HOME&GARDEN HOME GARDEN
GLOBE GAZETTE
SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2022 |
INNOVATIVE SPACES Sunday July 17, 2022 |
| SECTION C
After
Brian and Brenda Harris turned an old barn on their acreage near Mason City into a “we-shed.
Before
MARY PIEPER, FOR THE GLOBE GAZETTE
Mason City couple turn old barn into
‘WE-SHED’
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY BRENDA HARRIS
The Harris we-shed before construction.
MARY PIEPER
B
For the Globe Gazette
rian and Brenda Harris have turned an old barn on their acreage near Mason City into what they call a “we-shed.” The original idea was to give Brenda a “she-shed” where she could work on her sewing projects. However, Brian said he thought he “put enough work into it that it should be a we-shed.” The rustic-style structure, which is about the size of a two-stall garage, has a TV in it. Brian said that’s enough to keep him happy. The building also has a mini-fridge and a special fridge just for wine. “It works good for get-togethers with friends,” Brian said. The couple converted the barn, which they believe was built in 1929 or possibly earlier, during the summer of 2020. “It was my Mother’s Day present from our kids to help us clean it out,” Brenda said. When the Harris family first moved to their acreage 23 years ago, they stored quite a few items in the former barn, including scrap wood, farm tires and their kids’ old bikes. They also put a tin roof on the structure to protect it from moisture. “That’s probably the best thing we did,” Brian said. “Water is a killer on old buildings.” The brick used for the original barn was in good shape, which also helped prolong the life of the building, according to Brian. After he built a shed on the property in 2010 that he uses as his shop, Brian moved items he frequently uses such as lawn mowers out of the barn and into the new structure. The idea of turning the barn into a she-shed had been brewing for several years, but really took off when Brenda found a big window on sale on Facebook for just $50. They both loved it and thought it would be great for the project. The barn originally had a loft that could only be accessed from the out-
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MARY PIEPER, FOR THE GLOBE GAZETTE
Brian and Brenda Harris sit at the table Brian made for the couple’s “we-shed.”
PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY BRENDA HARRIS
side. One of the key decisions Brian and Brenda made when planning the conversion project was to raise the ceiling between the loft and lower floor to open up the space and let in more light from the loft windows. “It made everything work,” Brian said. Brian, who is a farmer, had plenty of time to work on the project during the summer of 2020 because farm work
always slows down for a month of two that time of the year. Brenda, the office manager at Mechanical Air Systems in Mason City, helped with the project in the evenings. “The neat thing about it is we used a lot of scrap, just things that we found,” she said. “We really repurposed a lot of things.” One of the interior walls of the we-
shed is made from the wood from pallets Brian took apart. “I roughed them (the planks) up a little bit and slapped them on there,” he said. Brenda said they wanted to use materials that have a personal history to them as much as possible. For example, some of the other wood used for the project came from the barn’s original door, as well as a hay shed from the farm on 12th Street where Brian grew up. The black cupboards where Brenda stores her fabric and sewing machine also came from that farm. “His parents don’t live there anymore so we took them out and painted them, and put barn wood on them to make them match,” she said. A ladder from Brenda’s great-grandfather was suspended from the ceiling as the basis for a light fixture that stretches above the long table Brian built for the we-shed. Individual lights hang from the ladder. The couple also found an old wood stove in a shed at the farm that belonged to Brenda’s grandparents. Brian washed it and painted it. Although they don’t use the stove for heating, it adds a decorative touch, according to Brenda. “It looks like it did when it was new,” she said. The couple did buy some of the furnishings. The kitchen island they use as a bar was purchased from Lucy & Olive when the former store in downtown Mason City held its going-outof-business sale. They ordered a few pieces of furniture, including a big, comfy chair, from Amazon. They also moved a few pieces they weren’t using in their house anymore to the we-shed. Brian and Brenda found a used door for sale for $150 on Facebook for the entrance. Brian said the biggest challenge as getting power to the we-shed. The couple used mini-splits so they could have both heat and air-conditioning, allowing them to use the building Please see ‘WE-SHED’, Page C2
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