She Packed Everything She Loves Into This Small Shed Home!

Our homes can be places that are really fun, places that bring out the best and most adventurous parts of our characters and designed for the things that we love and maybe even the furry pets that we love. And today's home that we're about to visit is a wonderful example of how that can be done just so very well. Hi Polly, it is so lovely to meet you. Lovely to meet you too. And this home is absolutely beautiful. Thank you. It's everything me, designed, built, everything from scratch. And you've only just finished the home, you've only recently moved in here. I moved here beginning of May. Right, fantastic. And still a bit of landscaping to do around the gardens? Yes, the area around the house is not mine, it belongs to my son and my daughter-in-law, so that's their landscape to take care of. Good to know it's their problem. Yes, it is. We started planting some fruit trees last weekend and the idea is to have a nice orchard, you know, maybe a greenhouse in the future. Oh lovely. Yeah. And this is a really wonderful multi-generational living setup that you've created together with your son. Can you tell me how that all works? Yes, my son and my daughter-in-law had a small house closer to the city and they decided they wanted to start a family and start having babies and they didn't want to raise the babies in the city. And they came to me and said, we want to buy an acre. If you come along, we'll buy it. I love that. Yeah, then it was the process of selling my house and building this so I could move here and they live just like 20 steps from my door. That is great. And how amazing that you're going to get to be so connected with your grandchildren as well. Yes, yeah. I have a grandson who's like one and a half. Great. And there's another one on the way. Congratulations. And you've built a house here. Tell me about that. Yes, I did a lot of research. Of course, I watch all your videos and you know how much I love it. Thank you. And there were a lot of options. After all the research, I have like an Excel spreadsheet with all the options, prices and everything. I came across a company that would sell me the shed custom-made, the measurements I wanted, the color I wanted, exactly the way I designed. And then I had a friend who is a builder and he said, no, that's OK. If you buy the shed, we'll come and do everything inside. You're not going to know it's a shed. And you don't, do you? It's really well done. Yeah, it is. And what size is this home? Inside, 88 square meters. OK, great size. So it's almost to the limit. I think for the council, it's 95 square meters is the limit. OK, for a second dwelling. Yeah. And I pretty much measured the space that I needed and put it all together and said, yeah, that's what I want. And this space here for the cats was a must have. Yes. These are some very lucky cats that you've got here because you've basically turned this whole rear area of the home into a huge cat enclosure. Yes. I love cats since I was a little girl. And it's like I'm dependent on having cats around me. I had three when we moved here and unfortunately one of them managed to escape. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. And I got a third one now for Mother's Day and I had to make sure that it's really safe for them. Of course. Well, they've got heaps of room to play out here and also just a lovely place for you to sit and enjoy some outdoor time here. Yeah. So that turns into a fire pit. Oh, cool. So we can roast marshmallows. Lovely. Yeah. I still have to get myself a little tiny barbecue and then I'm set. Absolutely. And I love the look of this house as well. It's very you, the white with the lovely pink doors and the pops of pink everywhere. It's very cool. Thank you. I like to color coordinate everything. Yeah. And one thing that I noticed about this home is there's lots of entrances and exits. Yes. I think it was important for me to have a nice flow. One of the reasons is I'm not going to get any younger from here. So when we designed the house, I made sure that I have access, like wide access to every room. When we go inside, you're going to see why I put that door there. It comes straight from the washing machine and the dryer and the shower and everything. I tried to be the most functional possible. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Well, Polly, I am so inspired by everything you're creating here. I love the multi-generational living set up together with your son. And this house looks fantastic. I cannot wait to see what you've done inside. Can we check it out? Let's go. Okay. This is absolutely fantastic. I can see that you have had a lot of fun with your home. Yes. Yeah. It was a long process of designing everything, convincing my builder that I wanted to keep the height. Yeah. It does really give you this great sense of space in here, doesn't it? It's spacious, but with the high ceilings feels a lot bigger. Yeah. And this has got to be one of the best pop vinyl collections I think I have ever seen. Yeah. I'm very proud of my collection and it means a lot. Every single pop vinyl you see there has a story. What can I say? I'm just crazy about movies and TV series and animes and everything. Yeah, I can see that. And you have created the most incredible space to indulge. Thank you. Yeah, that means a lot. It's my go-to place when I need to chill and I need to relax. It's like going to the movies in my own house. Yeah, it really is. That television is huge. Yeah. It came with me from the old house that was a big house, so here it looks even bigger. Yeah. And the whole experience that you've created here, it really is like having your own home cinema, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Very important to me to have my own popcorn machine, to have my video game, to have my movies, so I can come and relax and watch the same classics over and over again and the brand new ones. Absolutely. I think, you know what? We're just going to stop the tour now. I'm going to sit down and watch a movie. And you know what? Looking at this house, I have a feeling that you have just as much created it for your cats as you have for yourself. I'm going to be honest and say that the cats come first. And it's like their happiness is my happiness, because there's nothing better than watching them play and climb the wall and run outside. It's a blessing. Yeah. You have done so much for them in this house, seeing the way that you've sort of created this whole feature wall as just a giant jungle gym for them. Yeah. And trust me, this is just the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. It's not going to stop. It's going to go from here to there to everywhere now. Wow. Oh, they're going to absolutely love that. And it's quite fun watching them play and engage with all of that stuff as well, isn't it? It is. It's so relaxing. And I absolutely love this kitchen design, which, of course, makes perfect sense because you do work with kitchen design as well as part of your job, don't you? Yes, I do that. It's a very fulfilling job because you get to give your customers something they're going to be happy with. And trust me, I was very picky to do my own. I bet. Yeah. And every detail here has a purpose, meaning everything works. So as somebody who works in kitchen design, what were your must haves? Good dishwasher, lots of storage, lots of bench space. I needed to have a coffee dedicated bench. Nice. Yeah. And I think the most important is to have this area here where I can have people sitting and enjoying a cup of coffee while I can do the cooking. It's so important. Yeah. Very nice. And I love the color choices in here as well. Yeah. You already learned that I'm a bit of a widow that loves pink and everything is pink. I can see the love of pink. Yeah. Yeah. My colleagues at work know that. All my station area at the desk is pink. So when I started planning my kitchen, one of the very important parts was the color. And the kitchens I sell, they have a line that is called paint your own. So it was a no brainer. You just choose the profile of the doors and just pick whatever color you want. And you can guess what I ended up with. You truly made it your own. Yes. I really like that. And I love the style of the kitchen as well. It's really interesting the way that you've placed everything. It's very functional, but it keeps everything really open to the home as well. And the whole kitchen does really center around the seating area in the middle. Yes. I don't like corner cabinets. So you can see my kitchen doesn't have any corners. Yeah. I put that window there to give me light and avoid having any corner cabinets. So I think everything works perfect. Yeah. And I love the way that the rest of your home just kind of explodes into this giant celebration of pop culture. Yeah. I'm a big fan of the Friends TV show. Who isn't? Yeah. And this is me trying to recreate a little central perk for myself. I got that little sofa on Facebook Marketplace for 50 bucks, which was like incredible to find because it's really similar to the original. Yeah. Just not the same color, but we'll leave with that. And yeah. And I have all my friends' pop finals. I have a photo of myself and my son in the movie set in LA. So that's great. Yeah. I love that. That is so cool. And the position of the electric fireplace there is really nice as well. Yeah. Well, it's Queensland, so it doesn't really get cold. Yeah. But just looking at it, it gives you the coziness. It does. You know, it's really nice. You can turn it on to heat, but I almost never do. Yeah. Fair enough. And I love the way it sort of pulls you into that part of the house as well and almost invites you into the next rooms. That's the whole idea. Yeah. And this door here leads into your attached garage, doesn't it? Yes. One of the things that was important to me was to have an enclosed space to keep the car because I drive an electric car and I needed my charger. And to be out of the elements, you know, you come home with groceries and everything, you want to come straight into the kitchen. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. And over there, you've got your craft room, which is so cool. I do a lot of crafting. Then maybe it's going to turn into a little business. Yeah. I do stickers, T-shirts, like a little bit of everything. I just got a 3D printer for my birthday. Oh, cool. Yes. I gave it myself. Yes. So it's like relaxing and productive at the same time. I love that. What a great idea and a perfect space. And how wonderful that you created a really dedicated space in your home just to completely indulge all of your creative ideas. Yeah. People say that if you're over 50 and you love cats, you are crazy cat lady. I like to call myself the crafty cat lady. And that might turn into a brand. I love that. What a great idea. Yeah. My craft room is also a guest room because I have a Murphy bed. When you go there, you have no idea. It's a guest room. But if you guys want to spend the night or I have my daughter coming over, we just drop the bed and that's it. Brilliant. And over the other side there, we have your bedroom. Can we have a look in there? Yes. Let's go there. Okay. Oh, my gosh. This is like a little doll's house bedroom. This is so cute. You think a 12-year-old lives here. The idea of having the closet behind the bed is something I've always wanted to do. So building my own, now it was easy. I don't know if you noticed that my bed I built myself. I bought the timber work and cut and fixed it because I wanted my bed to look like my cat's bed. That is so funny. I think you're the first person I've ever met that has made their bed to look like their animal bed. Yeah, probably am. But it actually looks really good, doesn't it? Yeah. And it's so comfortable. I think that's so much fun. And again, you've created a bit of a media experience in here. You've got another really big television right by the bed. Yeah. There are days that you want to go to the movies, but there are days that you just want to stay in bed, you know, on a day off in the morning, just want to go grab a coffee and come back to bed and snuggle with the cats. I needed another TV. Yep. Why not? And overall, I think the layout of this bedroom is really good. The amount of storage that you've created there with that wardrobe area is pretty impressive. Yeah, it's really good. It's still a bit in progress. I don't have the lights installed yet and I don't have all the doors installed yet, but everything is in there. Great. Very clever. Well, can we have a look in the bathroom? 100%. Let's go there. Let's go. Hey, this is a spacious bathroom area you've created. Yeah, it is a bathroom and a laundry all at the same time. So if you get the feeling when I get in from the wardrobe and the bedroom, I can get straight into the shower and the clothes can go straight into the washing machine. And from the washing machine, they can go straight into the dryer. Or if it is something I need to hang outside to dry, I go out the door and hang it outside. Super functional design. Super functional. Very clever. Yeah. And I love that you created an open shower as well, because it does really make it feel extra spacious, doesn't it? Yes. And again, it's all about future-proofing, because you don't know when you're going to need to be more accessible. So anywhere here, it's easy to go around with a wheelchair. Yeah. I think that kind of future-proofing is just such a great way of thinking about it, because even though hopefully you are a very long way away from needing anything like that, because this is your forever home now. Yes. It makes absolute sense to really think that far into the future, and everything's already accounted for. Yeah. And it's just a great layout that you've created in here as well, separating the shower and laundry area from your toilet and vanity area. Yeah, it's good. You know, if I'm in the bedroom and I need a shower, I just go straight here. But if I'm there cooking and I need to use the toilet, come down that way. Works. Yeah. Really nicely done. So coming into this home, you sold your much larger home and downsized into this space. Can you tell me what that journey was like for you? It was a bit of something that you have to really think about, because I left the house where everything was convenient. The longest was a 10-15 minute drive to come out here. That takes me 45-50 minutes to get to work. Oh, wow. Okay. And there's always pros and cons, but it was very important for me to make sure that my son and my daughter-in-law will have like a safety net. You know, if someone needs some help, they have me. And what they say is that it works both ways. If I'm here and I need help, they can also come and help. They're just over there. In Australia, I don't feel like these different generations living in the same area is something very common. But we moved here many, many years ago from Brazil. And in Brazil, living with parents, with grandparents is very common. When you grow up with that, it's just normal. I think that sort of individualist part of Western culture is something that really makes us miss out on that multi-generational connectedness, which I think is one of the reasons why I'm actually such a fan of tiny house living, because it is such a great way of allowing that kind of multi-generational living scenario to happen within the way that we've built the Western world. Yeah, 100%. It all makes sense to be together. We all help each other and we have fun together. We respect each other's space and we don't have to be together all the time, but it's very nice to spend time together. The design of the house started when the kids said, well, we're going to have an acre and our house is going to be at the front. So you can go crazy and plan anything you want. So every inch of this place is the way I always dreamed about. From the size of the rooms, to the colors, to the finishes, everything is the way I want. And one of the other really great things about this downsizing journey for you was that it's allowed you to become mortgage-free. Ah yes, 100%. And I still have a little bit of money left over to put into the super, and I was also able to help my son with their mortgage. So it's so much better to come home. And also I have a super big water tank at the back, so I don't need to pay for water. And the kids installed a big solar system with a battery. So the amount of electricity that we spend is minimal. It's like, there's nothing bad about it. And so can we talk about the cost of building this home? The shed, including council approvals, slab, and everything was around $140,000. For all the rest, counting the septic tank, water tank, all the internals and everything, I spent probably another $210,000, $220,000. That is a fantastic result. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah. And it's so beautiful too. And it's you. Yes, it is. 100% me. If you don't like my house, it's because you don't like me. I'm sure everyone is going to love your house then. Hope so. Yeah. And so now that the house is coming to a point where it's finished, obviously your son's got a lot of work to do landscaping and finishing his own home. But what does the future hold for you now? There's a lot of plans. So on the side here, we want to build a greenhouse so we can grow our own veggies. I love that. And another thing we are doing is an orchard. We already planted 10 different fruit trees and we have 10 more on the way. So let's say in 5-10 years time, this is going to be a forest down here. Oh, that's so amazing. I love that. Well, Polly, I am so inspired by everything that you've created here. I think that this is the most wonderful home that you've created, not just for you, but you've also helped to make this happen for your whole family, which is just so beautiful. And honestly, I think I'm a little bit envious of your grandkids that get to grow up here, because I think that you are going to create the most wonderful space for them. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. Thank you for coming. Here, Polly has created a home that is truly her own. I love that she has downsized, got mortgage-free, created this incredible multi-generational living setup together with her son. And not only that, done it in a way that's so playful and so fun. This crafty cat lady really has created a perfect home.