Almo Troup repurposed nearly all of the materials from a tumbledown shack to create a dreamy, minimalist workspace in his backyard.

The LED lighting is encased in translucent poly-carbonate panels on top and bottom. Daylight streams through from the roof when the lights aren't on.

“I wanted to bring in a little bit of apricot to nod to the name of the studio,” says Troup of the $25 USD orange velvet curtain he hung as a space divider.

The bi-level car barn, a spare, timber-clad structure with an A-frame roof, nods to traditional farmhouses, but is “sleek and contemporary in spirit,” says Geremia. Inspired by an old photo of a porcelain farmhouse sink, it features polished concrete floors.

Inside, playful pillows can be rearranged in any manner, and are often used as mock beds for relaxing and looking at the canopies above.

Working with a limited budget, First Lamp designed and built one principle architectural flourish: exposed Douglas fir rafters that would weather to a brighter red over the years and accent the white siding.

The architects worked closely with the clients to match the aesthetic of the vintage furniture they collect. The midcentury modern Danish chair, seen right, has been refurbished and reupholstered.

Unable to alter the footprint of the building, the Deams created a backyard living area that nearly doubled the home's living space.

Technically, this small building is not a tree house, since it’s braced at the ground by supports, but Grey didn’t want to compromise the tree, which “doesn’t have a very long lifespan,” the designer says. “So, I didn’t want to jeopardize however long that tree had with any excess baggage.”

The sinuous interior is lined with CNC-cut wooden panels that define stepped sauna seating and porthole windows.

The sauna structure includes a small deck.

A 25-foot custom bifold door made of corrugated plastic and twin-wall polycarbonate encloses an artist’s studio designed by Marc Frohn of FAR frohn&rojas.

The ribbon-like design affords the building three different gable profiles—one is symmetrical, while the other two lean in opposite directions.

Rose’s pottery studio opens right up to the back lawn to let the sunlight (or curious pups) inside.

A wood-burning stove from Harvia, of Finland, heats the sauna. The pavilion’s rough-cut pine walls are treated with tar, a preservative that yields a time-worn aesthetic.

Phillips designed Judith a stark white, glass-fronted art studio.

We tried to be very resourceful. You shouldn’t see any tile on the deck that had to be cut; it’s almost like a perfect puzzle,” comments the designer, Marc Frohn.

The sauna is named after Huginn and Muninn, two ravens from Norse mythology.

The structure is made entirely from treated pine, while its corrugated polycarbonate roof protects it from the elements.

The Exbury Egg asks us to reexamine the way we live while carefully considering sustainability and the use of natural resources.

These tiny egg-shaped cabins are mounted onto small podiums to keep them stable.

The sauna door handle is a simple piece of driftwood. “One principle rule I followed,” says Kiehl, “was: Don’t build on outdoor space if it can work as outdoor living space. Norwegian summers are short. We want to be outdoors as much as possible.”

Marco V. Morelli says his Studio Shed is the perfect refuge. “It’s changed my life for the better,” he says. “I’ve gotten so much more work done, and I think my marital relations are much better because I have a place of my own.”

Megan Lea built a backyard retreat with reclaimed materials figuring prominently into the design. What resulted is a polychrome of salvaged 100-year-old barnwood by West Salem-based Barnwood Naturals that makes the facade of this Bernard Maybeck-inspired design as unique as it is environmentally friendly.

The residence architect Cary Bernstein designed for Scott Croyle and his family is an exercise in hide-and-seek. Clever storage keeps the space clutter-free and lets the structure shine. In the entryway, drawers tuck under the mezzanine, niches hold artwork, and speakers are built in line with the cabinets.

The studio occupies the corner of a backyard filled with carefully-tended plants. They positioned the studio at the yard’s far corner, diagonal from the main house’s back door, to create a path through the garden that would engage visitors in landscape.

The culmination of the collaboration was the design’s simplicity: a single neutral, durable, versatile volume that can easily host a changing collection of hobbies, art, furniture, and guests.

The single main room features ample glazing to provide natural light for cultivation of artistic endeavors. In the words of Witt, the “studio is the anchor for the backyard."

Fir plywood from Freres Lumber joins IKEA cabinets. The figure painting is by Dylan Dean.

This dreamy, glass bedroom by the lake was created as an early prototype for the prefabricated greenhouse/she kits known as the Kekkilä Green Sheds.

Helsinki architect Ville Hara and designer Linda Bergroth collaborated on a prefab shed-meets-sleeping cabin, which can be assembled with little else than a screwdriver. Bergroth, inspired by nomadic yurt dwellers, wanted an indoor/outdoor experience for her property in Finland.

Studio Juju's Drum Series is a set of storage options with intersecting "ribs" that, upon further investigation, can organize smaller items.