Danner Cronise and his Home Depot shed. Danner Cronise

• Danner Cronise, 23, is a computer-engineering student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
• Since 2020, Cronise and his dad have been converting an old Home Depot shed into a tiny home.
• Take a look at how they’re transforming the shed the family erected 20 years ago.

Danner Cronise

Twenty years after purchasing a two-story Home Depot shed to use as storage, Cronise and his dad decided to try and turn it into the world’s largest tiny home.

Cronise’s family had purchased a 22-acre property in the hills of southern Tennessee in 2001.

He said they needed somewhere to live while building their new home, so they bought the Home Depot shed for $5,250.

The shed had been left untouched for 20 years, and it was covered in vines and surrounded by trees and shrubs.

His father built a concrete foundation for a small bathroom, but their plans changed and they ended up moving to Huntsville, Alabama.

Cronise’s dad visited the property in 2020, and he sent his son a text message, saying: “We need to rescue the shed.”

Cronise said he and his father started the project on a ‘whim.’

On his YouTube channel, where he has almost 35,000 subscribers, Cronise has documented the restoration process, posting more than 30 videos showing the various stages of the project.

Their first step was to clear the shed of the overgrown plants and trees.

During Cronise’s first visit to the shed, he and his sisters, Erin, a nurse, and Alexia, a Twitch streamer, were “shocked to find the overgrowth and even discovered a snake inside.”

Despite the challenges, Cronise told Insider that he and his father were determined to save the shed, so they “began the long process of renovation.”

Cronise and his father have spent most of their weekends working on the shed.

Early on they took down the shed’s upper level to rebuild the roof.

“We’ve done a lot of work to the land, too, such as clearing and cutting vines and removing fallen trees,” Cronise told Insider.

The land is 22 acres, but it’s also on rolling hills, so the surface area is closer to 30 acres.

Cronise said he’d never used a chainsaw before starting on the tiny house.

Cronise is expecting to graduate from his computer-engineering course at the University of Alabama this year.

He said the project has forced him to learn all kinds of new skills, including using a chainsaw.

“I’ve always been into videography, tech, programming — I never thought I would’ve been doing construction,” Cronise told Insider.

Working on the conversion taught him a lot, Cronise said.

Cronise said each phase of the house, including clearing the shrubs, pouring concrete, doing the framing, plumbing, electrical, and insulation, as well as redoing the entirety of the roof “has been a totally new experience.”

“It gives you a lot of respect for those that do this every day. It can be hard work, but also requires a lot of skill,” he added.

Cronise also documented the renovation on TikTok and joked about turning the shed into the world’s biggest tiny home.

Cronise’s TikTok bio is: “I’m converting my abandoned shed into a tiny house!”

He’s even joked on the platform about turning it into the world’s “biggest” tiny home after people said it was “too big” to be one.

While the tiny house isn’t fully fitted out yet, it’s now possible to stay in it overnight.

Cronise said he anticipates that by December most of the interior will be finished. “After I graduate, we will work more or less full time for a couple of months,” he said.

VISIT SITEThey’ve spent about $15,000, Cronise said. They save and pay for the process as they go.

The father and son have been also thankful to receive some sponsorships from companies like Rockwool for the insulation. They also used funds they received from Patreon and Youtube advertising.

“We have to buy metal for the roof and finish the electrical, but other than that, the floors, walls, and ceilings will all be from timber we harvest from the land,” Cronise said.

“We are very fortunate to have black walnut, cherry, maple, oak, hickory, ash, persimmon, and red cedar.”

The Home Depot shed initially measured 16 by 20 feet.

The original shed measured 16 feet by 20 feet and the upstairs had a similar size with an angled gambrel roof.

The father and son added 12-foot by 20-foot additions on either side of the shed, which will include a kitchen and a workshop respectively.

ADVERTISINGNo completion date — no problem!

“Everyone asks when will we be finished and the real answer is that it doesn’t matter,” Cronise said.

“We probably will never be finished in some sense, because we will move on to building other buildings like a spring pump house, a pole barn, and a much larger workshop.”

By the time Cronise graduates, he’ll be 24 and will have built his first house.

“It’s great to be in a rural community where people stop by to help,” Cronise said.

The true star of the show.

The cat’s name is Sage. Cronise and his family got her from their neighbor Mark, a welder, when she was a kitten.

“She basically grew up at the shed,” Cronise said.

Sage comes along for the 60-minute drive from Huntsville to the shed and loves chasing mice. Followers on Cronise’s social media show her much love, as well.

Cronise said he had the best time working with his dad.

Cronise told Insider: “It’s been incredible getting to work one-on-one with my dad over the past couple of years. I think it’s an experience that most people don’t get to have with their dads, so I’m incredibly thankful for it.”

“We’ve bonded more than ever while working on this project,” he added. “He’s taken time out of his busy schedule to do this with me, which really means a lot to me.”

“I think for a lot of the viewers, seeing us working together is the best part of my ‘Abandoned Shed to Tiny House’ series.”

A ‘fantastic retreat.’

“It will be a fantastic retreat. A place to get away,” Cronise said.

Once the kitchen is finished, the family may spend Thanksgiving there one year.

But Cronise said that, mostly, “it will be a place to stay while working on the land. We will probably start a large garden for amazing plant-to-plate meals.”

“There’s always something that needs to be done and it’s a great break from the world.”