matching retaining wall. A curved metal handrail adds polish while providing a handy safety feature.

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