When my Dad was still around, he built a little shack on the farm(which is now on my sisters farm). He did eventually get an inside flushing loo, but the water is heated using a rigged up gas burner and an old beer keg. There is only one light, and two power points, one of which the ceiling light is plugged into. The whole size of the shack is 3 metres ish x 6 meters, including the bathroom, an a HUGE built in wardrobe.
Needless to say, it wasn't my style. I couldn't figure out why he didn't just spend the money and build a big house, you know with a real water heater, and a fire to keep you warm, and a real kitchen with an oven and and and.
Then he bought a property in the Northern Territory, that didn't have any house what so ever. Just an old caravan with a lean-to.
And then he went to Tasmania, and fell in love with the place. I joked with him that maybe he should buy a place down there – and he said that he had given it some serious consideration, and had seen a place outside Burnie that had a bush shack on it.
Then he started calling himself the King of the One Room Shacks.
The FB and I have been spending about 3 out of 4 weekends up on the farm, staying in Dads original one room shack. Now granted I have given it a bit of a make over, and my sister and brother in law added an IKEA loft bed, so it is much improved on version 1 but still the size stays the same.
And you know what......it is all the space you need.
When we designed the shedhouse, we wanted to make it a bit bigger, so we could have people to come and stay, but still the dimensions are not huge. I am sure you have read about down sizing, only keeping the things you need etc etc, but I think it is the opposite. I think small space make you think about what you REALLY value, rather than the practicality of necessity.
Like, instead of having a better homes and gardens show house kind of thing, instead of a practical fold down table with extra hidden storage, you have your grandmothers old table, because it is precious to you. And instead of getting everything on a kindle you have books. Or double duty glasses, usable for both spirits and wine, you have wineglasses your Dad gave you, a picture of your first calf instead of the 'challenging' work from a new artist. Things like that make any space, no matter how small, into a home.
It turns out we are working on being the King and Queen of the one room shacks ourselves.
We just bought and moved into a one bedroom apartment in Brisbane. And you know what? It is laid out in pretty much the exact same way as our shedhouse will be. The internal space is the same square meterage, the kitchen is based on the same idea. I must have had a subconscious picture of what I wanted in a home in Brisbane based on the work we had done on the home on the Farm.
It has been just under a week since we moved into a peid du terre and it is really nice. And easy. And the dog doesn't hate it, so that is good.
Out of financial necessity more than anything else, we have had to slow down the build, but hopefully as soon as things settle down, we can get back into it.
We are taking the excess furniture up to the farm this weekend, so it will even start to feel more like a house. There will be pictures of both homes to follow.
And a party. There will definitely be a party.
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