Would you ever dare to sell your house in the city and start building a new home from the ground up far from the hubbub of the modern metropolis? It’s certainly no small feat to start a whole new life in the country but it comes with many advantages.
Kelly and Beau had always dreamed of a perfect country hideout, a dream home for them and their kids in the woods where they could connect with nature and lead a healthy life. You simply won’t believe how they transformed an old shed into a brand new home!
Kelly and Beau not only wanted to build a new home in the forest but also to be fully self-sufficient
Where most of us would see an old shed located on a small patch of land surrounded by the forest, Kelly and Beau saw a possibility to start their own homestead. Yet it would take a lot of hard work before their dream could be realized.
In two years, Kelly and Beau sold their house in the Houston suburbs bought seven acres of virgin land in Central Texas, started a permaculture homestead, and began to transform 16′ x 48′ shed into a functional home for their family.
‘Their goal is to be debt-free so they spaced out each building project to avoid financing’
The road to self-sufficiency was not easy for them but the end goal was definitively worth it! In just two years, they started their own permaculture homestead and converted a shed into a fully functional home where they live with their four kids.
“We’re really following some permaculture principles so that we can create everything from a food forest to raising our own animals. Our garden is growing, we’d like to be growing about 80 percent of our own food. So those are our goals in the next few years, to be dept-free in our 30s and be raising most of our food and our humans on the seven acres,” Kelly said.
The couple’s kids were so much happier outside which motivated them to embark on an adventure of finding land, building a brand new home, and growing their own food
The problem, however, is that Kelly and Beau didn’t have the construction skills required to build a house from scratch, so one day, as Beau was driving down the road, he saw a lot with structures that resembled little shed barns.
“That allowed us to see the possibility of that, hey, you can make one of these structures, amazing they build an exterior of the house and drop it on your property… this gives you that jumpstart.”
The whole project was a big success and today, the family lives in a beautiful home and in harmony with nature around them
Furnishing a new home without financing was a real challenge for the couple but they were quite ingenious when it came to finding the right solutions to make their new home functional.
“We didn’t want to finance a whole house or even a whole kitchen so we put in the cabinets first and then the countertops and finally, this was like a life saver because once we had counters everything just piled up,” Kelly explained while giving the tour of the modern looking kitchen.
Open shelving proved to be a cost-effective solution for the kitchen. Their kitchen island solution was equally creative and cost-free. One cabinet from home depot served perfectly for making a kitchen island that looks great and is perfectly functional as well.
While the house is quite small, space’s so well organized you can hardly notice how tiny the place actually is
The living room and the kitchen combined saved a lot of space but not at the expense of functionality.
“We build lofts with kind of private space but no doors and they’re (kids) kind of cool with that,” Kelly said showing the children’s lofts.
A family of six requires a large bathroom and so far, the family has only one with another one in the works. Good use of space was the key to making their home fully functional as well as comfortable. Kelly and Beau had to find the right solution to save space without sacrificing functionality while also giving their home a clean, modern, and cozy interior.
“I wanted as many pocket doors as we could have in this house because they’re great space savers and they make your house feel like there’s more space.”
Living in such a small home makes storage critical, according to Kelly, but they still needed a closet for the bedroom. This is when they realized that bed frames were a waste of space and found a bed frame designed to only hold the mattress thus making storage room underneath. The precious space they saved underneath the bed by removing the box spring provided that extra space they needed!
Kelly and Beau realized their dream of a country home in just two years
We can’t help but be impressed by what the couple achieved in such a short period of time without obtaining financing.
“After two years, we’re spending less living here in our converted shed than we were in the suburbs,” Kelly said. “It’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.”
Watch the whole video below to see how the couple converted a shed into a beautiful home and don’t forget to like and share!
