Having a roof over your head is taking on new meaning in northern New South Wales, where bushfires have left many people homeless.

Key points: More than 120 homes have been lost in bushfires in northern NSW so far this year

More than 120 homes have been lost in bushfires in northern NSW so far this year Free sheds are being built to give those left homeless a fresh start

Free sheds are being built to give those left homeless a fresh start The shed waitlist is growing longer and the builders need help

Free sheds are being built for those with nothing, in a creative approach to disaster recovery that is changing lives and putting a smile back on faces of despair.

A family of six, including a two-month old baby, who were left with only their car, are eternally grateful for bags of donated clothes and bedding.

But without a home, it's becoming an effort to squish it all into the vehicle with the kids, as they trundle from hotel to hotel.

That's when you need a shed.

Made from donated and recycled materials, a shed of hope comes in many colours. ( ABC North Coast: Elloise Farrow-Smith )

These patchwork shelters are giving new hope to people like Ron Hepari, whose home was destroyed by fire at Tabulam in February.

"Up until the shed I was lost," he said.

"People would say, 'How are you going?' and I would say, 'I've just bailed out of an aeroplane, no parachute'. That's how I felt. Then when this [shed] happened, I had somewhere to land."

Fire creating a new wave of homeless

Rappville resident Troy Hook and his 11-year-old daughter Kyrah lost everything in the bushfires.

Losing his house hurt Mr Hook deeply as having a home was something he had worked hard to provide.

Troy Hook and his daughter Kyrah outside what was once their home. ( ABC North Coast: Catherine Marciniak )

"Being a father of a daughter, that's all you want, you want her to have a roof over her head.

"I grew up on the streets as a teenager in Melbourne not having a roof and all I ever wanted was a house that I owned, a roof over my head, stability. Yeah, that's all just been taken away," Mr Hook said.

The sheds might look ramshackle but they represent a new life, as Sheds of Hope Tabulam founder Greg Dollin explains.

"The first guy we ever built one for said, 'I didn't know I needed it until I got in it', cause it's out of the sun, somewhere to wash your hands, something new from everything that was old and burnt."

So far Mr Dollin and his handy friends have built 15 sheds.

After the first fire, Mr Dollin, a Tabulam local and rural fire service volunteer, had an epiphany.

"I'm in the fire brigade, so I was out at the [Tabulam] fires," he said.

"I woke up a week later and God said to me, 'Greg where would you wash your hands if you had a fire?'

"I thought, well I couldn't, so it came to me to build them sheds."

But 15 sheds is a long way from replacing the more than 120 homes lost in bushfires in northern NSW so far this year.

Mr Hook and his daughter Kyrah come to terms with what they have lost. ( ABC North Coast: Catherine Marciniak )

Rough and ready homes for free

Red tape is the enemy of disaster recovery.

The sheds are rough and ready but small enough to meet council requirements and can be knocked up within days.

One of the sheds built for a Tabulam resident after the February fire. ( ABC North Coast: Elloise Farrow-Smith )

"We use logs we cut from the bush, fresh logs for the stand-up poles and the cross poles, then we stitch it all together with the iron; we wrap with iron and leave one side open," Mr Dollin said.

The new shed's owner gets to help with the design, and can choose an open shed or one with doors and windows.

Nothing goes to waste, with precious water that hopefully falls on the roof directed into a simple gutter and into a 1,000-litre tank.

The recent fire at Drake meant the shed waitlist is getting longer.

Kevin Olsen and his children lost everything in the fire at Long Gully Road.

"You just don't like looking at it," Mr Olsen said of his home's burnt remains.

"The quicker it's cleaned up, the better."

Kevin Olsen and his children Ben and Georgia lost everything in the Long Gully Fire. ( ABC North Coast: Elloise Farrow-Smith )

With two teenage children to house, the idea of a shed means room to move.

"It's a start, it gets us some walls and a roof, whatever we can start off with," Mr Olsen said.

"It gets a bit crowded in a caravan with the boy here, so anything would be worth it."

Lending a hand

In the aftermath of the fires, there is work to be done, and those who have been lending a hand are in need of help themselves.

"A lot of the fellas that did the last ones are exhausted; a fella had a knee operation. They are worn out from building the ones we built," Mr Dollin said.

"So we need machinery and more able-bodied men that can come out and help."

Builders are weary but say the need for sheds is greater than ever. ( ABC North Coast: Elloise Farrow-Smith )

The builders are tired but they are also committed to knocking up as many sheds as possible, because they know what it means to need shelter.

"It's a fresh start, it's new. It's not part of the old burnt-out farm, home, house, and it gives them a new start, a new beginning, a new place to call home," Mr Dollin said.

That's a comforting thought for Mr Hook, who says the idea of a shed after the fire is as welcome as a drink in the desert.

"With all this destruction, a simple shed that's not destroyed, that's liveable, dry … that's hope," Mr Hook said.

Mr Hepari says his shed has made him want to carry on. ( ABC North Coast: Elloise Farrow-Smith )

Mr Hepari said the value of the sheds could not be overstated.

"It's like someone giving you a marquee when you live in a tiny tent; it's made me want to carry on," he said.

A humble shed, sweetened with hope, for those trying to rebuild their lives after fire.