Home improvement and renovation videos have been a mainstay on social media for years, but no one has done it quite like Little John with the help of “galvanised square steel” and his aunt.

Weirdly wonderful animated room renovation videos have taken over TikTok and taken on a life of their own, with other creators putting their own spin on the bizarre trend.

It appears the culprit behind the meme of the moment is the TikTok account @homedesign369, which has videos dating back to November.

The first video was normal enough. It was a bedroom redesign, made possible with some animation software.

The account continued reimagining spaces and early on it seemed the goal of the designs was to solve common problems, like making a bedroom fit for two children.

Some of the ideas featured in early videos were a little out there, but now things are getting weird.

 Little John, Liam and 1 billion children

Eventually, the account lost the plot, by adding plots that change in just about every video.

There’s several videos that briefly tell you about families who “accidentally” have twins or triplets and then are forced to design a tiny room to accommodate them.

But nothing beats the poor woman who gave birth to one billion children in one of @homedesign369’s videos.

There’s also Liam.

In a video titled “how to design a bedroom for 100 kids”, it’s revealed Liam grew up in the countryside with his grandparents, but he was eventually rescued by his billionaire dad.

@homedesign369

Bedroom for 100 kids #interior #interiordesign #decor #decorations #housedesign #smallbedroom #smallbedroomdecor #smallbedroomdesign #bedroom

♬ reality – 混搭

Together, they refit a church to house 100 children, yet in a later video, all Liam could afford was a 0.1-metre home, despite working for years on end.

But the character who has captured hearts on TikTok is woeful Little John.

The lore of Little John implies he has a quite a confusing life.

In one video, it is explained he moved to New York to advance his career.

In another video, we learn he spent all his money on toy models so his dad kicked him out and now he needs to live in a “tiny corridor room”.

@homedesign369

Transform corridor room into a fully function house #roommakeover #roomdecor #housedesign #bedroom #bedroommakeover #bedroomdesign #creatorsearchinsights

♬ Morsmordre（莫斯莫多） – Crazy Donkey

Regardless of how he got there, or whether it is a 3-square-metre room or literally no room at all, Little John always makes do, making wildly ridiculous spaces, usually with galvanised square steel, eco-friendly wood veneers and screws given to him by his aunt.

Galvanised square steel takes over

You never know what crazy story is going to be revealed in the videos, but they will be using galvanised square steel.

Galvanised square steel is actually used in construction, but what gets people is that John or Liam will use it to illegally extend their tiny rooms.

The absurdity of the fleeting plots shared at the beginning of the video and the very unattainable renovations seem to be what gets people hooked.

People are now recreating the videos and putting their own spin on it, or making skits based off the lore of @homedesign369’s videos.

@joshandmattdesign

This is going to make zero sense to a lot of people lmao 💀 please find the right audience 😭 #homedesign #galvanisedsteel #design #littlejohn

♬ original sound – Josh & Matt

@slamjamk0

Dude is obsessed with Galvanized Square Steel and Eco-Friendly Wood Veneers

♬ original sound – Slamjamk0

Mr Cliff Tan, who has amassed a following on TikTok by showing people how they can actually make the most of their space, jumped on the trend to help Little John maximise his space.

Of course, there have been plenty of jokes made on TikTok that only those in the know would get.

@dearmodern

Let’s help little John plan his 13 square meter flat using galvanized steel eco-friendly wood veneers and screws from his aunt

♬ Morsmordre（莫斯莫多） – Crazy Donkey

“Since Vatican City is so small, why don’t they use galvanised square steel to legally expand their size,” someone said on TikTok.

People have even found real-life examples of what John and Liam have created in the simulated videos.

People are now going back to the older videos @homedesign369 made and found the first references made to John, Liam, galvanised square steel or “nails from auntie”.

Not only have other TikTok accounts just taken the original videos and reposted them, it seems people are making their own by using whatever program @homedesign369 uses to make them.

Some people are just changing their usernames on TikTok to things like “@eco friendly wood veneer”.

Regardless, searches for “galvanised square steel” on Google have spiked this month, so perhaps the videos really have inspired people.