What are the most common shed sizes?

The most common storage shed sizes are 8x8 (64 sq. ft.), 8x10 (80), 8x12 (96), 10x12 (120), 10x16 (160), 12x16 (192), 10x20 (200), 12x20 (240), and 12x24 (288). Widths of 8, 10, 12, and 14 feet are standard; lengths typically step in 2-foot increments. Our buildings run from 8x8 up to 14x40 depending on the model.

What size shed can I build in Colorado without a permit?

It depends on your jurisdiction, and there is no single statewide answer. Many Colorado jurisdictions — including the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department serving Colorado Springs and El Paso County — exempt a one-story detached accessory building of 200 square feet or less that sits directly on grade. Unincorporated Boulder County uses a lower 120-square-foot threshold for exempt accessory structures. Zoning setbacks, lot coverage, height limits, and HOA rules apply at every size, and adding electrical always requires a permit. Confirm your own address with your building department before you order.

How does the 200-square-foot rule change which size I should pick?

It creates a natural break point. A 10x20 lands exactly at 200 sq. ft., and 12x16 (192 sq. ft.) sits just under it, while a 12x20 at 240 sq. ft. crosses over. If your jurisdiction uses the 200-square-foot exemption and you want to stay under it, 12x16 gives you the most floor area of any common size that still fits. If you need more room than that, plan for the permit rather than shrinking the building you actually need.

What size shed fits a riding lawn mower?

A 10x12 will hold a riding mower, but not much else once you add a walkway. For a riding mower plus a trimmer, blower, fuel, and wall shelving, 10x16 or 12x16 is the practical minimum. Add a snow blower and wheelbarrow and you want 12x20. Just as important as floor area is the door: specify a wide double door or a 5- to 6-foot opening with a ramp so you are not threading a mower deck through a narrow doorway.

What size shed do I need for a home office or studio?

Plan on 10x12 as an absolute minimum for a desk-only space, 10x16 for a desk plus storage and a seating chair, and 12x20 or larger for a studio, gym, or two-person office. Our Studio Shed style runs 10x12 to 14x28 with taller walls and larger windows, which matters more than square footage for a room you sit in all day. Any finished office with power needs an electrical permit.

Is it cheaper to buy a bigger shed now or add on later?

Buying the larger size once is almost always cheaper. Extra length is the least expensive square footage you will ever buy, because you are adding to a roof, floor, and wall system you are already paying for. Retrofitting or replacing a shed two years in means paying for delivery, site prep, and possibly permits a second time.

How much bigger does my site need to be than the shed itself?

Plan on a level pad that extends about a foot past the building on every side, plus walking clearance for mowing and maintenance. Separately, check the delivery path: a shed mule or trailer generally needs a clear route roughly 2 to 4 feet wider than the building, with adequate overhead clearance for branches and power lines and no gate posts, retaining walls, or soft ground in the way. Site access limits the size you can take delivery of more often than yard space does.

Should I choose a taller shed instead of a longer one?

If you need overhead clearance or loft storage, yes. A hi-wall barn gives you taller sidewalls, a real loft, and door openings sized for equipment rather than wheelbarrows. If you are weighing a large shed against a barn, the deciding question is almost always whether you need vertical space and a second level of storage.

Does shed size change what it costs to prepare the site in Colorado?

Yes. A small building on level ground can often sit on a gravel pad, while larger buildings, sloped lots, and mountain sites more often need a graded and compacted pad, blocking, or concrete. Bigger footprints also make grade differences more expensive, because leveling cost grows with the area you are correcting.

Does a bigger shed need a stronger snow load rating in Colorado?

Roof design is driven by your elevation and local design criteria, not the footprint alone — but the larger the roof, the more that rating matters. Our standard trusses are engineered for 40 psf snow loads, and we build up to 120 psf to meet Colorado county requirements at higher elevations. Tell us your address and elevation before you finalize a size.

What size shed adds the most usable space for the money?

In our experience, 12x16 and 12x20 are the sweet spots. Twelve feet of width lets you store along both walls and still walk down the middle, which 8- and 10-foot widths do not, and 16 to 20 feet of length covers a mower, yard tools, and a workbench without overwhelming a typical Front Range backyard.

All Articles

What Size Shed Do I Need? A Colorado Shed Size Guide

The Shed YardBuying Guide · Sep 11, 2026

What Size Shed Do I Need? A Colorado Shed Size Guide — The Shed Yard, Colorado

Short answer: most Colorado homeowners need more shed than they think. If you are storing hand tools and seasonal bins, 8x10 works. Add a push mower and you want 10x12. Add a riding mower, snow blower, and shelving and you are at 10x16 to 12x16. If you plan to work inside it — workshop, hobby space, home gym — start at 12x20.

The break point to know: many Colorado jurisdictions exempt a detached accessory building of 200 square feet or less sitting directly on grade from a building permit. A 10x20 is exactly 200 sq. ft. and a 12x16 is 192. A 12x20 is 240 and crosses the line. Thresholds vary — Boulder County uses 120 sq. ft. — so confirm your own address before ordering.

Classic A-Frame storage shed in a Colorado backyard sized for lawn equipment and tool storage — Sizing starts with what goes inside and how you get to it — not just how much yard you have.

Common shed sizes and what fits inside each one

Most guides talk about "small, medium, and large." That is not useful when you are placing an order. Here are the actual dimensions, the square footage, and what each size realistically holds once you leave yourself room to walk.

Size	Sq. ft.	What it realistically holds	Best for
8x8	64	Hand tools, bikes, a wheelbarrow, seasonal bins	Small lots, simple decluttering
8x10	80	Push mower, yard tools, bins, a narrow shelf run	Basic backyard storage
8x12	96	Push mower, tools, bikes, holiday storage	Getting the garage back
10x12	120	Riding mower or a mower plus shelving, not both comfortably	Entry-level equipment storage
10x16	160	Riding mower, trimmer, blower, fuel, wall shelving	Most Front Range yards
12x16	192	Mower, snow blower, shelving, small workbench	Best size under a 200 sq. ft. threshold
10x20	200	Long, narrow layout: equipment on one end, storage on the other	Sites where width is tight
12x20	240	Equipment plus a real work area with walking room	Workshops, hobby space, home gym
12x24	288	Mower plus a side-by-side or ATV, plus a bench	Rural property, toys and equipment
14x28 to 14x40	392–560	Multiple pieces of equipment, workshop zones, loft storage	Acreage, shops, small-business use

Square footage assumes standard rectangular sizes. Available sizes vary by model.

Notice how much difference the width makes. At 8 and 10 feet wide you store along one wall and walk down the other side. At 12 feet wide you can store along both walls and still walk down the middle. That is why 12x16 and 12x20 are the two sizes we recommend most often — the jump from 10 to 12 feet of width changes how the building works, not just how much fits.

Step 1: Size to the largest thing going in, then add a size

Start with your biggest item, not your smallest. Measure it, add walking clearance, then add room for what you will own in three years. Sheds fill up faster than anyone plans for.

Push mower: roughly 2x5 feet of floor, plus a path to the door.
Riding mower or zero-turn: commonly 4 to 6 feet wide and 6 to 7 feet long — measure yours, and measure the deck at its widest.
Snow blower: about 2 to 3 feet wide, and it needs to come out fast in February, so it belongs near the door.
ATV or side-by-side: plan on 4 to 6 feet wide and 9 to 12 feet long, which pushes you to a 12x24 or a barn.
Workbench: 2 feet deep plus 3 feet of standing room — 5 feet of your width gone before you store anything.
Shelving: every wall run of shelves costs you 1 to 2 feet of usable floor width.

Colorado storage shed with wide double doors and a ramp for equipment access — Door width matters as much as square footage. Wide double doors and a ramp turn a storage box into equipment storage.

Step 2: Check the size against your Colorado permit threshold

This is the step generic size guides skip, and in Colorado it can decide your dimensions. Permit exemptions are usually written around a square footage cap, a single story, and no permanent foundation or utilities.

Jurisdiction	Commonly cited exemption	Sizes that stay under it
Colorado Springs / El Paso County (Pikes Peak Regional Building Dept.)	200 sq. ft., one story, supported directly on grade	8x12, 10x16, 12x16, 10x20
Unincorporated Boulder County	120 sq. ft., 12 ft. tall, no utilities, with limits on how many per parcel	8x12, 10x12
City of Boulder	Under 80 sq. ft., under 10 ft. tall, no utilities	8x8, 8x10 (As we measure out to out)
Everywhere else in Colorado	Varies by city and county — verify before you order	Confirm with your building department

Thresholds change and zoning always applies. Verify your address with the authority that governs it.

Three things a square-foot exemption never covers: setbacks and lot coverage from your zoning code, HOA covenant approval, and electrical. Lights and outlets require an electrical permit even on a permit-exempt building. For a deeper walkthrough, read our Colorado shed permit guide and the Colorado Springs permit guide.

Step 3: Size to your site and delivery path, not just your yard

We can build almost any size. Getting it to the spot you picked is the real constraint — especially on Colorado foothill and mountain lots.

Gate and fence openings. A delivery route generally needs to be a few feet wider than the building itself. A 12-foot-wide shed does not fit through a 10-foot gate.
Overhead clearance. Branches, power lines, and eaves stop more deliveries than narrow driveways do.
Slope. The more a site falls across the footprint, the more leveling costs — and leveling cost grows with the size of the building.
Ground conditions. Soft ground, irrigation, and septic fields can force a different placement, which can force a different size or orientation.
Clearance around the building. Leave room to walk, mow, and maintain all four sides.

Get the Most Up-to-Date Pricing

Prices shown are current as of Sep 2026 and can change at any time. Options, site prep, permits, and delivery conditions all affect the final cost.

If access is genuinely tight, a narrower and longer size — a 10x20 instead of a 12x16 — often solves it with the same floor area. Our site preparation guide covers pads, grading, and access in detail.

Step 4: Decide whether you need height instead of length

Square footage is only one dimension. If you need overhead clearance, loft storage, or equipment-height doors, a taller building beats a longer one.

Style	Typical sizes	Why you would choose it
Classic A-Frame Shed	8x10 to 14x40	Steep roof pitch that sheds snow, all-around overhang, widest size range
A-Frame Shed	8x8 to 12x32	Straightforward workhorse with wide doors and usable wall space
Quaker Shed	8x10 to 14x36	Offset roofline and covered entry for front-of-property placement
Economy Shed	8x8 to 12x24	Lowest price point with 6'2" walls — best value for plain storage
Studio Shed	10x12 to 14x28	Taller walls and large windows for offices, studios, and gyms
Hi-Wall Barn	10x12 to 14x40	Tall sidewalls, real loft storage, equipment-height door openings

Typical size ranges by model. See each product page for available configurations.

Gray hi-wall barn storage shed with white trim and mountain views in Colorado — When overhead clearance matters more than floor area, a hi-wall barn gets you a loft and equipment-height doors.

Green studio shed with white trim and sliding glass doors installed in a Colorado backyard with raised garden beds — For a room you sit in all day, wall height, window area, and backyard placement matter more than square footage alone.

The mistake we see most: buying one size too small

Extra length is the cheapest square footage you will ever buy. You are already paying for the floor system, roof structure, doors, delivery, and site prep — stretching a 12x16 to a 12x20 adds material, not a whole second project. Replacing an undersized shed two years later means paying for delivery and site work all over again.

The one time smaller genuinely wins: when a larger size would cross your jurisdiction's permit threshold and you are not willing to permit, or when your delivery access truly caps the width. Those are real reasons. "It looks big enough" is not.

How size affects price

Cost scales with footprint, but not in a straight line — the roof, floor system, doors, and delivery are largely fixed, so the price per square foot generally drops as the building gets larger. Style, siding, wall height, snow-load rating, and site prep move the number as much as dimensions do. For current Colorado ranges by size and style, see our 2026 Colorado shed cost breakdown — and if budget is the deciding factor, our economy versus premium shed comparison shows what changes at a lower price point.

Quick size recommendations by use

What you are doing	Recommended size	Do not go below
Decluttering the garage	8x12	8x10
Push mower and yard tools	10x12	8x12
Riding mower and equipment	12x16	10x16
Mower plus snow blower plus shelving	12x20	12x16
Workshop or hobby space	12x20	12x16
Home office or studio	12x16 Studio	10x12
ATV, side-by-side, or tractor	12x24 or hi-wall barn	12x20
Feed, tack, and loft storage	12x24 hi-wall barn	10x16 barn

Recommendations reflect what Colorado customers most often wish they had ordered.

Build it in 3D before you commit to a size

The fastest way to settle a size question is to build both options and compare them with live pricing. Pick your dimensions, doors, windows, siding, and roof, and see the difference between a 12x16 and a 12x20 in dollars before you decide.

Not sure which size is right for your property?

Design your exact building in 3D with live pricing, or talk to a Colorado local who has placed thousands of these — including on tight, sloped, and mountain lots.

Frequently asked questions about shed sizes

Want the footprint-by-footprint breakdown with layouts and cost per square foot? See our guide to popular shed sizes in Colorado. Still weighing options? Browse all shed styles and sizes, compare barns if you need height and a loft, or see payment options including rent-to-own and financing.

Written by the team at The Shed Yard — family owned, Colorado built. We handle the building, the site prep, and the permits, start to finish.