Daydreaming

I’ve been on Pinterest again, and there are so many lovely ideas out there!

My TH (tiny house) board has grown since I last posted about it. I don’t plan on using every idea on there and some won’t work for what I have in mind for my house, but I enjoy looking through all the cool spaces people have created.

I would like to share some of the reoccurring pins that will probably make it into my house. But nothing’s set in stone yet!

Bathroom:
A sliding door is probably the most repeated pin. I plan to build a sliding door for the bathroom with a mirror on the outside. I might buy hardware, but some people do make their own. I could do a pocket door, but it might be easier to do a sliding door rather than build a complicated wall. Besides, the door will slide in between a closet and the shower so it won’t be seen anyway.
I want a sink in the bathroom for sure, but just a teeny tiny one with a little bit of storage underneath.
My bathroom mirror above the sink will definitely have storage behind it.
A bathtub in the tiny house would be nice and they make some cute ones, but I only take baths maybe once or twice a year, so it’s not worth the square footage to me.
I’m going to have a cabinet on the wall in the bathroom, and I might build a little storage cubby into the wall beside the toilet for toilet paper or something. That’s pretty much the only wall that I can build anything into because the rest will be filled with insulation.

Kitchen:
I want a well-lit kitchen, especially over the work spaces. I can’t stand it when the only light is overhead and standing at the counter blocks the light from what you’re doing.
I’d like to have some open shelving in the kitchen.
I’ve decided to go without a dishwasher. It’s not worth the space or the plumbing, but I will have to get into the habit of keeping the dishes washed.
I plan to have a very organized kitchen, with plenty of shelves so I never have to lift one kind of plate to get the kind below it.
I want storage in the toe-kicks!
I prefer roll-out shelves rather than normal cabinets because they make it easier to access everything.
I try to pin a lot of appliance options for me to look at later.
There are some really cool drawers that you can add to the bottom of your fridge shelves for extra storage, and I’d love to have those.
I like alternative utensil storage ideas, because I probably won’t have an entire drawer to devote to just forks, spoons, and knives.
I also love storage hacks for under the sink that keep everything tidy.
A functional garbage and recycling system is important with all the different bins we use (garbage, paper, plastic, refundable, and compost).

General:
In the loft and the window seat, I want to have some warm lighting, possibly string twinkle lights, as well as sheer white curtains.
The clothes closets will have drawers for sure; I’m not one to hang all my clothes.
I love some of the raw-edge wood pieces I’ve seen, and using wood in interesting ways like using the ends of 2x4s for flooring (although I probably won’t do that).
I still have to decide how I’m going to trim the windows inside the house and whether I’ll paint them. I do want wide window sills for knick-knacks though.
I’m definitely going to have a fold-down table, and probably some folding chairs and smaller folding tables. I want flexibility in the main room.
I need to find a solution for a TV screen. I planned to only use my computer, but my boyfriend wants a bigger screen. Maybe we’ll do a pull down screen, or something wall-mounted that can be seen from different parts of the house.

I love little hidden storage ideas, like keys behind picture frames. I can build storage almost anywhere! There’s also an awesome device storage system the hangs on the wall and is only 5cm deep, meant for phones and laptops.
I want little tiny shelves to make use of wasted space.
I want to do something interesting with the light switches, and I haven’t decided what kind I want yet.
I might want to do a wall mural or an interesting design on the floor (although that will come later).
I want some awesome backsplashes that maybe aren’t tile.
I’ve also looked at different options for fold-out beds in case I do have someone over to stay the night.
I want to build storage into the floor on either side of the bed.

I love little touches of creativity and colour that make a home unique.
I love coloured glassware and intend to have a colourful house. 🙂

I can’t wait to work on the fun little things, and even though I’ve got a long way to go, it’s good to keep imagining the final, beautiful product to keep me going.

It’s the Little Things

I just want to share a few of the neat things I’m planning for my tiny house.

Toe-kick storage: There will be shallow drawers underneath my lower kitchen cabinets that slide out; for storing paper, office supplies, cookie sheets, small tools, and maybe some files.

Kitchen cabinet notes: I’ll attach cork boards/whiteboards inside the upper kitchen cabinets for notes, grocery lists, to-do lists, meal ideas, conversion charts, and more.

Rounded shelves for glasses: I’m thinking about little shelves that would be attached to the upper cabinets on both sides of the kitchen window. It might end up being too much for the small space, but I like the idea of displaying pretty glasses.

Tiny shelves: I was considering my current kitchen today and how much of it I don’t use, and I thought of a space saver. Instead of having only one shelf in the middle of the cabinets, I want to add one more just a few inches above or below the main one. I’ll be able to store bottles (like spices) on their sides and have a place for cutting boards without taking up an entire cabinet.

A hanging rod in the kitchen: Something I’m thinking about is having a metal rod across the back splash that I can hang utensils and small containers for cutlery on, to keep things off the counter.

A desk above my head: Above the window seat I plan to install a shelf about six inches below the loft. It will hold my computer (and there will be an outlet back there to charge it), a notepad, and other papers you’d put in your desk.

Floorboard storage: Instead of baskets or shelves by the sides of the bed in the loft, I want to make storage underneath the flooring. The storage will be between the beams below that hold up the loft. I can’t put any storage in the floor of the main floor or in the walls anywhere because I need every bit of insulation.

Hidden electrics: I plan to hide my electrical panel in the main room, behind either a hinged whiteboard/cork board or a hinged painting.

A towel ring: I posted a while ago about a towel hook versus a towel rod for my teeny bathroom. Recently, I saw a picture on Pinterest with a towel ring instead. That’s perfect for me, because I don’t like hooks but I can’t be bothered to hang up my towel neatly on a rod.

Magnets in the bathroom: I’ve done this already in my current bathroom. I glued magnets to the inside of the medicine cabinet to keep track of nail clippers and tweezers.

Foot-activated taps: To save water, I want to have a foot pedal in the kitchen and bathroom that controls the sink taps. That way you’re not wasting water letting it run while you’re washing dishes, soaping up your hands, or brushing your teeth. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult!

A pause button for the shower: Another water saver I’ve heard of, you can use the pause feature while you’re soaping up your hair.

And those are just a few of the many interesting things I plan to create! Stay tuned!

Elevation Drawing #8

This is actually two different drawings, but they were small so I put them on one page:

Lofts

As you can see, the top drawing is the sleeping loft. It’s 9’6″ deep, so there’s space at the head of the mattress for the shelving and at the foot for getting in and out of the loft. There’s the octagon window (I’d love to have a circular window, but to me it’s not worth the difficulty).

Notice how the less steep roof allows for a lot more space? No 45° angles in my loft!

The side walls are almost 3′ high, and from the floor to the peak of the roof it is 3’9″. With a 6″ thick mattress, that makes the head space above the bed 3’3″. I’m just over 5’4″ tall, and when I’m kneeling, I’m 3’3″ tall. When I’m sitting cross-legged, I’m 3’1″ tall. That said, I sit really tall because I have a long torso. Still, it’s not ideal to have such a low ceiling in the loft, but I can’t take height from anywhere else. The trailer can’t be lower than two feet high, it’s recommended to not make a ceiling in a normal room lower than 6’8″ (and mine is 7′ with 4 x 4 rafter ties cutting into head space), and I need thick insulation. Maybe I’ll steal a few inches from the kitchen. Yes, I think I’ll do that. I don’t need 16″ above my head in the kitchen when I only have 2″ above me in the loft. Sigh. This means I’ll have to re-do all my drawings.

But really, how often do you sit in bed? I’m not going to be getting dressed up there, and when I’m sitting up in bed propped up with pillows (like I am as I write this post), the top of my head is only 2’1″ from the bed. I think I’ll like having a ceiling so close. It’ll make it cozy and it’ll be awesome to have a skylight that close.

And the bottom drawing is just an empty loft space with another octagon window, above the window seat and mini front porch. This loft is only 2’6″ deep. It’ll be full of pretty storage boxes and luggage, holding memorabilia and out of season items.

Elevation Drawing #7

So if you were facing the dining room and turned around, this is what you’d see:

Entrance

This is my drop zone! It’s on the left when you walk in the front door.

There’s a nice window, hooks for sweaters and jackets, and a little table on wheels that has shelves in it for shoes (that are adjustable so I can fit tall boots and flip-flops). I’ll build the table myself so I can have exactly what I want and so that it will be the right size for the space.

The line from floor to ceiling on the right is the side of the ladder in its stored position.

There’s a outlet to plug in my phone if I want and also for the electric heater I’ll have there. It is a really tight space (1’6″ with no wiggle room on the sides) to stick an important component of my house – the heat source – but since I haven’t fully decided on what kind of heater I want, that spot suffered as the floor plan evolved. In the very first design, the heater had extra space beside it so I could wheel over the comfy chair and read by the warmth. The small space makes me rethink having the mini front porch. I could give up that and have plenty of room for any heater…

I was at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago and someone was selling a small electric fireplace. It was cute and not too big and not expensive. I really considered buying it for the tiny house, but it had no thermostat (now that I think about it, you can probably add one) and I couldn’t be sure if it would be strong enough to heat my little house, so I passed. What I think I’ll do is get an electric heater (I’m picturing one of those skinny standing ones) and try it out this winter in part of the house that’s around the same size as my house will be. That way I’ll know if it’ll give off enough heat and I’ll get to see ahead of time how much it will cost. I’m going to do a post about tiny house heating options soon, so check back for that.

I’ve used up almost all the graph paper in the house 😛 There are still a few more drawings to come though; I’ll keep you posted 🙂

Elevation Drawing #6

Getting back to looking around the inside of my house:

Dining Room

This is what you’d see if you looked to the right as soon as you walked through the front door.

There’s a nice big window, wall space for various quotes and lists that I like to post everywhere, two folding chairs that I’ll paint bright colours, a comfy chair on wheels that is good for reading as well as dining, and a fold-down table that can be folded as two separate halves.

I’ll be able to seat four (the window seat being the 4th seat), but if I want extra space, everything can be moved or folded away. And if it’s just me, I don’t have to set up a full-size table. I’ll probably end up building the table myself, and I’ve seen a couple different ways of doing it. There’s the way I drew it, with an arm that folds out from flat against the wall to support the table, or I’ve seen table legs that detach, which is pretty neat. There’s also an IKEA table with two folding sides and narrow drawers in the center. It’s on wheels too, and I’ve seen it in tiny houses. It’s apparently really heavy though.

I love how versatile tiny homes are.