Garden sheds are the most popular garden building and they aren't just a place to store the lawnmower and tools. These days there is a growing trend in alternative uses for the garden shed, such as: playhouses, home offices and workshops. They come in a variety of sizes, prices, and construction material, and are available from online and offline stores.

The different styles and types of garden sheds are based on the roof structures: the most common is the Gable which forms a triangular roof. The Salt Box has a short front gable roof and a gently sloping rear roof. The Hip roof or Cottage Style roof has four sides all angled or sloped, and the Gambrel roof looks similar to a barn.

Garden sheds mainly come in three different types of material. The most common material is wood and they are generally the cheapest to buy. However, wooden garden sheds do need some regular maintenance to keep them weatherproofed. Metal garden sheds tend to be used when long-term strength is needed, as they are sturdy, tough and durable. Again they need to be maintained to protect them from rust. Many garden sheds are also available in a variety of plastic materials and are made from heavy moulded plastics, such as: PVC and polyethylene, and need very little maintenance. There are many different brands and makes, but remember not all sheds are created equal.

Once you've decided what material you want for your garden shed, you need to choose the size and style you want. Garden sheds can be made into a centre-piece for the garden, and for the discerning homeowner, some garden sheds come with finials, eaves and verandas. If money is a bit tight but you want the shed to be a centre-piece, choose a shed where extras can be added at a later date, such as: louvre windows, skylight roof sheets and double doors. Garden sheds can also be subdued so they blend in with the architecture of your home and landscape.

Most garden sheds are bought as a flat-pack and can be put together in such a way you do not need to be a professional carpenter to assemble them, although limited carpentry skills are recommended. If putting your shed together is something you don't want to do, for whatever reason, an option is to have your shed erected by professionals, so you do not have to struggle with the heavy and bulky sections that come with the shed.

If you can not find the garden shed of your dreams, you could always design one yourself or buy designs from you local timber yard, bookstore, or the internet, and build it yourself. Basically there are fours steps to building your garden shed: foundation and floor; frame; siding; roof. The foundation/floor is the solid base for your garden shed and can consist of treated skid timbers, patio stones, concrete base, or pressure treated joist with a plywood floor. The frame is the skeleton of the structure and supports the walls and roof. The siding can be optional and is the covering of a finished wall made from plywood, pine, cedar, or vinyl. The roof is the cover and can be made from asphalt shingles, cedar shingles, aluminium, or metal, etc. At the end of your project you will have had the satisfaction of having built your own shed and saving money at the same time.

Once you have a garden shed, you will wonder how you ever managed without it. They are no longer the domain of spiders and cobwebs, and the uses of garden sheds are limited only by your imagination.