Can't Get You Out Of My Shed

Shed Features

Our shed isn't particularly impressive in size, cost, or features - we're first-time home buyers who have had to make do with what we've got, and I'm very proud of what we've managed to achieve in a relatively short space of time.

Our shed is several things to us:

- It's storage for all of the things that we can't keep in the house due to lack of space, including a tumble dryer.

- It's a safe place to keep all of my tools in an organised manner.

- It's a fully-equipped electronics and mechanical workshop, where I'm able to do my various hobbies in peace.

Without it, I wouldn't have been able to continue my vintage electronics restorations practically after moving out of my parents', so it's pretty special for me. I work in electronics research and development, so having the workshop also allows me to work more effectively from home, which has been extremely useful whilst I've been recovering from my back injury this last year.

I've got all of the rework kit I could need in there (hot air and soldering station, desoldering station, 2-channel oscilloscope, 60MHz function generator, variable DC power supply, 300VA isolation transformer, fume extraction, ESD-safe mats and cutting mats to protect the benches).

It's been interesting to make the switch into such a limited workspace, but it's surprisingly spacious as long as it's kept organised, and I'm able to work very effectively from it. I've learned to plan out all of my projects in advance to make sure that I have all of the parts that I need in one place, to optimise the room available.

It's also surprisingly comfortable to work in all year round, due to the insulation and heater.

Other Shed info

My partner and I bought our first home in late 2020, and one of my initial priorities was having somewhere to store all of my tools and to do my primary hobby, electronics rework.

The house isn't big enough to have a garage or utility room etc, but it did have a small shed (roughly 3m x 1.5m). It wasn't used for anything much by the previous owner, just basic storage and hanging decorative tat on the outside.

We insulated and boarded it out, and installed a set of custom-built workbenches and shelves, and put a spare set of drawers in there for extra storage. I sealed the windows and put draught excluders on the door. We ran an electric supply under the patio and fitted LED lighting, sockets, and its own breaker board.

I've got a TV in there (which I repaired), as well as a powered antenna for receiving terrestrial digital TV.

I've decorated it with various industrial signs that I've acquired over the years, including some from Redcar Blast Furnace (before it closed in 2015).

I've even got an electric heater in there for the winter, and a nice comfortable bench seat.

My partner did a lovely job of painting the shed whilst I was off ill last year (slipped disc followed by trapped sciatic nerve, nasty stuff) - we went for a lovely slate green, rather than the boring old dark brown that it was.

A detailed breakdown of the shed build is available on my website, below:

https://retrorepairsandrefurbs.com/2021/04/10/my-new-home-electronics-workshop/

My blog also has a large number of articles about the work I've been up to in the shed.