Do you ever find yourself at the beginning of the year, or at the beginning of the warm weather season thinking, “This is the year I’ll really get it together and have a wonderful looking yard”? If so, there is one thing you can do that will go further than just about anything else toward helping you achieve that goal: setting up a metal or wood shed.

Simply having a convenient place to store your gardening tools, bicycles, mowers, and other outdoor stuff can make an enormous difference in how you use your yard and how your yard looks. And this is true even if you have storage space in your garage that you use for some of these items. Metal sheds, wood sheds, and sheds made from other materials are very powerful organizing tools, and they look great too.

You’ll want to choose the site carefully for your shed. Storage sheds that are inconvenient rarely get used. But sheds that are easily accessible are amazingly handy. If, for instance, you want your kids to put their bicycles in the shed at the end of the day, you should have a clear path to the shed from your driveway so that it is easy to do. That way they won’t have excuses for not putting them away.

But storage sheds don’t have to be used just for storage. You might be surprised how many people set up sheds as workshops, gardening and potting centers, and even hobby rooms. You can be as simple or as advanced as you want with storage sheds, from a simple shed with unfinished walls inside to a fully finished shed with electricity and plumbing that can be used as a workshop or even a guest room.

Metal and wood are two of the most popular materials from which sheds are made. Metal is inexpensive and the sheds are made to be easy to build, even for the weekend DIY enthusiast. Wood sheds are a bit more expensive, but you can’t beat their looks, and they go really well if you have a wood frame home and want a look that complements it. Today’s materials and roofing supplies mean that these sheds will last for many years and will keep your things safe and dry and out of the way.

Putting up a storage shed is a great first step in de-cluttering and cleaning up your yard. And once you make that step, it’s easier to envision the other beautification projects you can do with your home and lot. With a neater yard, you may finally decide to put in that flower bed you’ve thought about, or to grow your own vegetable garden. And if you get into the habit of storing your tools and equipment in the shed as soon as you’re done with it, you won’t be faced with running outside to put things away if it starts to storm.

Outdoor sheds are simple structures that are inexpensive and easy to put up. They can be as basic or as fancy as you want, and few things make such a positive difference in the look of your home and yard as a well-constructed outdoor shed chosen so that it harmonizes with the rest of the yard and with your home.

By having Sheds outside your home will not only make your yard look more organized it also gives your home more room to keep things around the house. Metal sheds and Wood sheds are two of the most popular options for adding a shed to your house.