Woman Transformed Tiny Shed Into Cozy Family Home – Take A Look Inside

Jori and her husband, Gage, share this idyllic space with their young son, Kash. Three people in a small shed sounds pretty cramped, right? But they’ve been there since early 2018, proving that you don’t need a giant house to raise a family. But precisely how small are we talking here?

Well, the shed is roughly 400 square feet. To put that into context, the Statista website states that the average American family home in 2019 was just over 2,300 square feet. So, yeah, the Wilkinsons’ home really is quite tiny!

Still, the family has used their limited space to great effect. They’ve even attached a haven-like greenhouse complete with fairy lights and hammocks. Sounds like the perfect place to chill, if you ask us! All in all, it’s a pretty cool setup. But the Wilkinsons’ reasons for trading in their old life may be different from what you’d expect.

Jori wrote a lengthy Instagram post explaining their decision in 2017 – when she and her husband were still in the process of fixing up their shed. And in the message, the mom revealed what had happened to the family’s old property and why they’d decided to start such a project.

“So with the housing market on the rise, we decided to make some money by renovating our home and selling while I was about seven months pregnant!” Jori wrote. “It took us about a month to renovate our floors and kitchen. And I’d done small updates around the house the prior two years of living there.”

“I had Kash, and the next day we were asked if we could show the house,” Jori continued. “I was like, ‘Yes of course!’ We ended up showing it a week later and got a full-price offer! We were stoked! We made a good chunk of money for a short-time investment.”

After that, Jori and her clan gathered up their belongings and traveled to her folks’ home, where they would plot their next move. But the original plan didn’t really appeal to the new mom. “We were going to buy a fifth-wheel trailer to live in temporarily,” she said. “But I was just thinking about how bored I’d be without a project.”

Instead, Jori and her husband got stuck into renovating this little shed. But as much as they would have liked to, the pair couldn’t focus on the project every day.

“It hasn’t been easy only having weekends to work on [the shed],” Jori explained. “But it’s so worth it! We will have a beautifully designed tiny home we can take wherever we please! Much better than a trailer in my opinion.”

Anyway, by now you’re probably wondering what the inside of the house looks like. And as we hinted earlier, it’s pretty special. The porch on the way to the front door is a sign of the amazing things to come. Not only is this area relatively spacious, but it also has a lovely view of the surrounding greenery.

The gate at the front leads you to the decking. And as you can see, it’s all white – making it really light and airy. Up here, you’ll find a couple of benches. The perfect place to relax and enjoy the incredible view.

Yes, the porch overlooks several trees, with some hanging right next to it so you can feel truly immersed in nature. Imagine relaxing out here on a beautiful summer’s day. You’d never want to move! It’s a truly wonderful sight. And Jori shared how she feels about this area in a YouTube video.

The video was posted on the Living it Country channel back in June 2020. And in the clip, Jori reveals all about her home. “You probably think I’m crazy for having a white porch,” she says. “But I think it really brightens up this small space that we have here.” She’s not wrong! Though the young mom did admit that it’s not the easiest to maintain...

“I do have to repaint [the porch] once or twice a year,” Jori explained. “But I’m okay with that. [And] I’ve added these curtains, which kind of act as a screened-in porch.” It really adds to the aesthetic, wouldn’t you say? The netting makes the cozy space feel even more serene.

With that, it’s about time that we took a peek inside the converted shed. As you stroll through the front door, you immediately enter the living room, which has a couch on the left-hand side. To the right, you’ll find a flat-screen television above a cozy fireplace.

And to the left of this spot, there’s a little cubbyhole covered by a net curtain. According to Jori, there aren’t any other spaces like this inside the house. It’s great for storage and is currently home to a vacuum cleaner and the property’s hot water heater. So it’s essentially a mini-utility closet.

And you may have noticed the dark wooden panels framing the fire. What’s going on here? Well, Jori offered a bit of insight into this choice in the Living it Country video. The mom’s explanation makes so much sense...

“I used to have a full-sized mantel,” she says. “But I had to take it out because the door was hitting it when it would open. [So] I just used some old shiplap and made that false one there.” Talk about thinking outside the box! That’s one way to make the best of a smaller space.

And Jori has obviously tried to think of ways to make that part of the house seem bigger than it really is. Behind the sofa, she’s created what looks like a window into another room. There’s even a set of curtains draped overhead! But it’s not really a window at all.

As Jori explains, “Right behind [the couch] is an old door that I refinished and put a mirror in.” Neat idea, right? Bars and restaurants sometimes use similar features to make their spaces look bigger. Anyway, let’s take a peek at the first bedroom now. Yes, this place has more than one bedroom!

This room belongs to Jori’s son, Kash, and it’s located to the left of the living space. A large dark-wood panel appears to be standing in for a conventional door, giving the little boy some privacy. But this space has gone through a few changes since the family first moved in.

In January 2018 Jori shared a shot of the bedroom on her Instagram page. At that stage, a beautiful wooden crib stood against the far wall, and two lanterns hung overhead. Towards the end of the year, though, the mom posted a second picture of the space – and it looked a little different.

The crib had been replaced by a mattress surrounded by a thin wooden frame. It looked like the skeleton of a tent. And in the accompanying caption, Jori explained, “I also recently have been turning Kash’s room from baby to toddler.”

Kash’s quarters look even more different today! His room now has a proper bed, which is raised up on a platform of sorts. To get to the mattress, there’s a tiny set of stairs, and there’s also a smooth panel of wood resting against the frame further along. A slide, perhaps?

“When I built this bed for [Kash], he just turned three,” Jori explains in the video tour. “He’s big enough to climb up there by himself and not fall off and get hurt. It opened up a lot of space underneath for his toys. And the steps going up that I made also have storage in them.”

Who wouldn’t have wanted a room like this as a kid? It’s awesome! And the space below the mattress appears to have an ever-changing light fitted in there as well. It switches between a variety of different colors – from red to a dark blue. A nice little feature to top it all off.

As you head back into the living area, you’ll soon find the impressive kitchen. It’s all open-plan, which again helps to make the space feel a lot bigger than it actually is. But before we take a proper look at the hidden details, Jori shed some light on how it was built – if you’ll pardon the pun!

In the video, Jori notes, “The shiplap in [the kitchen and living room] is from an old fruit warehouse. And the ceiling is from an old grain barn. The actual beams are from a metal roofing pallet that my husband’s dad found for us. They kind of match perfectly to the ceiling, so it worked out.”

In truth, the kitchen is not as snug as you might’ve feared, with quite a bit of space between the worktops, sink, and oven. There’s also enough room along the walls for some shelving. And the large fridge is nicely tucked away in the corner.

“We do have full-sized appliances,” Jori explains. “I don’t have a lot of decorations in here – I actually kind of multi-purpose them. So all of the glassware up [on the shelves] is stuff that we use every day. And then the stuff that’s not so attractive, I have space for in the cabinets underneath.”

At the back end of the kitchen, you’ll notice an opening in the wall to the right. This is actually the entrance to the family bathroom, with a curtain separating it from the rest of the home. And as soon as you walk in, you’re greeted by a bathtub and shower tucked away to the left. Unlike the rest of the house, this small spot has tiled walls.

But the further in you venture, the wooden aesthetic returns. Yes, the bathroom opens up quite nicely, with a sink and mirror sitting at the far end of the space. It’s a cozy little spot, but Jori did have her doubts in the past.

“I wasn’t sure about not having extra storage under the sink in a tiny house,” Jori wrote on Instagram. “But I think it’s worth it. We do have a medicine cabinet built in behind the mirror that gives us a little extra storage.” Plus, there’s a box on the floor to hold the towels.

But where do the family wash these towels? Well, as you step out of the bathroom, you’ll quickly stumble across the laundry room. It’s literally just a washer and dryer stacked on top of each other to the side of the kitchen. We’ve got to hand it to Jori’s creative thinking. Talk about making use of all the available space!

The bedroom Jori and her husband share is located to the right of the washer and dryer, with the mattress taking up most of the area. She says, “This space fits a king-sized bed perfectly. It’s kind of hard to make the bed, but it’s really cozy! And right out this window, we have our little chicken coops.”

Yep, the bedroom has a long pane of glass to the side that offers a nice view of the chickens. But the best view of the garden is seen from the relaxing greenhouse area just off to the side of the property. Jori has really nailed this space. You’re going to want one just like it!

Inside, there are gorgeous plants, rustic furniture, cozy fairy lights, and plenty of windows facing out onto the backyard. It’s the perfect haven! Imagine snuggling up in one of those hammocks with a book and a cup of cocoa. Delightful.

There’s also a giant black shelving unit positioned against the wall and a cozy seating area off to the side of the front door. This space is a wonderful addition to the house – and it looks amazing at Christmas! Jori and her husband have done an absolutely tremendous job.

This family has everything they need right here. And the icing on the cake? No mortgage payments. Imagine the money you’d save if you were to do the same!