For those of us who rent a house or an apartment, it is no secret or surprise that after we have paid for rent and bills, all we have left is money to buy groceries and no significant amount of money to save or use for traveling.
That’s why more and more people choose to buy instead of renting. At the end of the day, you may pay a little more on the mortgage every month, but you know the house will be yours after some years.
And, even better than buying a house, is building a house yourself- if you’re crafty and want to learn new skills, while saving money.
And that’s exactly what a young UK couple did a few years ago.
Nikki, 33 at the time, and Adam, 30, realized that renting a place would not work for them in the long run, so they took matters in their own hands. Like, literally.
They gave up the home they were renting and in August 2014 started working on a project that few would dare take on: turning a van into a proper house by themselves.
The couple went back to their family homes until their house was finished, and for the next year or so worked hard on building the house of their dreams from zero.
They bought a white Ford Transit Luton for $4,500 because it was cheap and it was also one of the largest vehicles you can drive with a regular driving license. Immediately after the purchase, they got down to work.
They designed on a free Google program the house they wanted to build and, soon after that, they started working on its realization.
The couple had never done anything similar before. In fact, Nikki had never picked up a drill in her life. But, as time went by, and as they were doing more and more research, they realized anything is possible as long as you really believe in it.
So, as you can see in the pictures, they ended up making a proper one-bedroom house that even has a patio!
They made sure there were no leaks on the roof, which as they explained was the hardest part to fix, and they also cut out a window on the roof in order to both have enough light in the house and also keep the original van-like form of the vehicle on the outside.
Their kitchen is super functional, with a four-burner stove, sink, and lots of storage space. They also have a practical toilet/shower, a cozy living room with a library with built-in shelves, and a cute bedroom.
As for heating? They had a wood-burner made especially for them, which is super small to fit in the van, but also big enough for decent-size logs to fit in there to keep them warm during the colder season.
Are they happy with their choice and the outcome of their work? They are actually overjoyed!
Would they do anything differently if they were to start over?
Well, about that, Adam has some tips for those who would like to follow their example. Some of them are that one should start in the summer, should make sure the van they buy has no leaks, and that mistakes are inevitable.
It’s amazing how a regular van was transformed into a cozy home.
You can watch Adam and Nikki’s story in the video below.
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