Don’t limit yourself to the options at your local big-box stores when looking to add a shed, garden office or greenhouse to your backyard. Building your own DIY shed from recycled, reclaimed or natural materials is a more eco-friendly way to go, and the result – as you can see in these 12 great inspiration photos – is bound to be a lot cooler.

Rustic Shed with Attached Greenhouse

This rustic shed with a beautiful attached greenhouse is made from wood salvaged during the renovation of a car dealership. Antique windows found in the garbage provide an ideal

Garden Studio Made from Reclaimed Fencing

Reclaimed fencing in a vertical application gives the exterior of this hand-built garden studio a charming, rustic yet modern appearance.

Plastic Bottle Shed

Plastic bottles may not be the first material you think of when considering building your own shed, but they’re a free, plentiful waste material that lets in lots of light. These ones were built by Shedworking.



Recycled Car Hoods

This structure is as much a visual curiosity as it is an actual, functioning shed. It’s made entirely from reclaimed car parts, like hoods, trunks and windshields.

Reclaimed Doors

A few old doors make for an interesting, cottage-style three-sided garden shed.

Ship Shed

This shed made from an old boat is one of many such structures on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in the United Kingdom. When the islanders’ boats are no longer seaworthy, that doesn’t mean they don’t still have potential for other purposes.

Cordwood Natural Building Material

Cordwood construction is a natural building technique utilizing lengths of cut wood set in a typically mud-based mortar for a strong and visually interesting result. The structures are remarkably hobbit-like, often topped with green roofs.

Recycled Car Tires

This weird-looking garden office and shed dubbed Maisongomme has an exterior covered in recycled car tires. Other materials include scrap wood, salvaged windows and repurposed stainless steel trays.

Scrap Materials

Here’s another shed made of leftover materials like scrap wood and shipping pallets. The Wall of Zudaji features holes in the walls to let in natural light, protected with clear polycarbonate.

Whimsical Reclaimed Wood Shed

A company called Rustic Way in Minnesota creates these incredible whimsical wood sheds, which look like they came straight out of a fairy tale. They’re a fun example of what’s possible when you step outside the box and use materials in a more free, creative way.

Hobbit Shed

You can even build a shed right into the earth of your yard, whether you already have hills or not. At ‘My Hobbit Shed,’ one shed builder has documented his experience planning and building a cool earth-sheltered shed that could easily be part of the set for The Hobbit movie.

Tiny Shed on Wheels

An old trailer provides the base for a movable shed on wheels made of reclaimed materials by Bob Bowling of Whidbey Island, Washington.