What happens when you fall in love with simple, small space living but make music daily? Do what reggae musician Jimi Watusi did! He created a shed conversion tiny home with a music studio and did it on a budget.
Jimi is a prolific musician and the leader of the world-beat reggae band Watusi. After becoming an empty nester, he traveled the world. Living simply on the road with a focus on experiences led him to tiny house living. Currently, Jimi stays in Costa Rica for about a third of the year. He realized he needed an affordable home base when back in Texas.
So, Jimi decided to buy a shed (a portable building shell). It cost $20,000. Fun fact: the builder, Wolf Valley Buildings, is a Costa Rican-owned and operated business. They all bonded over their shared passion for the “pura vida” way of life. This emphasizes living in the moment, being grateful, and finding joy in the simple things.
Next, Jimi’s son, Eric, turned the shed shell into a comfortable 400-square-foot tiny home with a music studio. It ultimately cost $40,000 to complete. He refers to it as his piece of pura vida in Texas. The 12-foot wide open-feeling interior has a definite island style to it. A great room takes up most of the space with living, dining, one-wall kitchen, and home office areas. His loft bedroom sits above the bathroom and studio.
In a separate room, with a closing door, is Jimi’s music studio. It’s chock full of instruments, mixing equipment, and artwork from around the world. Jimi loves that he can easily swivel around in his office chair to reach everything he needs to make music. His son double-insulated the room to help with soundproofing.
The close proximity of his music studio helps Jimi to explore his musical inspirations daily. However, as Jimi looks toward the future, he plans to make that space a downstairs bedroom. He will then relocate the studio into a small dome attached to his tiny home. It will connect to the bedroom via a doorway. Fortunately, this is allowed in his community, the Little House on the Prairie.
Watch Jimi’s Shed Conversion Tiny Home Tour!
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