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Outstanding Approaches to Outbuilding Design on a Budget

Adding a garage or workshop into a property is a common aspiration for landowners looking for a reason to design and execute their own outbuilding mini-project. Typically, however, imagination and budget building don’t go hand-in-hand. The assumed single alternative is opting for plain prefabrication. But this belief is wrong. There’s a lot more you can do with the design approach to your budgeted outbuilding project than you might think.  Don’t believe it? Here are five examples:

Complementing the terrain

One of the more commonly overlooked aspects of outbuilding aesthetics, especially in rural areas, is the way it fits with its surroundings relative to your key vantage points. Similar to how a new skyscraper can ruin the view for thousands of citizens, a poorly placed outbuilding, though seemingly gorgeous otherwise, may obstruct a once-appreciated view from your balcony or bedroom window. Simply taking the time to carefully plan where your building will be and how it blends with the landscape can vastly improve its design qualities overall, without costing more.

Going modern

Another misconception is that outbuildings on a budget are destined to be aesthetically pedestrian and icons of boring architecture. Most metal building package options available through prefab specialists are surprisingly customizable and sleek. Overhead doors and framed openings found in garages, for example, can be placed wherever you want them to be. Steel in particular is a timeless choice in building material when opting for futuristic design.

The majority of prefab metal building suppliers are attune to the needs of a more design-conscious market and are increasingly making their low-cost options more modern in style – complete with dynamic roof angles, durable yet eye-pleasing paint colors, and state-of-the-art space-saving techniques.

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Imagine multi-use

It’s not impossible to achieve multi-use in an outbuilding on a budget. With the right placement of doors, bay entrances, power supply, and loft flooring, a garage can easily become a workshop just as easily as it can be a storage facility. This matters if life changes put a halt to an outbuilding’s original use. Maybe storing a motorcycle for fair weather fun isn’t such a good idea if you’re recently married with a baby on the way. Instead of paying for storage for the items in the office-turned-nursery, opt to put them in the old garage instead.

Not only can multi-use save you money, it can attract a broader market of potential buyers if you ever decide to sell.

Go green

The best part about budget outbuildings and contemporary concerns for energy use and waste is that the two go hand-in-hand. Steel – the predominant choice of material for outbuilding construction – can be recycled and reused – oftentimes without being recast – into perpetuity. Highly reflective metal surfaces bounce the sun’s rays off the building during the summer to lower cooling costs. In wintertime, wider wall cavities filled with more insulation than the typical wooden or brick structure help save on heating costs.

Budget outbuildings don’t require a sacrifice in design. Careful consideration and creative use of low-cost materials can go a long way when wanting extra-home structures to add to your property’s aesthetic and not take away from it. It’s merely of matter of knowing what to do. We’re glad to help you get started.

 

 

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