Tiny Home Examples: Options we explored

If I was going to sacrifice interior floor space for an outside deck...this is what I would want on it!

Tiny house community

This house has a built in deck. I love the idea but I'm not willing to all the floor space for a deck. I can just sit in a chair on the lawn.

I love that everything is wood. Of course it costs a small fortune to use wood and adds a lot of weight to the trailer...but it is pretty.

I liked this kitchen but there isn't enough space to open an oven door, so this type of floor plan was out of the questions

I liked this kitchen but there isn't enough space to open an oven door, so this type of floor plan was out of the questions.

An example of what our Loft will look like

The Floor Plan

After about a dozen different floor plan ideas, we have finally settled on one we both like. When it comes to tiny house floor plans there aren't a lot of options to choose from due to the small footprint. Here are the most common floor plans you will find.

Option 1

Option 2

 

Option 3

Well, I wasn't thrilled with any of these options. I wanted defined spaces and I also wouldn't budge on having a washer/dryer, a 10 cu ft refrigerator, and an oven in the house. Those were a must! Most tiny houses have camper sized appliances and that just wasn't going to work for us. I love to cook and Jason loves to eat and you can only make so many meals in a microwave. I figured I'm creative and I could come up with something that would work for us. I ended up downloading some home building software and came up with our own design.

Our design features all the amenities found in a regular sized house including an electric fireplace in the living room. The fireplace will be our only source of heat in the house. We have picked out a small unit that can heat a 1000sq ft area, so we should be plenty toasty during cold weather.

The main level will have 8ft walls with cathedral ceilings with a height of 11ft high. The loft will have 4ft walls and cathedral ceilings. There will be no attic space in the house, so all storage space will have to be found within the structure itself.

The kitchen will be an L-Shape which should offer more storage under the counters and a clear view of the wall mounted TV that will be mounted over the fireplace. We will have lower cabinets and only have upper shelves in the kitchen instead of upper cabinets to help keep the room feeling open and not closed in. The kitchen will also house a full size stackable washer / dryer unit.

There will be a step up to the living room. The living room floor is raised 10" to accommodate the wheel wells of the trailer without losing any of the 8ft span of floorspace. I have yet to see this done in any other tiny house design and I'm not sure why. There will also be storage underneath the raised floor.

A ladder will be used to get into the loft/sleeping area. The loft will feature two small skylights and a custom headboard with storage slots. There will be additional storage in the floor and under the bed.

There will also be a smaller 3ft loft above the fireplace and TV that will be used for storing items that are not used as often but we don't want to part with.

The bathroom will have a shower stall with a tile surround that Jason and I will do ourselves. We can build our own shower for around $200 dollars and it will feature a small ledge in the back of the shower to keep shampoo and soap. To buy a preformed shower will cost $400 - $500. There will be no sink in the bathroom due to the confined space but we can just use the kitchen sink.

Our Shangri-La floor plan!

The Frame Structure

Main Floor

Loft / Sleeping Area

Dollhouse View

The demolision has started!

We are taking some care while demoing the trailer in order to salvage the refrigerator, stove, shower and toilet. We don't plan on using any of these items in our own home because they are just to small, but someone out there might want them. Once they are out of the trailer and cleaned up a bit I will get them posted on Craigslist and see if we can't find them a new home.

Here are some pictures of the trailer before demo.

This a shot of the bedroom and bathroom at the very back of

 the trailer

This is in the bedroom with the Kitchen and dining area at the

 front of the trailer.

Kitchen cabinets and refrigerator removed

Kitchen cabinets and refrigerator removed

We found a trailer!

We found a trailer to build our tiny house on and the best part is we didn't have to look far. As a matter of fact Jason already had an 1976 Marathon 8'x21' camper trailer sitting on the property that was going to waste. It has some serious structural issues due to roof leaks in the kitchen and bathroom (I guess everything starts leaking when it gets a little age on it...even people!), but those won't matter since we are going to demolish everything down to the frame. It also has an aluminum sheet that spans the entire length of the trailer under the floor. This will be reused and will be extremely helpful in sealing up the floor. There are scorpions, black Widows and Brown Recluse spiders on the property, so sealing the bottom of the house is a critical "must" for me.

The difference between a tiny house and a camper trailer is the construction. Campers are built with minimal structural support to keep them light. Tiny homes are constructed just like a house with 2x4 construction. We will have to beef up the trailer frame so that it can handle the added weight of all the 2x4s. Jason is also going to extend the trailer bed to 9'x22' when he reinforces the frame. I know the added foot in width and length don't sound like much, but every inch you can gain in square footage is precious in a tiny house.

Big dreams of a tiny house.

For awhile now Jason and I have wanted to move out to some land that Jas grew up on located just outside of town. All our goats and chickens are on this property and we spend most of our spare time there. Over the past year we have been wracking our brains trying to come up with an affordable way to build a house on the property without 1) spending a fortune 2) increasing the existing property taxes and 3) building something that wouldn't require permits. We had no idea how to achieve all three goals until we stumbled on a program called Tiny House. The show featured a guy that was building a tiny home on a flat bed trailer frame. By building on the trailer frame he didn't have to have building permits and since it isn't a permanent structure it won't increase your property taxes. The only drawback is the cost. Price per square foot, it is more expensive to build a tiny house than it is to build a larger home, but one can still be built for around $10K if you watch your budget and use as much reclaimed material as possible.

What exactly is a "Tiny House"? The tiny house is defined as a living space under 400 square feet.

I know most people will think we are crazy for wanting to live in a house that is under 400 sq ft, but Jason and I are extremely excited about the idea. But, there is a lot to consider and figure out before we can get started. Such as...

What type of trailer are we going to use and what size?
Floor plan: How are we going to have enough room for 2 people?
What about things we won't compromise on? Jason's recliner and my washer and dryer!
Where to locate the tiny house: Living on the grid or off ?
Spare Time: Where in the heck are we going to find any?

These are just a few of the decision we are going to have to make before we can even start the next chapter of our lives. Jas and I talk every decision we make to death before we make a move, so I see lots of late nights hashing and rehashing every detail before we ever break ground.

I will post more as we start on our road to building our Shangri-La.