What Size Portable Shed Do I Need?

What Size Portable Shed Do I Need?
April 13, 2023

From storage and security to a sanctuary from the hullabaloo of an active household – is there anything a backyard shed cannot do?

Yet the truth is that effectively planning your outdoor space is often trickier than we initially think. To that end, a portable shed can be the perfect answer – able to easily get set up and put to use in even the harshest weather conditions, but also easy to pack up when it’s time to move home or brace against the changing seasons.

For the most part, the likes of a shed-in-a-box is pretty intuitive to use – but it’s always smart to have the basics down pat. Let’s explore how to best make a portable shed work for you.

What is a Portable Shed?

Whereas a standard backyard shed is a metal or wooden structure designed as a permanent fixture on your property, a portable shed offers a similar level of strength and durability against the elements – with the added benefit of being easy to move around, quickly set up or store away when the need arises.

A portable shed also offers a touch more freedom in how you plan what you store outside your home or business. For example, a standard backyard shed that comes with your property is its own freestanding structure – when you buy your new home and you get a backyard shed in your yard, you essentially get what you’re given.

A shed-in-a-box approach gives you a more precise level of control over how you use your space. You can use a small and tidy portable shed in a corner for smaller property lines, for instance, or go all out on a portable shed of epic proportions to store outdoor goods sizably, yet securely.

A backyard shed that is made of fabric or lightweight material is often more easy to maintain than a more permanent structure.

In a similar way, if you rent your property from a landlord or simply don’t want to deal with the hassle of asking the state, county or city for the paperwork for a permanent outdoor shed or storage structure, a portable shed is a fantastic option – robust, rugged yet ultimately temporary enough as to never cause offense.

What is a Portable Shed?

Whereas a standard backyard shed is a metal or wooden structure designed as a permanent fixture on your property, a portable shed offers a similar level of strength and durability against the elements – with the added benefit of being easy to move around, quickly set up or store away when the need arises.

A portable shed also offers a touch more freedom in how you plan what you store outside your home or business. For example, a standard backyard shed that comes with your property is its own freestanding structure – when you buy your new home and you get a backyard shed in your yard, you essentially get what you’re given.

A shed-in-a-box approach gives you a more precise level of control over how you use your space. You can use a small and tidy portable shed in a corner for smaller property lines, for instance, or go all out on a portable shed of epic proportions to store outdoor goods sizably, yet securely.

A backyard shed that is made of fabric or lightweight material is often more easy to maintain than a more permanent structure.

In a similar way, if you rent your property from a landlord or simply don’t want to deal with the hassle of asking the state, county or city for the paperwork for a permanent outdoor shed or storage structure, a portable shed is a fantastic option – robust, rugged yet ultimately temporary enough as to never cause offense.

Lawnmower and Firewood inside a Portable ShedLawnmower and Firewood inside a Portable Shed

What Are You Planning to Store in a Portable Shed?

Planning what you intend to store in your portable shed goes pretty far in helping you make the best purchasing decision.

It’s worth keeping in mind that, although a backyard shed from our product range is pretty durable and more than capable of withstanding life’s surprises, these things aren’t invincible, and will require a touch of light maintenance from time to time.

It’s also worth considering what kinds of goods, utilities or vehicles you plan to store in a portable shed. Some sizes are better suited than others to certain tasks – and some items simply aren’t advisable to store in a portable shed at all.

Things You Can Store in a Portable Shed

Thousands of people choose a portable shed for their outdoor spaces simply for the convenience and security they offer. Better still, a backyard shed can be relied upon to keep all kinds of items secure.

A smaller shed-in-a-box can store the likes of garbage and recycling cans – especially if there are pests and wildlife raiding them in your neighborhood – as well as DIY tools, paint cans, lawn mowers, gardening tools and even small vehicles such as a bicycle.

A larger portable shed can even be depended on to store a vehicle at their largest sizes – perfect for keeping a beloved ride safe from extreme weather or out of the way if you’re giving it some maintenance.

Things You Cannot Store in a Portable Shed

While every portable shed is designed to keep your things safe, there are some items it’s simply not smart to store in such a structure in general.

For example, old school photographs, electronic devices or sensitive pieces of furniture are all a bad idea to store in your backyard shed. Heat and humidity can really endanger these kinds of items – sure, they’re being kept secure and out of sight, but the long-term dangers still aren’t worth the risk.

Fabrics, clothing, shoes and apparel are similarly ill advised to store in any kind of backyard shed structure. This kind of material really needs a cool, dry environment to work best – and speaking of which, avoid storing any food or beverages in a backyard shed as well. Heat and humidity is bound to cause such items to spoil.

How Much Space Do You Have?

Understanding the size of the space you are working with does plenty to help inform what kind of shed-in-a-box or backyard shed you intend to buy.

How much of your outdoor space is for working and daily use, or access to the property? How much is decorative or used to show off a gorgeous garden? Is it purely a utilitarian space?

It can be tempting to fill as much space with as large a backyard shed as you can, but try to think about ease of access – both to doorways, but all around the structure. Best practice is to leave a couple feet between your portable shed and fences or property lines – it helps you circle the whole structure to maintain it over time.

Portable Shed with a Dirt BikePortable Shed with a Dirt Bike

What Can I Fit in a Portable Shed?

Depending on both the size of your outdoor space and the nature of what you intend to store within your backyard shed, the real capabilities of your shed-in-a-box could surprise you.

However, it’s understandable that planning out your space and your storage needs can prove challenging to estimate, even if you’ve planned everything out to the finest detail.

No need to fret. We’ve taken some of the most common use cases for the various shed-in-a-box options we stock to help inform your decision – as well as looked at the more spacious options available as you scale up, too.

6 x 6 Shed-in-a-Box

A shed-in-a-box that measures six feet by six feet is a great portable shed option when you don’t have a lot of outdoor space to offer – but still have some bulky items in need of sheltering from the elements.

By way of example, this kind of backyard shed would be great for storing a push-along electric lawnmower, a freestanding barbecue, a few rakes and brooms and your kids’ ride-on toys, like trikes or buggies.

8 x 8 Shed-in-a-Box

While a shed-in-a-box measuring eight feet by eight feet is still pretty compact, you gain quite a lot of extra utility by adding just a couple extra feet onto our previous option.

A portable shed of this sort is perfect not only for the likes of lawnmowers and leaf blowers, but also larger adult sized vehicles such as a bicycle. The kids can stash their scooters in here too if they’re keen to see them safe from the sunlight.

This kind of backyard shed is also popular for garden furniture that isn’t in use. Any plastic stackable lawn chairs you’re putting away for a spell, for instance, will be well taken care of by a portable shed like this.

6 x 12 Shed-in-a-Box

If you’re seeking a portable shed option that can store everything we have discussed by way of example so far in one handy shed-in-a-box package, a six feet by twelve feet backyard shed is a great option.

While it demands that much more space outdoors to safely accommodate, the level of utility open to you here makes it an affordable middle ground.

You can not only store the likes of bicycles, garden furniture, tools, lawnmowers and electric hedge cutters in this portable shed, but also more substantial and luxurious outdoor items, like a fully featured high end wide barbecue grill.

10 x 10 Shed-in-a-Box

At a sizable ten feet by ten feet – three meters squared, if we are expecting any relatives to visit us from Europe who are curious – this larger sized shed-in-a-box option is great for those times when you know the whole family is going to need somewhere to store their outdoor items.

We aren’t simply talking trowels and tools either, although there is plenty of space for those. Both Mom and Dad can safely store their bikes in a portable shed of this size with space to spare, for instance – meaning Junior can park up the tricycle alongside them, and your round barbecue grill can be safely stashed in the opposite corner.

Lawnmowers and leaf blowers are once again a given too, able to easily share this backyard shed space and still see some room for lawn chairs and garden hose reels.

12 x 12 Shed-in-a-Box

Sometimes you have to go big or go home – yet with a shed-in-a-box of twelve feet by twelve feet, you’re effectively making a home from home while you’re at it. As the largest available portable shed option, this is for comprehensive storage space or shelter from the elements to work on hobbies and projects.

Once we get into this kind of backyard shed territory, it isn’t only a question of storing bicycles, lawnmowers, garden hoses, deckchairs and pool equipment. In fact, for many people this kind of portable shed actually borders on a garage-in-a-box – perfect for motorcycles you’re tinkering on or small water scooters for days out on the lake.

Of course, if it’s a true portable garage you’re looking for, there are just such options available too….

Should I Upgrade to a Portable Garage?

If even the largest size of portable shed on offer simply isn’t enough to cater to your storage needs, it may well be time to consider a portable garage instead.

These structures enjoy all the advantages of our shed-in-a-box range – ease of setup, durability against the elements and easy maintenance best practices – but they measure a good twenty feet or more and are more than spacious enough to store anything you could have need of – up to and including vehicles themselves.

Naturally, the decision of upgrading to a portable garage is not one to be taken lightly – yet if the demands being made of your for-storage space are pretty uncompromising, then it’s often the best way to ensure you not only have plenty of room for bikes, a car, a barbecue or a boat – but also that the portable garage can accommodate your future needs as those arise.

In properties where there is a driveway up into the yard space but no shelter to properly store vehicles and other high-end outdoor items from the elements, a portable garage is a fantastic option. It can be an invaluable way to keep your car or fishing boat sheltered from harsh sunlight and light rainfall – but also prove a great way to keep yourself safe from the weather when working on your labors of love accordingly.

Outdoor storage space can be as convenient as can be

Often, it’s easy to feel as though the outdoor space we have to work with, or the ways in which we can store and secure the likes of bicycles, lawnmowers and garden chairs, is all at the mercy of the layout of the properties in which we live and work.

When you invest in a portable shed, you unlock far more variety in not only how you use your space, but also what kind of items you can add to your household in the future. For example, you may have never felt as though you could truly take up cycling as there simply wasn’t anywhere safe and secure to store your bicycle – that’s something a shed-in-a-box easily solves.

Gauging the size of the backyard shed you need, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of what kinds of items and assets you’re hoping to store within it, is the key to making the best buying choices in shed-in-a-box products.

Naturally, help is always at hand, and our friendly team is always standing by and ready to help. What kind of portable she will work best for you?

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