A storage shed is a storage shed, right? It does one thing, and it isn’t terribly hip or glamorous. Well, I might have thought that a week ago, but it seems that across the United States, shed owners have found altogether different uses for their garden or tool sheds, and none of them including storage. Read on to see six very creative ways you could use a storage shed. I hope it changes your mind about what that little building in the back yard could be.

Backyard Bar – Imagine, you just bottled your latest home-brew, and you invite everyone over to have a taste and play a little poker, maybe smoke a cigar, keep the game on in the background… all out in your backyard bar-slash-shed. Your wife will be so happy you aren’t filling up her clean house with cigar smoke; she might even bring out some goodies to snack on!

Pool Cabana – Pools are wonderful, but no one likes to have to traipse wet through the house every time you need something. A shed can quickly be made the perfect pool-side structure for changing, keeping towels, sun block, and floatation devices. Add a ceiling fan and a mini fridge, and you’ll never need to go indoors again!

Kid’s Playhouse – To a parent, it’s just a storage shed. But to the kids and their friends, its a fortress on the cliffs of some ancient city, or a castle in a medieval countryside beset with dragons, or a spaceship in orbit around a hostile alien planet. Children prove to us that a shed is what you put into it.

Office – You’d love to work at home, but how, with a house full of young children who need more than their fair share of space? A shed can be insulated, heated and cooled inexpensively, and decked out with hardwood floors or carpet, bookshelves, a desk, comfy chair, computer with internet and a nice view of the garden. What more could you ask for? How about a 35-foot commute from door to door?

Meditation Retreat – Unplug. Refresh. Rejuvenate. Center. Repair. What ever you call it, a space for getting away from distractions of family, the phone, and the TV can be a real joy. Even if you aren’t particularly spiritual, an hour in such an environment could do wonders for an overworked soul.

Gym – This particular use for a shed is not the most unique on the list, but there is something so quaint and perhaps stereotypical about a weightlifting session in a small storage building that we just had to add it to the list. Call it whatever you like: Dad’s Fitness Temple, Shed a Few Pounds… I could go on…