We’re aware that title must have sounded like a tough sell but hear us out. We wouldn’t have considered Home Depot Tuff Sheds like a tempting housing option either but Beth and Barry Smith are making quite an intriguing pitch about them.
Home Depot Tuff Sheds are traditionally used for tool storage or for livestock by most people. And they do a great job for that thanks to their durability, great craftsmanship, and dependability. After all, they are meant to withstand storms and all types of harsh climate conditions as well as a house. And people like Barry and Beth Smith saw a lot of potential in that.
With Tuff Sheds, the Smiths realized, you can get a durable, reliable home with 300 sq. ft. of space, a small porch, and a loft. And you can get all that for $19,250! Compare that to the $120,000 to $250,000 average price for houses in the country and you get something that’s often up to 12 times cheaper.
Another tempting example the Smiths eventually went with is this two-story TR-1600 model house from Home Depot with a nice classic yet modern look. The couple shares their experience and lots of know-how and suggestions on their Facebook page “My Tuff Shed Home” and they offer a lot of unique insight.
“We’re not builders and that first project was a real pain in the neck,” they said in an interview with Tuff Shed. “We knew we wanted the next one to be built for us.”
They ended up hiring several separate construction crews for the different aspects of the shed’s construction and were very pleased with the end result.
“Our Tuff Shed shell was a bit $20,000, including some upgrades,” Beth revealed. “To finish it out, we did a lot of the work ourselves but hired out electrical and plumbing, HVAC, etc. All in we came in a bit over $60,000.”
Even with all the additional work, the finished home still costed two to four times less than a standard, uncustomized, off-the-market, unfurnished house. And looking at the Tuff Shed’s interior, every pen looks like money well spent.
For their first floor, the Smiths went with an open floor plan. The big dining room connected with the kitchen and the living room in one big space makes for a very charming view. There’s a big couch with TV in the living room, the kitchen area has sizeable counter-tops with nice cupboard spaces, and traditional appliances, as well as a decent-sized dining table with 4 chairs.
On the second floor is the couple’s bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom is so large and charming, it looks straight out of a magazine. There’s a nice big bed, cuddled between two nightstands, there are big windows and light fixtures, a large colorful carpet, extra seating fixtures, and lots of clothing and shoe space beneath the bed.
As for the bathroom, it too has everything you’d want from it – a big sing, a toilet, and a bathtub, as well as plenty of bathroom cupboard space.
Yes, it’s essentially a 2- or 3-room living space, depending on how you look at it, but it’s more than worth it at that price and for that construction quality. And the Smiths don’t seem to have any regrets.
“We still love the size, we love the ease living here,” Beth said. “We still enjoy a generally uncluttered life. Having a small home with very little overhead has allowed us to pursue a simpler life and to walk away from ‘corporate,’ which was one of our goals.”
Lots of Americans go by the mantra “Bigger is better” when it comes to houses and apartments but many people like the Smiths are finding the extra benefits of living in a smaller home. If that seems puzzling to you, here are a few examples:
- Smaller places are very cozy. We’re used to hearing “Oh, it’s so… cozy.” almost ironically but it is a substantial benefit. Smaller and cozier homes make you feel safer, almost like you’re “tucked in”. Plus, the smaller living space means everything is near you.
- They are easier to clean. Having five rooms sounds fun at first but when you realize you have to clean them every week they start feeling a bit unnecessary. Very often even a Roomba robot can’t help you enough! A lot of people go so far as to close some rooms off entirely when they don’t have any guests so they don’t have to clean them. With a smaller home, that’s not a problem.
- They are a more affordable purchase. We won’t elaborate too much here given that we already showcased a Tuff Sheds home above. Long story short, a smaller home can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars just on the initial purchase. So, nuff said on the Tuff sheds.
- Much cheaper to maintain. Another factor when you’re buying a home, especially a house, is how much its maintenance is going to cost. A lot of people don’t realize how expensive it is to maintain a house. The lawn, the exterior, the roof, the crawlspace, the HVAC system – all these need annual maintenance which can cost a lot. But the more compact the home is, the less expensive the maintenance becomes.
- More affordable to furnish and decorate. Another major expense for any homeowner is the furniture and the decoration. And sure, small homes will force you to go sparingly with the furniture but in many cases “less is more”. More savings, in particular.
- Minimalism is stress-free. We all live pretty hectic and stressful lives today. And even though our homes are something that should give us relief and peace, they can be quite stressful to maintain and deal with sometimes. That’s much less so with smaller homes, however.
- The smaller spaces inspire creativity and unique design solutions. Yes, this is us spinning a negative into a positive but it’s a positive nevertheless. Very often in life, especially in the Western world, we get used to the standard, conventional choices because we have the freedom of not overthinking things. Smaller living spaces do force us to think more creatively when it comes to how we utilize our space but this also results in many ingenious, unique, and very personal solutions.
- They are easier to personalize. Speaking of personal solutions, smaller homes also feel more “ours” after we’ve customized them to our tastes. Instead of having a standard house that looks just like every other house in your neighborhood (and in every other neighborhood in the U.S.) you can have something that’s truly and uniquely yours.
- They help you say “No” to aimless consumerism. Consumerism makes the world go round, that’s definitely true. But it’s not without its drawbacks. It creates needless clutter in your home, it wastes a lot of money, and it tends to distract us from the things that very often atter much more such as our family, friends, relationship, and overall emotional health and happiness.
- They are more environmentally friendly. Another benefit of turning your back on needless consumerism is that you’ll adopt a much more environmentally friendly lifestyle. And even if you don’t view that as a major benefit, it’s still a nice side benefit at the very least.
Of course, smaller homes do have their drawbacks too – we all need a bit of space for ourselves. But if the “bit” offered by a 2-story Tuff Shed is enough for you like it’s enough for the Smith family, then maybe that option is worth considering.