Stardew Valley is a charming indie game that lets players choose their preferred farming lifestyle. A huge reason for Stardew Valley’s appeal is the massive amount of customization options players have for almost every area of their farm.
While the exterior farm layout is a big aspect of the game, players have also found ways to customize some unlockable farm buildings. The shed is one of the most customizable buildings available in the game. The shed acts like a smaller version of the farmhouse, and players can decorate the interior with furniture, wallpaper, and flooring. However, players have found a multitude of creative ways to use their Stardew Valley shed.
Updated on August 9, 2023, by Sophie McEvoy: As fans eagerly await the 1.6 update for Stardew Valley, there are still plenty of unique ways to play the farm simulator. So much has been added through past updates to improve gameplay, including sheds during the 1.1 update in October 2016. Sold by Robin, this building is an empty room that can be customized to any theme, with players continuing to amaze the fandom with their unique creations. And as new items will be coming with the new update, there's no telling what fans will be able to create within their sheds to share with other players.
14 Guest House
While players can't invite villagers to their home, there's nothing stopping them from catering to the possibility. A shed has ample room to be made into a guest house, designed with specific villagers in mind. Whether that's a country-style abode for Marnie, a place for Clint to smelt ores away from his shop (and for players to use), or somewhere for Robin to work on projects for the farm. If it ever were to happen, these guest houses could be an extra source of income by renting it out to the different townsfolk or tourists.
13 Space For Significant Other
There are many unique perks to marrying one of the many bachelors and bachelorettes of Stardew Valley, but sometimes it can get a little much - especially if players have gotten used to living the single life. While each candidate sets up a room catered to their style in the farmhouse, players could also make a space for them outside the farmhouse when they need some alone time.
Obviously, they won't be able to use it, as the only time they're outside is in a designated spot behind the farmhouse. But it's nice to know that there's a space specifically made for them to relax and chill away from the hustle and bustle of farm (and family) life.
12 Escape Room
Some players have creatively transformed the entire farm into an escape room, using all manner of contraptions and objects to create a challenge. Less experienced players can build something similar by replicating an escape room with a shed, one they can invite visitors to via multiplayer. Players could either follow a similar route of creating a maze and hiding things in chests or could solve a mystery of some kind and even recreate a historical event.
11 Entertainment Venue
Aside from The Stardrop Saloon and the Community Centre upgrades, there's not much to do recreationally in Stardew Valley. While there are seasonal festivals, they're few and far between. The town is lacking on an entertainment front, so players could remedy that by building a concert venue of sorts to draw people to their farm.
Of course, this is more of a roleplaying thing, as visitors can't randomly explore what the farm has to offer. But it's nice to imagine that they do, and what better than a night out with some decent music in a blues or dance club or even a small theater.
10 Gem Farm
Gems in Stardew Valley are great gifts for NPCs as well as being a great source of income. For players looking to sell gems as their main earner, creating a gem farm in the shed is a great way to automate the process. The Crystalarium is a machine that can replicate any gem, foraged mineral, or geode mineral in the game. The exception is prismatic shards.
Once an item is inside the Crystalarium, it will be cloned ad infinitum. Creating a gem farm is a great way to make money in the game. A single diamond has a sell value of 750 Gold. Despite diamonds taking five in-game days to copy, a shed with thirty Crystalariums will earn 22,500 gold.
9 A Relaxing Cafe
While the life of a farmer in Stardew Valley is a busy one, it is always a good idea to take a break and relax. While the farmhouse can be a relaxing personal space for individual players, the shed has even more flexibility due to its open space and lack of corners. Multiplayer farms can really benefit from creative spaces like this.
Players can decorate their shed with tables and chairs, as well as food items to create a cozy cafe. A fun way to make the cafe feel more realistic is by adding a few barrels, so guests can make their preferred beverage of choice. Finishing off the space with rugs and plenty of potted plants will turn the shed from an empty farm building into a luxurious destination.
8 One's Own Library
Sometimes Pelican Town can get crowded, and farmers may want to keep to themselves on their farm to avoid their current and past boyfriends, girlfriends, and other characters constantly asking favors. One way to offer themselves some respite is a personal library.
Stuff the shed with as many bookshelves as possible, add some tables, chairs, and maybe a fireplace - and there is a relaxing home away from home that will allow players to recollect. This type of room can easily be decorated with 'educational' or scientific items too, to give it a research center feel that Demetrius would be proud of.
7 Storage Shed
The primary purpose of the shed is to have a space to store excess produce and materials, leaving room outside for farmland. Players can organize their sheds in a variety of ways, to keep everything in order.
Using signs and color coordinating chests is a great way to denote what goes where. A well-organized big shed can house Crystalariums, furnaces, recycling machines, and spare tools with plenty of room for chests. Storage sheds are a great way to store high-value crops that have a longer growth time or are seasonal, especially when combined with the greenhouse.
6 Second Greenhouse
With the greenhouse, while players unlock many benefits (primarily the ability to grow any crop or fruit tree year-round), space can become an issue. One way players have found a way around this issue is by converting sheds into a secondary greenhouse.
While the shed can not fully replicate the greenhouse, adding potted plants is a great way to get the same effect. Cactus plants will not grow outside on the farm, and can only grow in the greenhouse or using garden pots. Plants that continuously produce a crop such as hops or coffee beans can also be planted in garden pots inside sheds. These crops can be very profitable when placed inside kegs to produce beverages.
5 Keg Room
Speaking of, beverages are a great way to make a substantial profit in Stardew Valley. Players can craft kegs to produce a wide variety of beverages from wild foragables and home-grown produce. Players can fill an optimized large shed with up to 137 kegs.
If all 137 kegs are filled with hops, which produces pale ale, players will have 41,100 Gold worth of the beverage. A keg room is a great way to earn money during the winter - in Stardew Valley, the winter season slows down crop production. But, if players save fruits and crops that can produce beverages, then they're set.
4 A Personal Aquarium
The huge 1.5 update added an entirely new area named Ginger Island, a beach farm layout, and new fish (among many other things). There was also a slew of convenient equipment pieces like the Magic Bait which assists in catching fish. Now, there are even more possible ways to utilize the sheds - such as a personal aquarium.
Why not show off all the specimens available in the game? The fish catalog is extensive, and anyone working on their fishing skill will soon end up with more fish than they know what to do with. So why not put them in the five new types of fish tanks that are now in the game!
3 Preservative Room
Much like kegs, preservative jars turn fruits and vegetables into a profitable item - preserves. Preserve jars are great for crops that have high yields and low values such as corn and tomatoes. Crops such as these can easily fill up storage chests, and make organization a challenge.
Creating a preservative room in a shed can help players get the most profit out of these crops. Jelly and pickles are not the only things preserve jars can produce. Caviar can be produced by placing the roe from sturgeons into the jars. Aged roe is the byproduct of any other fish roe. The ability to create caviar which is valued at 500 Gold a jar and aged roe, adds versatility to a preservative room.
2 Personal Museum
It is not uncommon to find duplicates of items that have already been added to the museum in town. While players can sell duplicates for varying amounts of gold, creating a personal museum is another option to display their hard-earned wares.
Using the big shed, players can replicate the layout of the town museum, or design their own unique layout plan. Players can display the various fish they have caught, as well as gems and minerals found. Depending on the layout, there is even room to add an assembled dinosaur skeleton. Many objects available in-game means a shed museum can have a variety of themes.
1 A Seasonal Room
This one is definitely more decorative than functional, but can still be a cute ongoing project for those who are inclined to redecorate every so often. There are items themed around seasonal holidays, like Christmas and Halloween, so what better way to display these themed pieces than with a 'seasonal room'. A Feast of the Winter Star room filled with trees presents and candy canes, or a spooky Halloween room with dark and mysterious objects could add a lot to a themed farm.
Stardew Valley is available now on Android, iOS, PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.