Chaunte Vaughn
Many people dream about leaving their careers behind to travel around the world, but Garrett Gee and his wife, Jessica, made that a reality three years ago. After Snapchat purchased Garrett’s mobile scanning app for $54 million in 2015, the Gees knew it was finally the perfect time to unload all that they owned in Utah to move forward with their adventure.
Now that they’ve explored more than 60 countries with their three small children in tow, the Gees, who are known on social media as the Bucket List Family, have settled into a permanent home. And what better place for a family of jetsetters to call home than a 80-year-old beach bungalow in Hawaii?
For the renovation, the family turned to Andy and Candis Meredith of the Home Love Network. The Merediths, who also appear on HGTV’s Old Home Love, documented the entire renovation of the Gees' Hawaiian home for a Home Love Network YouTube series that aired this summer. Each episode featured the ups and downs that came with renovating a different room [each space is inspired by a different country the family visited], and in the series finale, the Gees finally saw their completed property.
Here’s a look inside the Gees' home, which is mostly furnished by the show's sponsor, Wayfair.
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A major challenge was designing each room with a specific country in mind. "The biggest thing for me was it could go very themed, very fast," says Candis Meredith. "I only wanted to pick two or three things that were reminiscent of a country they visited." For the master bedroom, the focus was kept on the canopy bed and minimal accents, including a Moroccan rug, star-shaped pendants, and an upholstered headboard with a scalloped silhouette and nailhead trim.
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The highlight of the Brazilian-inspired kitchen are the bold green cabinets, which the Merediths chose to complement with a subdued backsplash. On the color choice for the cabinetry, Candis says, "Andy and I specialize in historic homes, and when we restore a historic kitchen, we often find a bright color. It's fun to see how bright cabinets were in old houses. It is trendy, but it's something that has been done for a long time."
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While Candis says the Gees trusted her design expertise completely, she admits that they did have one request for their kids. "They wanted their kids to share a bedroom," she says. The Merediths made that happen and opted to outfit the kids' bedroom with custom built-in bunk beds, an orange and white striped rug, and a blue dresser.
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The Tanzania-inspired guest room, which is complete with a reading nook, is one of the most themed rooms in the entire house. "The black and gold palette and grasscloth used for the walls remind you of Africa, but you could walk into that room, change the photos, and it could be [inspired by] anywhere."
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In addition to the green kitchen cabinets, another bold moment in the home is the master bathroom, featuring a vibrant patterned tile. "It's a different world in that bathroom with that crazy tile and massive tub," says Candis.
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The Gees are serious about fitness so they had to have a dedicated area to pursue it. For the gym area, Candis found inspiration in old-time gyms in India, which, she says, were "super simple and functional." A chalkboard wall was chosen to make the space feel bigger. "It also added a little fun for the family with the ability to draw what they want," she says.
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The living and dining rooms are the only spaces that aren't designed around a specific country. "They're inspired by the world, and the family's love of culture and travel," she says. And out of all of the rooms, the dining area, which features statement wallpaper boasting a floral motif, a crystal chandelier, and historic art, is the one space that most reflects Candis's aesthetic. "I'd have a room like that in my beach bungalow," she says with a laugh.
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The goal for the living room was for it to feel spacious, as it's open to an ocean view. "Because they are so close to the water, the whole room feels like it is floating over the water," Candis says. The space also has three distinct areas for the family to enjoy: a spot for a television [which the family has decided not to include for the time being], a sitting area, and a spot to play games.
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With three small children, it was crucial to have an area for lounging and spending quality family time. Here, pillows add comfort to a wooden bench that accommodates storage baskets. "We call it turtle tower because if you sit there for more than two minutes, you’ll see a sea turtle," Candis says.
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YouTube’s Bucket List Family channel, which chronicles the adventures of the Gees — who sold all of their belongings to travel the world — have raised gobs of cash to create their own next-generation animation studio, which they are billing as “the next Pixar.”
The Gee family — comprising parents Garrett and Jessica and kids Dorothy, Manilla, and Calihan — traveled for three years and visited upwards of 100 countries before settling on the beach in Hawaii, though they still intend to travel, per their official website. They count 1.3 million subscribers and nab 4 million monthly views.
Now, the family has turned to Republic — a platform that curates private investing opportunities across the startup, gaming, real estate, and crypto spaces — to raise money for their new studio startup, aptly dubbed The Bucket List Studios. The campaign has already reached its maximum funding goal of $3 million from a total of 27,992 investors, with 12 days to spare. Participants will receive Series Seed preferred shares in the company.
This sum arrives on top of $7 million that the family has already raised from VCs and accredited angels, the Republic campaign explains. The Gees say they turned down a $10 million offer from a major studio, and thus sought to raise that same sum independently. They say they opted to form an indie studio to order to be able to pursue interactive learning activities, tell global stories with complete creative freedom, and develop “software to bring a new age of animation to life.”
Funds will be allocated to hiring and commencing production, and the family says they will continue licensing and acquisition meetings with Disney+ and Netflix along the way.
The first series from Bucket List Studios will be a cartoon — mixed with actual footage — following the family’s travels, with each episode featuring local artists, writers, and musicians.
The Bucket List Cartoon will also feature shoppable elements, per the campaign, including activity and coloring books coordinated with each episode, as well as links to buy featured apparel, travel gear, and more. Down the line, the Gees envision further monetization via licensing and software development.
In terms of this latter tenant, Garrett is already a wildly successful tech entrepreneur. He founded an app called Scan as a freshman at BYU that builds various products and services related to scannable QR codes, which eventually sold to Snapchat for $54 million.
You can check out the elevator pitch for the family’s latest entrepreneurial endeavor below: