small house design ideas

Ideas on How to Design Your Tiny House

It isn’t hard to wrap your head around the appeal surrounding the tiny house movement. The small house design idea that you can live comfortably while keeping costs of living to a minimum, and reducing unnecessary pileup of possessions is a rather intriguing idea. For tens of thousands of homeowners across the world, it’s not just an idea, it’s the reality. 

So while the idea of owning a tiny home may appeal to you, you may find yourself feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the possibilities. Specifically, how to design, and furnish your tiny home. You don’t have to be a professional designer or interior decorator to make the move towards a more efficient, and cost-effective living space. With a little creativity, a small amount of self-sacrifice, and some trial and error, you too can be the happy owner of a cozy and cheap tiny home. 

Let’s take some time to explore some of the best ways you can make the most of your tiny home living space, and how you can effectively design it. 

Prefab Tiny Cabins for Under $20k
Prefab Tiny Cabins for Under $20k

How to Design Your Tiny House

small house design ideas

The first step towards success in tiny house living starts with the design. You want to make sure that you are maximizing every inch available to you in the most efficient way possible. The best approach is to have a simple interior design for your small house. You never want to get overly fancy, and extravagant. This can lend itself to some issues down the road as you begin to implement storage, and appliance solutions to the house later on. 

However, there are a few tips that you should be utilizing when designing your small house that will go a long way towards making your living space appear bigger than it actually is. 

Tape it Out

The first thing you should do when designing your tiny house is to make sure that you have a firm grasp of how large the living space is in practice. The best way to do this is to simply tape it out. If you already have access to the trailer or space you will be living in. Try laying out tape where you plan to put everything. Your sofa, your counter space, your bed, etc. This will help you gain a better understanding of how much walking room you will actually have. If you do not have access to space yet, simply use the space you are already living in. Any way that you can develop a better understanding of how much space you will actually have, will prevent you from having a final home product that you can’t stand to live in. 

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Make it ‘Light’

Bringing light into your living space is an easy, and effective way to make the tiny house feel much more open and accessible. Not only that, but it will also make it feel more like a home, and not a claustrophobic dungeon. There are two ways that you can achieve this, and ideally, you will want to do both. 

Windows: Make sure that you are planning for plenty of windows when you are designing your tiny home. This will allow for plenty of natural light to enter the house, as well as give the house a more wide open, and natural feel. 

Paint: Utilizing lighter, and more ‘soft’ paint colors will help to make the living space feel more open, and welcoming. While your floor can be any color you want, the walls and ceiling should ideally be something that reflects a more light, and welcoming tone. Going too dark with the paint will make your small house feel suffocating and unpleasant. 

Try to Avoid Single-Use Space

When designing the layout of your tiny home, try to imagine the best way to get the absolute most out of each space. If you design an area for one singular purpose, you could potentially be wasting an opportunity to maximize efficiency and save on costs. An example of this could be the sitting area. There are many options for sofas, that will unfold into a bed for sleeping at night. You can also imagine how you could convert other areas of your house to be multi-taskers rather than uni-taskers. Of course, you shouldn’t take this concept to the extreme, you don’t need to design your bathroom to double as a walk-in closet. However, try to think of the best ways you can make each room as efficient as possible. 

How to Maximize and Style your Tiny House or Apartment

Once you have designed and completed your small house, you will want to begin thinking about how you can best design, and maximize the living space within the small house. Here are some simple house design ideas that will help you best utilize the space you are living in, and keep ‘clutter’ from accruing. Keep in mind that these ideas will also work for a small apartment as well. Any space you will be living in that is limited in size, can make use of these tips.

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Never Underestimate the Power of Hanging Things

small house design ideas organizer

A successful small house or apartment will make the most out of the wall space for storage. This is most crucial in your kitchen area. If you go to your kitchen right now, try to look at how much of your space is being taken up by drawers and cabinets. This is space that could be utilized for other things. Instead, try to utilize the walls as a way to hang, and store your utensils and pans. In addition, try to use products that will allow you to maximize your storage space by hanging. For instance, you can make use of storage assistance products that allow you to store, and organize your cooking pans in a more efficient way. Most people don’t look at the walls, or cabinet doors and think, ‘that’s an opportunity for storage’ but a smart small house designer will look at every opportunity to maximize storage efficiency by hanging storage options anywhere they can. 

Folding is your Friend

small house design ideas

When you can fold an appliance or storage rack into a more compact space, it will go a long way towards making the most of your limited space. This much is true for virtually anything within your small house or apartment. Compact kitchen tables that can be mobile, and folded and moved to storage when not in use will be a lifesaver. In addition, you will want to take this same idea of ‘folding’ and utilize it in other areas of your design. For instance, you can utilize wardrobe organizers that will allow your clothing to fold, and collapse into a smaller space. Anywhere that you can fold, and store something into a smaller space, will help your design a lot. Even making use of products that can be removed and stored when not in use will go a long way towards achieving this ‘folding’ goal. Items like removable nightstands will help you keep your home less cluttered when you aren’t using the space. 

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Be Creative With Storage

small house design ideas storage tower

A recurring theme you will begin to see as you research more about how to maximize your tiny home space is storage. Storage is the foundation upon which your tiny house will succeed or fail. You will want to think about any and every creative way that you can maximize storage space. Under stairs, under seating, even under the floorboards if they are designed to do that. In addition, purchasing space-efficient storage options will be a huge help. You don’t have to sacrifice aesthetics in the name of storage as well. There is no reason why your living space can’t look beautiful, as well as remain efficient. Keep in mind, the tiny house movement is about saving space, cost, and downsizing. Try not to use storage space as a reason to keep buying unnecessary things. In the end, it will continue to pile up and make your small house feel far too cluttered. Storage is important, keeping the need for storage to a minimum is key. 

Final Thoughts

small house design ideas hanger

Designing and decorating your small house or apartment will ultimately boil down to your own personal preferences, and what you value most. You will want to take the time to research what other tiny cabin owners are doing and get as many ideas as possible. Tiny space living will require you to be creative, and think outside the box as much as possible. Just remember, utilize every opportunity to maximize your space through storage, and multi-purpose furnishing options. 

Tiny home living can offer some of the most rewarding, and unique opportunities to really focus your life on what is important to you. You can free yourself from clutter, financial burden, and unnecessary possessions just by moving into a much smaller living space. The creativity, and resourcefulness required to make it work will challenge you, but ultimately pay off in the end.

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