This sheddy life – but mother of four Jessica Taylor wouldn’t have it any other way.
In June 2020, after facing financial hardship due to the pandemic, she and her husband Lath decided to leave the comfort of their three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in northwest Arkansas. A family of six moved into a 500 square meter tool shed. Friends thought it was a very strange way of downsizing.
“One of the things that people find really weird about us living in a barn is that we use a compost bath More than a traditional toilet,” he said.
“It’s a bucket system,” the former bartender explained of his home-schooled (or shed-schooled) shack. “And [when] you [urinate or defecate], each time you cover it with wood chips. After two days, the bucket is full, not full, we pour it [the waste] to the compost bin in the forest, and then after a few years [the waste] becomes soil for ornamental plants.
But indoor plumbing is one of the very few amenities the family lodge lacks.
“The barn is two stories high and has electricity, running water, heating/cooling, a 65-inch flat-screen TV, a stainless steel refrigerator, an electric stove and fold-up futons that we use as beds,” Taylor said. shared clips of the gorgeous hut With over 66,700 social media followers.
after purchase of wood workshop for $6,000 in a roadside hardware stand, he and Lath, 42, invested another $7,000 in landscaping, which added to his loft, privacy walls and a staircase leading to an outdoor porch.
Parents used money from tax returns, stimulus checks and unemployment to finance housing projects.
They also invested in a $4,000 well that provides them with water for drinking, cleaning and showering. (The family uses a long, drop-down faucet that extends from their kitchens to outside the shower stall under the trees.)
Their cubs, who range in age from 3 to 9, are part of a growing number of people ditching their sprawling, often expensive digs to live in outdoor sheds, usually with gardening equipment or sporting goods. It’s a no-brainer for tiny house movers with a dash of #VanLife for those looking for convenient, frugal simplicity. On TikTok, shed dwellers have tagged videos of their home-turned-homes with the hashtag #ShedLife over 22.2 million times.
“More and more people are getting rid of the idea of owning a big, expensive, fancy house so they can feel like they’re doing it,” he said. “There is value in living modestly. We are able to spend more time together enjoying gardening and nature than working to acquire luxury residences.”
Fellow shed lifestyle definers Nick and Meghan Lucid recently went viral for sharing how they transformed. 860 square meter Tuff warehouse From Home Depot to a luxurious two-level property complete with one bedroom, finished bathroom, laundry room and walk-in closet. Footage of their renovated cottage It has more than 2 million views.
Like the Taylors, the couple is downsizing due to financial reasons brought on by COVID.
“Right after the pandemic hit, Lath and I lost our jobs at a restaurant we’d worked at for years,” Taylor told The Post. “Before that, we were renting a big $1,100 brick house in Arkansas, but we couldn’t afford it and our other household anymore.”
After moving eight hours away and moving to his mother’s 6-acre property, they placed their warehouses without rent, the family’s monthly overhead costs were reduced from $2,000 to $400.
“Since we moved into storage, we’ve really stabilized financially and are getting closer to being debt-free,” she said, adding that the frugal move also allowed her to stay home. male mother Reducing their monthly expenses even allowed them to buy an $11,000 country house to use as a second home.
“Children love it [our new lifestyle] because we get to spend more quality time than when I was working,” Taylor said. “It’s been really great.”
And #ShedLife isn’t just for families.
Mia Puhakka, 17, bypassed the stress of apartment hunting for the first time to set up camp in his parents’ yard.
“My mom and dad like me to be at home, so I don’t pay rent [while I’m living in the shed]”, “Puhakka, a part-time office assistant from Ontario, Canada, told The Post. Clips from his humble abode It has more than 1.3 million views.
His family bought and renovated the 12-foot-by-24-foot structure from Old Hickory Buildings in 2019 for about $9,300. Puhakka has since spruced up the space with finished cedar and maple floors and walls, and a built-in flat screen. TV and working fireplace.
When he needs to use the bathroom, he goes to mom and dad a few feet away. It’s the perfect setup for someone on the verge of adulthood.
“I get my own space without paying for an apartment or house, and I don’t pay for Wi-Fi or electricity because my storage is just about me. [parents’] home,” said Puhakka.
