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Family turns their tiny detached garage into ‘in-law suite’ and it’s incredible inside
It truly looks like an adorable tiny home.
Jenny Brown
04.14.23

Having a house is incredibly expensive.

Both renting and paying a mortgage can put a big old dent in your finances.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

And if you want to experience financial freedom or simply reduce your daily stress, you’d need to find alternatives that will work for you and your family without sacrificing your safety as well as your general well-being.

Stacy Lince and her mom Lee Reich were paying around $4,000 per month just for housing.

They lived in separate homes and that greatly increased their expenses.

Knowing that it could hurt their finances and leave them in huge debt in the future, they knew they needed to do something about it.

The family pooled all their resources.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

And with it, they were able to buy a modest home.

It’s not big, but it’s enough for them and their needs. Plus, there was a detached garage.

The space was one of the reasons why the family chose the house.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

In their minds, they could easily convert it into a new home for Stacy’s widowed mother Lee Reich — and that’s exactly what they did.

At first, they were supposed to pay around $25,000 to get started with the project.

However, because of a tragedy in the area, the city government decided to cut fees. This allowed the family to save thousands of dollars.

Turning the garage into a nice home for Stacy’s mom wasn’t easy.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

Since it was just 380 square feet in size, they had to be extra careful in planning its layout.

They needed to make sure that there was enough space for her mom to move around and that she was safe inside.

The tiny home turned out to be really beautiful. It doesn’t look like a storage garage anymore.

It turned out to be a cozy space that has everything the grandma needs to live a comfortable and safe life.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

The house features a living room that can comfortably accommodate up to four people.

It has a kitchen with a two-burner stove, a full-sized refrigerator, a nice sink, and a microwave oven.

It doesn’t have a dishwasher but Lee insists that she doesn’t really need one. Lee had to give up a lot of her things when she moved in.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

And she doesn’t regret doing that. She had her bed replaced because the old one was too big for the space she has now.

She also had to let go of most of her books.

Even though she gave up a lot, she gained tons of new things too.

She has a nice, spacious closet where she keeps all her clothes and shoes. She also has a nice bathroom that’s nowhere near tiny.

Despite living very close to each other, the family observes each other’s boundaries.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

Lee can stay inside her home and close her bedroom door whenever she doesn’t feel like listening to the kids outside.

Stacy’s family, on the other hand, has renovated a part of their family room and turned the space into a separate patio.

Of course, they still hang out with each other!

And they do that in the space between their homes.

It’s a nice space where they can enjoy lunch together or have coffee whenever they have visitors.

YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen
Source:
YouTube Screenshot-Kirsten Dirksen

Check out the video below to see how they made a boring old garage into a beautiful in-law suite!

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