If d-i-y (do it yourself) is n-4-u (not for you), a pre-fabricated shed can be an attractive way to live small or build on to your space.

Modern Shed, based out of Washington and featured in Sunset magazine and other media outlets has sheds ranging in concept and size from garden sheds to dwellings.

By coincidence or editing, two articles were forwarded from readers this week about smaller living and both, are from the New York Times.

One article by Michael Cannell of the Times says:

For certain buyers, the shed may be an outlet for baby boomer remorse. Encumbered by mortgages and 5,000-square-foot homes, some Americans of means are looking for ways to reconnect with lost values of simplicity, sustainability and forthrightness — values that seem to be embodied by the sheds’ basic materials and designs.

Parallel to Cannells article in the same week by Steven Kurutz, who quotes our neighbor in to the east in Iowa CIty, Gregory Paul Johnson:

Gregory Paul Johnson, a founder of the Small House Society in Iowa City, said that the notion of very small houses becoming popular was “an absurdity” five years ago. “But there are so many powerful forces at work right now,” he added, “like rising energy costs and the mortgage crisis. I think people want small homes because they cost less to purchase, maintain, heat.”

Some shed resources from Amazon – for both people and animals:

“Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations” (Debra Prinzing)