Every backyard deserves a good shed to give you loads of room to store a bunch of supplies. But buying a shed can be pricey. Moreover, it's a cop-out. It's much better if you build your own. If ...

The shed was the answer. This freestanding unit by Studio Shed, a Boulder, Colorado-based firm that sells prefabricated backyard buildings, starts at $16,250.

Empty nesters Patti and Joe Mertz have lived in their Lake Oswego home for 29 years. Patti, a marketing consultant, and Joe, in medical sales, had talked casually about building a garden shed in ...