Great ideas for outdoor rooms

Reinvent your yard with a new deck, patio, cottage, dining room, or curl-up space

19 favorite garden cottages and sheds

Creative ideas for backyard retreats, detached home offices, and reinvented sheds

Photography by John Granen

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Fairy tale eco shed

Gail and Mark Dupar’s shed looks like a cozy vacation cabin, or something out of “Hansel and Gretel.” But the cordwood structure is really the nerve center of the couple’s kitchen garden on Decatur Island in Washington’s San Juans.

Here they start seedlings, arrange flowers, raise tomatoes, store tools, and dry freshly harvested shallots on the warm brick floor.

Tour the cabin's creative details