For most of us, sheds are a place to stash our yard tools and sports equipment. But lifestyle blogger and interior designer Deborah McDonald reimagined a shed as a place for her, her husband, Patrick, and their kids, 15-year-old Berkley and 13-year-old Palmer, to finally have a cabin of their own. The McDonalds, based in Central Alberta, used to be trailer folks. They would drive their trailer out to their Clearwater County “quarter-section,” a measure of about 160 acres on Deborah’s family’s farm. There, Deborah’s parents and her brother had built off-grid cabins, and the extended family would spend time fishing, hiking, dirt biking, and paddleboarding on nearby Burnstick Lake.
“I loved the trailer, but I wanted something more settled,” says Deborah. “And why would we buy somewhere else when this land has everything we need?”
The family contemplated building a place themselves, but bringing the necessary materials and power tools out to the farm would be a challenge. Then, in the summer of 2020, the McDonalds were driving through a nearby town and saw a collection of large, prebuilt wooden sheds for sale from Premier Portable Buildings. “I thought, That would work,” says Deborah. The structures weren’t built to be long-term dwellings, but Deborah worked with the builder to create a custom space for the family. The original design had two lofts, one on each end of the shed; Deborah removed one to allow for a more open kitchen. The remaining loft, now the kids’ bedroom, was extended into the living room by two feet. This added space to the bathroom and primary bedroom underneath. She kept the original footprint of 12-by-32 feet but added an extra foot of height so that the kids could stand up in the loft space.
The family had to confront another problem: how to bring in more light. The original structure only had three windows, but using a customized design tool on the builder’s website, Deborah was able to add 10 more. And the modifications didn’t stop there—she also removed an exterior porch that cut into the cabin’s otherwise rectangular footprint (“It took a huge amount of floor space,” says Deborah) and added a door off the back for an additional entry and exit point, all to make the layout more functional. “All the upgrades were so worth it,” says Deborah. The extra windows were $300 each, and insulating the floor and raising the ceiling cost another $2,000. The rest of the budget went to the siding, exterior framing, walls, and the tin roof. But even with the modifications, building the shed only cost about $13,000.
The spot where the McDonalds wanted to place the cabin was nestled in the forest, making it difficult to connect to the farm’s existing electrical. Instead, they installed a solar panel to power LED lights and an outdoor fridge on a covered patio behind the shed that they use in the summer, plus a generator for cloudy days. There’s no shower inside, but they have since built an outdoor shower with a solar-powered hot water heater. They rely on an existing outhouse on the property and a hand pump to wash dishes.
After ordering their customized shed in June 2020, it was built off-site by the end of August and delivered by a semi-truck and trailer to Patrick’s parents’ farm, five minutes away from the McDonalds’ home in Central Alberta. Over the next few months, Patrick, who is an engineer, Deborah, and a carpenter friend framed and insulated the interior, installed shiplap walls and ceiling, and added cupboards, shelving, and doors. The end result is up to code and insured. “Considering we have only renovated older homes in the past, which usually come with a surprise or two when you open up the walls, this was very simple in comparison,” says Deborah.
From there, Deborah sourced furniture and decor. “I owned a small business buying and selling antiques, so I’d been collecting for years.” She wanted a Scandinavian farmhouse-inspired, all-white interior to showcase the antique finds that now have a home in the cabin. One such find was an old baker’s station from Prairie Creek Antiques in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., that became the kitchen table. The top lifts for additional storage (it’s where the family keeps their board games). And instead of stairs, which take up floor space, Deborah sourced an antique ladder for access to the loft. “I added a hanging basket on a pulley system so the kiddos have an easy way to get books and clothes up and down,” she says. Finishing and furnishing the cabin brought the total cost to just under $30,000.
By November, the interior was complete and a truck hauled the completed cabin to its permanent home on Deborah’s family’s land, atop a gravel pad foundation. They’re now working on building a wraparound deck to extend their outdoor living space.
With the cabin finished, the McDonalds are able to spend more time with Deborah’s family. “Almost every morning, my mom makes scones on the barbecue,” says Deborah. On summer evenings, the family will project movies on the side of their cabin next to the campfire, or they’ll admire the stars. “We’ll pull out loungers or blankets and watch meteor showers,” she says. “There’s no light around us anywhere, so it’s the prettiest place to stargaze.”
Andrea Yu is a frequent Cottage Life contributor. She wrote “Out of the Marsh and Into the Fire,” in our Mar/Apr ’25 issue.
This story originally appeared in our Sept/Oct ’25 issue.
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