When TikToker Aniah Warne (now 22) received a comment from a viewer under one of her videos, saying that she "lives in a f***ing shed" and that they "love this so much", the college student responded to it by giving a tour of her one-room humble abode.
She said the shed, situated in her parents' backyard in Boise, Idaho, allows her to live rent-free and that even though it doesn't have much, there's everything she needs for a comfortable stay, and her other needs can be fulfilled in her family's place next door.
More info: TikTok
College student Aniah Warne lived in a shed in her parents' backyard
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
And she loved every bit of it
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
In the beginning of the tour, Aniah showed that the wall next to her bed opens up to give her a "little porch."
She then showed the inside of her room, which is about the size of a small studio apartment. The college student has colorfully decorated the interior with a tapestry hanging on the ceiling above the bed, fairy lights on the wall, and lots of plants and posters.
There was no kitchen or bathroom
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
So she hopped over to her family's house whenever she had to
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
Aniah said: "So I have my desk, a TV, my bed, and then this is the view sitting in my bed," and then showed the view from her bed, which features lots of bamboo plants and the rest of the greenery in her parents' garden.
Aniah then presented the other furniture in her room, which featured a comfy-looking armchair and a bookshelf filled with more plants and lots of books. "And then I have my nightstand with essentials, a cute little chair, plant, shelves, fridge. I have this mirror to look at outfits and then this is my closet," she said.
The college student then showed a decently-sized walk-in closet with shelves filled with clothes and other knick-knacks.
"So yeah that's my shed," she said as she finished the video, which has since gone viral and now has over 1.6 million views.
But Aniah said she could save on rent
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
And made the shed her own cozy little space
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
With a shelf for her books
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
A mini fridge
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
And a body-height mirror to help her get ready
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
The shed has a view of her parents' garden
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
And there's even an AC for when the days get too hot
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
Aniah also has a lot of plants
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
And a friendly neighbor
Image credits: aniahhhhwarne
You can definitely understand why a young person in the US would want such an arrangement. Over the past two years, the country's median rent rose by 18%.
That was mostly because a competitive housing market and higher mortgage rates shut many people out of home buying. However, a strong jobs market and shortage of inventory also contributed to rising rent.
In fact, rental prices were by far the "largest contributor" to the rise in inflation on an annual basis in March, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While consumers paid less for gasoline and grocery, causing the consumer price index – a widely used measure of inflation – to moderate to 5% in March from a year earlier, housing costs went up 8% during the same time period.
"This more than offset a decline in the energy index, which decreased 3.5% over the month as all major energy component indexes declined," the Labor Department noted in the report.
The national median rent is $1,937, which is down from $1,942 in January. The figure dropped to its lowest since February 2022 when rents were $1,904. Prices peaked in August 2022 at $2,053, after rising above $2,000 for the first time in May of that year. (February's rent level represents a 6% decrease from August's peak.)
Her TikTok quickly went viral
But there were some burning questions
So Aniah released a part II
Many families are in a similar situation. One-in-three U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 live in their parents' home, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2021.
However, young adults in much of Europe are even more likely than their U.S. counterparts to do so. In 24 of the 29 European countries studied, more than one-in-three adults ages 18 to 34 lived in their parents' home in 2021, according to the statistical agency Eurostat.
That includes more than seven-in-ten in Croatia (77%), Greece (73%), Portugal (72%), Serbia (71%) and Italy (71%). But it is worth mentioning that on the other end of the spectrum, we have the Scandinavian countries of Finland (18%), Sweden (17%), and Denmark (16%) where fewer than one-in-five young adults live with their parents.
Overall, countries in southern and eastern Europe tend to have more young adults living in their parents' home than countries in northern and western Europe, a difference that may reflect both cultural factors, such as social norms and family ties, and structural factors, such as housing markets and welfare systems.
Plenty of people supported her
But not everyone was onboard with her living arrangement
