Tiny house designs are very exciting and intimidating in themselves. Moreover, they come with their benefits and challenges as well. To know and understand tiny house designs, one must have enough knowledge about the challenges one can face. It can be individual or separate entities and also can be shared living spaces. The following are the challenges faced by these categories during such house designs. 

1. Functional Spaces: Fitting in all the functional spaces such as the kitchen, dining, bathroom, bedroom, and living becomes quite a challenge.
2. Storage Space Innovations: In a tiny house design, there have to be new ways to get storage spaces along with all the functional space designs.
3. Finding Appropriate Locations: Not every location according to rules and regulations is appropriate for small houses. Followed by constraints such as the climate, landscape, and neighborhood.
4. Plumbing Constraints: For a compact space, it is always difficult to run the plumbing fixtures in a house design.
5. Ventilation: In addition, to control the climate fluctuation one must give proper opening in the design.
6. Overall Costing: Sometimes it might happen that one has to use a very specific type of materials for the construction of a such design. These materials can be costly and also can take more time to build.

The tiny house designs come with many challenges and difficulties. But it is one of the most trending designs nowadays. It gives us opportunities to explore spaces in smaller capacities making it time and cost-efficient for people. Hence, here are the following 20 tips for enhancing the design of your tiny house.

1. Know the Landscape

To consider the land and its conditions to build a strong foundation for the tiny house design is necessary. As a tiny house design consists of small spaces, which include various types of materials, the climate conditions become the utmost necessary to be considered.

2. Efficient Planning

The plan of any place matters the most to make it efficient. And in a tiny house design to plan in a certain way to make it completely usable is totally necessary. In a tiny house design one has very limited space that has to be utilized completely. For example, one can use sliding doors instead of swing doors such that it reduces the swing space that is used by the door. Similarly, one can design huge windows that will penetrate the outside into the rooms such that it connects to spaces of the tiny house design.

3. Maintain the quality of the Living Space

As the tiny house design has minimum space to be used for different purposes one tries to shrink the furniture or the spaces. As a result, this affects the quality of the living space one designs. Instead of this one can always make the spaces multifunctional that can be converted according to its use. This can be done with the help of designing furniture that can be molded and folded. Also, the architecture of the tiny house design can be as such it can be converted according to its use and function. For example, a window can be used for ventilation as well as seating purposes in a tiny house design.

4. To design Roof and Foundation Properly

Any tiny house design will include the design of the roof and its foundation. Most of the time these tiny houses are built on sloppy regions or near the river sides as a vacation house, they are built on skids, stilts and concrete beam foundations. In order, to make them sturdy their designs shall be properly executed. Also the roof is the part where the water and mud can be stored. Hence, if one lives in the area of heavy rainfall and deserts, the roof should be built accordingly.

5. Consider the weight

The tiny house design has the purpose of being an easily movable or transportable space in many cases. Hence, this design demands the factor of being lightweight designs. To consider the weight of the overall building, one must keep in mind the use of various materials. For example, a roof made of concrete can be heavier than one made of wood or gypsum sheets. To use materials that are climate-friendly and easy to move shall be used more in comparison to others. 

6. Using more vertical spaces

When we have a very measured amount of space available, all the decisions of planning and designs should be taken carefully. This includes using the vertical space available in the tiny house designs. Shelves can act as vertical storage in the rooms. For example, different types of shelves such as the floating corner, and fixed or adjustable shelves can be used for keeping books as props. These kinds of design solutions can act both, as a décor element and as storage in small spaces.

7. A flexible work desk

To make a simple yet efficient workspace in a tiny house design is very crucial and also makes it feel luxurious. Creating a small pull-out work desk with enough seating space works more than enough in a tiny house design and also saves extra space. 

8. Combine Living and Dining spaces

When there is a limited amount of space that definitely is in a tiny house design, one needs to focus on which spaces to combine. The combination of spaces can make a small space feel bigger. One can combine spaces like living and dining which establishes the connection within the space and also saves the space.

9. Giving Huge Windows

Having a tiny house design with well-lit spaces makes the house look more spacious. When one can give huge windows that let enough light penetrate the interiors, it enhances the spaces. A dark space can always make the spaces congested and dull. Also, when windows can allow one to have more natural light and can reduce the use of artificial lights. Hence, this design alternative can benefit by both increasing the quality of space plus reducing the electricity cost.

10. Using mirrors to create illusions in space

When it comes to enhancing the space or making it look bigger, mirrors can be the best solution for a tiny house design. Using them as wall decors one can easily make the space look bigger. These illusions can be used to hang on the walls of the dining spaces as well as the living room spaces. They can act as space wideners which also increases the luxury of any tiny house design.

11. Light-colored tiles in bathrooms

In a tiny house design, the bathroom designs are also an important part. To make the bathroom space look wider one can use light colored tiles that can catch and absorb a good amount of light and make the space wider and lighter to breathe.

12. Making multifunctional spaces

If one designs different spaces for every function in a tiny house then they will never find enough space. Hence a tiny house must have spaces that can be multi-functional. For example, one can make a seating space into a foldable or convertible working space by giving the furniture sideways.

13. The play of lights

As natural light plays a vital role in a tiny house design, artificial light also has its own benefits. There are abundant light fixtures available in the market these days. As they are used for decoration purposes, they can also make the atmosphere in the space playful. In addition to the looks, they also can make different types of atmospheres in the tiny house design.

14. Compact bedrooms with storage beds

One can always use a hydraulic bed that can leave storage spaces beside it. Also, one can use storage beds that have storage boxes inside them. Having a compact bedroom or a sleeping space in a tiny house design can reduce the amount of space that huge beds cover in the floor spaces.

15. Using sliding doors

In a tiny house design the type of opening will also matter more in comparison to normal houses. As we know in a tiny house every inch that is used is counted, the material and the mechanism of the opening do matter. For example, the doors that are used must be kept sliding in order to reduce the space that is used with the swing of the doors. This will save much of the space in a tiny house design. 

16. Shared or collapsible walls

Small spaces can have multiple walls that are shared for one or more functions. Moreover, there cannot be spaces that are disconnected from each other as a tiny house has to combine one or more spaces for better efficiency. Also, there can be walls that can collapse when needed in the form of a partition wall or a Murphy bed.

17. Open Storages

When one builds a tiny house, there is going to be a very limited amount of space. Along with efficiency the aesthetics of the house also matters. Hence, when one wants the tiny house design to be aesthetically and functionally strong one has to think of giving open storages for both look and use. For example, one can set up a storage as a partition between two spaces. An open storage can divide the living and bed areas.

18. Using transparent materials

The materials that are used in the windows or in the partition walls, can be transparent. They must be able to connect two spaces with each other such that the spaces will be more spacious and fluid. For example, when one uses transparent glass in the large window of the living room, it connects the living space to the outside and makes the site wider.

19. Using movable furniture

The furniture used in a tiny house must be movable and handy in their designs. For example, if one fixes the furniture or builds heavy furniture that will consume more space inside, giving no room for adjustment. Also, when one uses movable furniture there are chances to mix and match that will enhance the living space.

20. Use the loft

The tiny house designs can have double heights inside which gives one the opportunity of using the space to a wide extent. Using the loft as a bedroom or a study space can benefit the space areas and the functionality of the house. One can also have huge windows giving natural lights and ventilation making it a very interesting space to live in.

Conclusion

Looking at all the aspects of a tiny house design, one can start by looking at the tips and following them to build a better lifestyle. This will always help one design better living spaces with the ongoing trends and requirements. 

Content Writing and Research by: Ar. Rajeshwari Pandya