ModernShed12by18officestudio
This Modern-Shed 12′ by 18′ home office and art studio provided the perfect space solution for a busy, growing family in Berkeley, Calif.

BERKELEY — Karina and her husband Thomas never expected to stay in their two-bedroom, one-bathroom 1939 California bungalow for long, but after 11 years and two kids, they’ve grown accustomed to their neighborhood and their cozy home.

“We thought for sure we’d have moved on by now, but we don’t want to leave the schools and the neighborhood,” says Karina, a fine artist who works from home. “We wanted a way to accommodate our growing family and keep us comfortable.”

Enter Modern-Shed.

Initially, Karina and Thomas looked for elaborate studio outbuildings to create more space outside, like in-law apartments or accessory dwelling units, but quickly realized that a separate house-like structure would be cost-prohibitive.

“That’s when I started searching for prefab construction,” Karina says. “We were poised and ready to move quickly with the right company. I think talking with (dealer) Mike Probach just convinced us completely. It seems Modern-Shed has been at it the longest.”

The clincher for Karina was knowing that Modern-Shed was manufactured in Seattle and could be brought down to Berkeley by a crew, which wouldn’t require her and her husband to have to find an outside contractor.

ModernShed12by18officestudio2
The interior of this 12′ by 18′ Modern-Shed shows the ample space for what will soon be a graphic and fne art studio.

Less than six weeks later, Modern-Shed installed the family’s new 12’ by 18’ Modern-Shed home office and art studio, right before the holidays kicked in last year. The installation process only took about three days.

“I was surprised that our request to have it done before Thanksgiving went through,” Karina says. “It was pretty amazing that Mike was able to work with the team and get it done so quickly.”

The couple intends to use their new Modern-Shed space as a business office and art studio for Thomas’ graphic design work (he has an office in San Francisco, but often completes work at home) and Karina’s creative work.

This frees up more space in their home.

“We had been using our detached garage for our work, so now we’re turning the garage into a playroom,” Karina adds. “Our kids are totally more excited to have more space. When we finally removed all of our stuff, they were just dancing around.”

Looking ahead, Karina could see the Modern-Shed becoming a great space for her eventual teenagers if the family decided to keep living there.

Modern-Shed was able to install this 12' by 18' structure less than six weeks after her initial call, with minimum disruption for the neighborhood.
Modern-Shed was able to install this 12′ by 18′ structure less than six weeks after Karina called, with minimum disruption for the neighborhood.

“We’ve been telling our friends that the company is a dream to work with,” she says. “We love the space and we’re really excited to get set up in there. Modern-Shed seemed willing to go above and beyond to make things right, work around our schedule and they really kept a low-profile.”

The family is relieved they didn’t explore other options.

“The sheds are really solidly amazing construction that is so economical,” Karina says. “In terms of the expediency of it, I feel if we had embarked on a whole design phase with another company that would have been so much more expensive and time-consuming.

“We needed an immediate solution, so this was the way to go.”

Karina inside her family's new Modern-Shed.
Karina inside her family’s new Modern-Shed.