Budget Breakdown: His $11K Backyard Office Has Worktops Made From a Tree Planted by His Grandfather

It was 2017 and Ed Barsley had a full schedule. Between completing his PhD in architecture and writing a book, long hours working on a laptop left him looking for an outlet that would get him outdoors while contemplating a different type of design challenge.

"One of the ways I relax is through thinking about design and different problems," says Ed, who runs his firm, The Environmental Design Studio (TEDS). "When I’m talking through a design, I have to go from the abstract concept down to, Right, actually, practically, how do you do this?"

Ed purchased his Victorian terrace home in Cambridge, England, in 2014 and tackled various renovation projects over the years. By 2017, he was satisfied with where things stood, which meant it was time to tackle the asbestos-riddled shed in the rear garden. Thinking about how to create a flexible workspace in its place was just the kind of design challenge he was looking for.

While not a contractor by trade, in 2009, Ed spent a year in the woods of Cornwall learning construction by living and working with a father-son duo. They built a timber-frame home, which gave him the experience and confidence to build on his own.

"They were getting me and my time helping them build, but I was learning how to make things. Martin, the dad, would show me how to use the tools. Sometimes he’d say, ‘I'm just going to show you this once,’ and then he'd trust me to go and use it," Ed says.