SEATTLE — Chris was used to paying $400 a month for an office in Queen Anne he barely used.

The software salesman travels regularly for work around the Northwest and Canada, but when he needs to get projects finished, he needs the privacy and space to do so.

Chris found himself working more and more from home, in order to be close to his wife and four kids — a 6-year-old boy, two twin 8-year-old girls, and a 10-year-old boy.

He has another office in Bellevue, but he hates going there, he said.

After four years paying monthly rent on the Queen Anne office near his home, he finally made the decision to build something even closer to home.

“I thought, ‘Why am I paying money for this?’” he said. “I need a place to go and have my own space.”

Chris looked into building a garage with a home office attached, but he was surprised at how costly a home addition could be.

“I was blown away by how expensive it was, somewhere around $100,000,” he said. “And the permitting was a hassle. It seemed cost-prohibitive to build a garage, especially if it was probably going to just pile up with a bunch of junk.”

Chris had heard of Modern-Shed through articles in Dwell magazine and other local publications.

He’d also considered a pre-fabricated structure before, when he was building his second home in Snoqualmie.

Chris contacted Modern-Shed in May of last year, and the company delivered his 7’ by 22’ foot shed at the end of July.

By mid-August, the shed — part home office, part storage unit — was completed.

For less than half the estimated cost of building a garage/office, Chris’ Modern-Shed just “seemed like a better value” than the home addition he once considered, he said.

Chris was also happily surprised with how customizable the sheds were: He needed a place to store for his family’s copious amount of sporting equipment, including 10 to 12 bicycles, skateboards, ski poles and scooters.

Modern-Shed contractors built a hanging bike rack in Chris’ shed, which blends easily with the family’s backyard and complements their 100-year-old home.

“The whole experience was much easier and more flexible than I expected,” he said. “I like the modern, clean aesthetic and I like the light it brings in, which is so important here in Seattle. I wanted something that could blend with the house, but be contemporary.”

— Arla Shephard