20 Favorite Tiny Houses

Living most of the year in South Korea but in the future needing a "place" to call my own in the States when I'm visiting, I happened across a tiny house .... and fell in love! My current apartment is 10'3"W x 21"L with perhaps a 10' ceiling. It's a professor dorm room and I get so irritated that I have to use the university furniture and not my own. The furniture they offer is bulky and not space-saving, and in some instances, not useful at all. I wanted to chuck the bulky TV stand out with its ice-age monstrosity of a TV, a useless space-consuming night stand, and a 21" wide wardrobe that not much fits in (I had a 36" one which I would have donated upon leaving the dorm but that was NOT to be discussed). No, no, no, I must keep every ice-age artifact no matter that none were designed for limited space. Irritating, especially when I plan to be here a few years.

Max dimensions of a tiny house if one wishes to pull it without hiring assistance is: 8'4"W x 13'4"H x 40'L (and the max of the truck pulling the house along with the house is 65') I don't know if the the 40'L tiny house requires a special license for towing, but it would seem likely. The width of 8'4" is inclusive of the eaves!

Anyway, when I saw the layouts of the tiny houses, I thought, "Wow, I can live in less space but have all the conveniences I want if I design my own space!" And from there, I went nuts on design. Ideally for parking, the 8'x28' trailer rocks, but it's a bugger to haul around. The 8'x20', however, is both OK for some traveling and can hold all I need to hold. So, I went to all my favorite tiny houses and gleaned ideas to maximize my space!

The big points that I most want to focus on when personalizing my own tiny house are:

• kitchen (I have food sensitivities and eat tons of veggies so I also need a sizable fridge; oven not an essential as I hardly use flour, but I want lots of cabinet space for high speed blender, crockpot, and rice cooker as I use them so regularly)
• lots of desk space and of course bookcases!
• good space for a hot shower and maybe a hot soak in winter
• hanging storage for clothes (I hate drawers)

I've designed my personal 8'x20' tiny house but won't put it here. The loft isn't too creative, but the rest is totally unique. And someday when I finally get around to building, as each tiny house is uniquely different than others, mine will be a new model altogether. Ah, free thinking here. But then, possibilities are only limited by one's imagination ... or lack of.

8'x20" options:

My all-time favorite! I love the slight slant of the ceiling to maximize on loft space and the color scheme with white walls. In fact, this is the loft and wood-and-white appearance I'd like in my tiny house. Built on a 8'x20' but the total dimensions are: 8'6"x20x13'4" (so technically it exceeds the road width dimensions by 2" ... and yet it was hauled across country to California).

Designed by web designer - cost $30,000
Another link of picts
Blueprints

Another favorite because of the very utilitarian space and the large loft is "Cypress 24". The tiny house looks like a behemoth with its wheel base and long body on each side, I'm really struggling to believe this measures out at 7'4"x20". [Maybe it's the Cypress 20 that is 20' long - that makes sense.]

Cypress 24

Next, with solar panels! Also nice wood interior, couch converts to fold-out bed, and other great space savers. I like being off-grid, but even after several tutorials on setting up electricity-less heating and the use of solar panels, I'm not confident that I could set it all up correctly, especially as nitrogen gas is emitted with solar batteries and one must take counter measures ... or just plan on being on grid. Oh, and must not forget the cat! A lot of tiny house owners have cats ... and no house is complete without one. Must therefore think about a ladder structure other than very space-saving upright ones so that the cat can have access to the loft. (7'x20")

Off-grid with fine wooden interior

Vina's tiny house has amazing aesthetics! Neat, clean, homey, inviting! And French doors (although even with a magnetic netting, I'll bet mosquitoes find a way in ... so no beloved French doors for me). I love the near white walls with light wood. The light colors give an amazing spaciousness that isn't in the all-wood interiors (I feel heavy and depressed in those environments). The inside measures slightly more than 7'x19' even though the house is built on a 8'x20' trailer. Figuring in the wall measurements is an essential before building, otherwise the tiny house won't be allowed on the road if it exceeds 8'4"Wx13'4"H.

Vina's tiny house - gorgeous!

April's tiny house - April, a grad student built this home ... using the wood colors that I absolutely love! It's simple and gorgeous. In fact, the half-moon window is what really makes this tiny house transform into a spectacular masterpiece! (7'4"x18'7")

April's tiny house

The Bayside Bungalow - the linked site has a photo diary of how the tiny house was constructed. Again, this tiny house has light wood and white to make the space seem larger than reality. What I really like, however, is the front door with its large glass inset. Brittany Yunker, the designer and builder, was so proud to find the door after ages of looking. She says that the door is what makes the statement for the house ... and I will agree with her ... along with the spectacular half-moon window like in April's tiny house!  (8'x19' but 8'5" with eaves x 19')

Bayside Bungalow for rent

8'x16' options:

Sweet Pea tiny house, or Gina's tiny house. There's an amazing lot in this tiny house - French doors, a spacious living room feeling with tons of book shelving, and yes, a bathtub (probably a RV size bathtub but this is very uncommon in tiny houses. RV bathtubs come in 36", 38" and 40" sizes. Nice!)   On a 8'x16' trailer.

Sweet Pea tiny house or Gina's tiny house

A custom-created tiny house. The woman who ordered the house designed it herself, and she had some very good space-saving ideas. One I particularly like is the escape door through the bathroom. This door is kind of essential as a 4' gate can be accidentally pinned in the travel position, trapping anyone left inside. Instructional video is attached. (8'x16')

Lots of interesting features for its size ... with a "back door"

Another custom-created house (Mendy's tiny house), also with a folding-down 4' back porch. I like this added "free" spaces it really extends one's personally defined space. On the other hand, I very much dislike the stark black-and-white interior but the lighting and usage of windows is really well done. The outside dark framing of windows and doors with black gives it an Asian feeling ... this is just begging to be emulated. Very good for dimensions of 8'x16'.

Mendy's tiny house built custom at Tennessee Homes

8'x22' options:

Elaine's portable cabin by Rich Daniels is gorgeous also with what appears to be sliding glass doors, two sets of them!!! I love the sliding glass door concept, but the minimum width I'm finding is 5' wide - 60"Wx80"H or 5'Wx6'8"H. French doors can be as narrow as 4' wide ... but they let in a lot of mosquitoes and they require space to swing outward or inward. Definitely sliding doors are on my list ... but finding 4' doors is looking to be an impossibility (custom made with its sky-high expense is not an option). This model has no loft, yet is 176 sq ft and really uses the space and light well.

Elaine's tiny house

8'x24' options:

Music city tiny house is another of my favorites. It really comes across as very spacious and very well laid out with two lofts and a kitchen with a lot of counter-tops and full-sized kitchen appliances! However, I do think there's a lot of wasted space in this place but it is only a vacation home or rental and therefore doesn't need to utilize every nook and cranny and also doesn't need closet or storage space, which it definitely lacks. Another downside is the French windows; while beautiful, they open inward and so need a lot of inside space without obstructions. Beautiful overall though and this design is definitely influencing how I design my home, esp with the great use of high windows! (8'x24'x13')

Music city tiny house

Brevard tiny house also has a nice layout built by two sons for their mother. There's even a built-in staircase because she isn't comfortable on a ladder. What I really like though are the pull-out drawers with kitchen appliances. When not in use, they just tuck away without mess or fuss in the cupboard! (8'x24')

Brevard tiny house built by two sons

Little Beach cottage on wheels is very cute! It features full-sized kitchen appliances, an excellent living room space in front of French doors and even has a little cute porch ... which is really weird because to get to the porch, a person must go outside and then climb on the porch, not just step out of their door and sit down. Quite spacious though. (8'x24')

Little beach cottage on wheels

8'x28' options:

This was the first tiny house I saw ... and it is the inspiration behind me wanting to live tiny. It wouldn't be much of a downsize in such a huge space though. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the big kitchen! But even though I'm a minimalist, I don't have just four pair of pants and four shirts like the couple do. I want some closet space, eliminate some of the boxy cupboards and put in a bathtub ... some other changes, but yes, I do very much like this space. (221 sq. ft. 8'x28' - actually 8'6"x28').

Fantabulistic tiny house (8'x28')

The Bohemian based on the online blueprints of the above tiny house. And here is a tiny house that was custom-made for a couple using the blueprints. The staircase and boxy cupboards were eliminated which really opened the floor plan up a lot!

The Bohemian (8'x28')

Minnesota tiny house or Kasl family tiny house. Oh, I so love the pale lime with white interior! The interior in total is really fantastic. I'm still not sure of the dimensions of this tiny house but it looks pretty long to me so I'm guessing it's 8'x28'. [Kim Kasl saw this blog and corrected the dimension - 8'x24' but in reality is only about 22'L inside. Thanks, Kim!]

Minnesota tiny house or Kasl family house

Other "largish" tiny houses"

Smart student units, 10 sq meters, Sweden. Seems to be an early prototype for future housing for students. Not large by any means, but very well organized ... and utterly cute!

Smart student units - Sweden

Brett's tiny house. Living off the grid in Australia in 2m x 7m x 4.17m. This is completely self-sufficient living. The roof has built-in water collection which empties in a massive holding tank in his living "couch", there're solar panels, and a video tour is available. The video tour is especially interesting as it introduces some of the setup needed for a technical closet for controlling the heat, cooling, solar battery reception and charge, etc. 

Brett's tiny house - Australia

Luxury Japanese-influenced living! This 10'?x20' tiny house has no wheels, but it is a beauty! Wow, I could really do a lot of borrowing of ideas out of this house if I could find some unique round and moon-shaped windows cheap enough! I love the RV-size bathtub arrangement too. Overall, this is quite the efficient space saver and extremely attractive at the same time. I love Asian ... hence living in Asia, so my tiny house will certainly reflect my foster country of choice.

Japanese-influenced tiny house

The "Minim" probably a shortening of minimum. The tiny house has solar panels and an energy-saving electric panel (burns the same energy as 4 incandescent lightbulbs) to supplement with heating, and a beautiful floor plan with tons of unique space-saving ideas. The kitchen setup is phenomenal, and the video covers many of the space-saving ideas employed in creating this very versatile living space. (10'x21')

The "Minim"

Other Tiny House Resources:

Specs advertised when marketing a tiny house (off-grid wind-turbine powered tiny house)

A large collection of tiny houses

Video clips of tiny house tours ...

Infographics on tiny houses