The COVID pandemic brought with it a seismic, but necessary, shift in the number of people working from home. At the same time, government stimulus checks made it possible for many of them to find creative ways to make the situation more tolerable.
Studio Home, one of the first entrants into the external office space market, benefited significantly from an unprecedented boom in demand as customers sought to move their offices out of the house. Today, the market remains a large part of the company’s business, despite a drop in demand.
“It’s still probably 30 to 40 percent of our sales,” says Jeremy Nova, who co-founded the Colorado-based business with Mike Koenig. “That’s because it’s still much easier to erect a detached room in the backyard rather than a home addition or remodel.”
After Nova and Koenig started the business, their product mix quickly evolved from high-end storage sheds to home offices and finished backyard spaces. They ultimately changed the company’s name to Studio Home (formerly Studio Shed) to reflect its evolution from building simple backyard gear and bike storage units into a national provider of full-scale accessory dwelling units (ADUs), home offices and turnkey residential spaces.
Nevertheless, some recent factors have dampened demand, the biggest being an increasingly complex regulatory environment.
“Customers used to be able to build a shed and finish it with insulation, drywall, electrical, etc., and they wouldn’t need to pull a building permit,” Nova says. “Now, most locations in the U.S. require permitting of some sort.”
California is one of Studio Home’s biggest markets, but also one of the more complex from a regulatory standpoint.
Unfortunately, the sometimes-exhaustive permitting process can drive up the cost of a typical shed, mostly due to the need for an engineered foundation or energy code compliance (customers often want to install HVAC or mini-split AC systems, which bumps them up into another permitting category).
“So, while there remains strong demand for these external spaces, the price point has ticked up,” adds Nova.
Inflationary pressures haven’t done the market any favors either.
“Everything is more expensive,” he shares. “We’re also a very interest rate sensitive business, and they remain high as well.”
To make the process easier, Studio Home’s own 10-person permit and engineering department guides customers through the process, providing foundation engineering, ensuring the structure meets energy codes and submitting the plans to the local building department.
Since its inception, Studio Home has completed some 6,000 projects, with more than half of them being single-roof studios. They offer essentially two product lines—the Signature Series and Portland Series—each with its own aesthetic. When considering a purchase, customers can visit the company website, create the aesthetic style that they desire, and have the shed “kits” panelized at Studio Home’s manufacturing facility in Colorado.
“A customer can either choose a DIY installation, work with their own contractor, or rely upon our network of about 80 general contractor partners to finish it out,” Nova says.
For the single-room studio space, it’s not uncommon for a buyer to finish it themselves. The more complex the project, however, the less likely that they’ll take the DIY approach.
“Along the way, we help the customer determine if and where they can build,” he adds. “Ultimately, we’re seeking to determine where they can put a structure, how big it can be, and whether there are local restrictions to doing that.”
Backyard Products in Plano, Texas, markets itself as a “manufacturer of products for the backyard,” ranging from sheds to swings to gazebos to outdoor furniture. They even have an outdoor toy business following an acquisition in 2024.
Increasingly, a larger portion of their business has been devoted to external workspaces.
“Consumers are crafty and creative in how they decide to finish it out,” says Taylor Herrero, vice president of marketing for the company. “We’ve seen people do everything from office studios to workout rooms to libraries.”
Backyard Products creates unique designs that can be easily adapted into workspaces, including natural lighting, operable windows, and residential-grade doors.
They also sell products from the Colorado-based Studio Home.
“The yard is like the fifth room of your home … and we see more people wanting to push into that space and make it something truly unique,” Herrero says.
However, like Nova, Herrero has noticed some “softness” in the market.
“The housing market, in general, is obviously a challenge,” Herrero shares. “Everything is more expensive right now, and shoppers are scrutinizing every purchase … and our products are not seen as a need.”
More recently, extreme weather has also been another factor, with the fires and floods of spring and summer 2026 impacting demand and hindering Backyard Products’ ability to deliver and install products.
To ease customers through the process, Backyard Products assists them with permitting, HOA approval guidance, etc.
“When you want to add items such as electrical and plumbing, there are various requirements that need to be met and our team is very knowledgeable in that space,” Herrero says. “We’ll hold the customer’s hand the entire way through.”
While the Studio Home products they sell are manufactured in Colorado and shipped nationwide as pre-panelized kits, Backyard Products manufactures the bulk of their sheds in a facility in Michigan.
“Most folks will buy an interior package with us that includes drywall, with some as large as two-bedroom small homes,” Herrero adds. “They work with install teams in each market; it helps that the contractors are physically located in the market because they can be more ‘hands-on’ in their involvement and assistance.”
Backyard Products curates the entire design experience.
“We have a design center on site where customers can choose their model, layout, etc., selecting things such as siding and trim color … it’s not a complete customization but with some degree of uniqueness,” says Herrero.
Adam Kontis, owner of Fox Country Sheds in Lititz, Pennsylvania, says there’s still plenty of demand for outdoor office spaces, even after the pandemic peak. And that’s something that won’t likely go away.
“It’s hard to get the isolation that they need to do their job, so the only way to do that is to go outside the house,” he says.
Fox Country Sheds has been manufacturing sheds since 1999, servicing a broad area reaching westward to California, southward to the Carolinas, and northward to Maine. They typically keep one or two offices in stock, with half-finished interiors to show the various layers of construction. Once a customer places an order, it takes two to four weeks to produce the shed.
Kontis has noticed some recent trends in workspace design, many of them seeking to match modern home designs. Mini-split units are also becoming increasingly popular for heating and air. And while some customers simply want a desk and an office, others want to finish it out to match a modern style.
“We’ll insulate it, install thermal windows, do some basic electrical, and pre-hang the door, but most of the time customers will take on the rest of the finish-out themselves,” he says. “It’s easier for them to have it done once the structure is on location.”
If a customer doesn’t want to pay the additional cost for finishing, the Fox Country Sheds team will often build out the interiors with OSB or plywood that can be painted for a simplified interior.
“It’s not a drywall finish, but it’s still decent … especially for a commercial application,” adds Kontis. “Those customers are typically not looking for anything fancy.”
