Choosing the right size is one of the most important decisions when buying a portable building. You want enough room for everything you plan to use it for, but you also don’t want to take up more of your property than necessary.
The best size depends on what you plan to store or do inside the building, how much room your property has, and whether you expect your needs to change in the future.
At Pops’ Barns, we offer NorthStar portable buildings in a variety of sizes and configurations, making it easier to find an option that fits your needs. Use our 3d builder to play around with the options and design your perfect building, or visit our location and let us answer your questions and walk through it with you.
Start With How You Plan to Use the Building
Before looking at dimensions, think about what you actually want to do with the space.
A building used primarily for lawn equipment and seasonal storage will have very different space requirements than one used as a workshop, office, hobby room, or retreat.
Make a list of everything you expect to put inside the building. Include large items such as:
- Riding lawn mowers
- ATVs and other equipment
- Workbenches
- Shelving and cabinets
- Bicycles
- Tools
- Outdoor furniture
- Seasonal decorations
- Storage containers
Then think about the space you’ll need to move around those items. A building can technically hold everything you own and still feel too small if there’s no room to comfortably access it.
Smaller Portable Buildings for Basic Storage
If your main goal is adding some extra storage space, you may not need a large building.
A smaller portable building can be a good fit for storing garden tools, lawn equipment, bicycles, decorations, and other belongings that are currently taking up space in your garage or home.
Think vertically as well as horizontally. Shelving and organized storage can make a relatively small building much more useful.
If you already know exactly what you want to store, measure the larger items and use those measurements when considering your building size.
Medium-Size Buildings Offer More Flexibility
A medium-size portable building can give you considerably more flexibility.
Instead of using the building exclusively for storage, you may be able to combine storage with a workbench, hobby area, or workspace.
For example, you could have shelving along one wall, equipment or larger items on another side, and still leave an open area in the middle for working.
This can be a good choice if you’re not completely sure how you’ll use the building over the long term.
Larger Buildings for Workshops and Multiple Uses
If you plan to create a workshop, home office, hobby space, hunting cabin, or multipurpose building, additional square footage can make a big difference.
A larger building gives you room to separate different activities rather than trying to fit everything into one crowded space.
For a workshop, consider the size of your workbench, tools, machinery, and materials. For an office or hobby space, think about desks, chairs, shelving, cabinets, and the amount of open floor space you’ll want.
Remember that furniture and equipment take up more space than their dimensions suggest. You’ll also want enough room to comfortably walk around them.
Don’t Forget About Height
Floor space isn’t the only thing to consider.
The height of the building can affect how much storage you can create, particularly if you plan to use shelves or store taller equipment.
A well-organized building can make use of vertical space for items that don’t need to be accessed every day.
Think about what you’ll be storing and whether you’ll want to add shelving or other storage solutions later.
Think About the Future
One of the easiest mistakes when choosing a portable building is buying only for what you need today.
Maybe you currently need storage for a mower and some tools, but you expect to add outdoor equipment, a workbench, bicycles, or other belongings later.
If you have the available space, choosing a little more room now can give you considerably more flexibility in the future.
You don’t necessarily need to choose the largest building available. The goal is to find a size that gives you useful room without paying for space you don’t need.
Measure Your Property Before Choosing a Size
Once you have an idea of how much interior space you need, look at where the building will go.
Measure the available area and consider how the building will fit with your house, driveway, fences, trees, and other structures.
It’s also helpful to visualize the building’s footprint before making a decision. Marking out the approximate dimensions with stakes or measuring tape can give you a much better idea of how much space the building will occupy.
Don’t forget to think about how you’ll access the building once it’s in place. You want enough room to comfortably get to the doors and use the surrounding area.
Consider How You’ll Get the Most From the Space
The right size building isn’t just about square footage. The layout and organization can make a major difference.
Shelving, cabinets, hooks, workbenches, and other storage solutions can help keep things organized and leave more usable floor space.
For example, a building that’s primarily used for storage might benefit from shelving around the perimeter, leaving the center open. A workshop might need more open floor space for moving materials and working on projects.
Think about how you’ll use the building on a typical day, not just how much you can physically fit inside it.
NorthStar Portable Buildings Come in a Variety of Sizes
Pops’ Barns offers portable buildings in a wide range of dimensions, including different widths and lengths to accommodate different properties and uses. Buildings range from smaller storage sizes to substantially larger buildings, with options extending to widths of 16 feet and lengths up to 54 feet.
That variety makes it possible to choose a building based on both your available property and your intended use.
If you’re unsure what size makes sense, start by identifying what you want to put inside the building and how you want to use the space. From there, you can compare the available sizes and choose an option that provides enough room without going unnecessarily large.
Choosing the Right Size at Pops’ Barns
At Pops’ Barns, we can help you explore all the options and find a size that fits your needs.
Whether you’re looking for a compact storage building, a workshop, a home office, a hobby space, or a larger multipurpose building, choosing the right size starts with thinking about how you want to use the space.
If you’re still deciding, take a look at our other Portable Building Guides & Resources for more information about NorthStar construction, preparing your property, delivery, and getting the most from your portable building.
You can also explore our NorthStar Portable Buildings page to see the available options and learn more about the buildings offered through Pops’ Barns.