tiny home furniture

Tiny Home Furniture Ideas - Thinking Big While Living Small

Saskia Rose Perron-Jansen

Saskia Rose

November 02, 2023

In the delightful world of tiny homes, where space is a cherished commodity, innovation is key as we explore the world of tiny home furniture. These innovative concepts let us think big while living small, proving that size is no limitation to style and comfort.

From multi-functional pieces that seamlessly transform from a dining table into a workspace, to cleverly designed storage hidden beneath the bed or within the walls, every nook and cranny is a canvas for creativity.

Friends sitting at a diner table

As we embrace the philosophy of less is more, these furniture ideas invite us to dream without boundaries and reimagine the possibilities of living large within the cozy confines of our tiny havens.

What Is A Tiny Home?

According to the 2018 International Residential Code, Appendix Q, tiny homes are defined as "a dwelling unit with a maximum of 37 square meters (less than 400 square footage) of floor area, excluding lofts."

Since the world wide recession from 2007 to 2009, tiny homes sparked a lot of interest as a lot of people were considering an affordable and eco-friendly alternative. Many people re-evaluated their values in life and reconsidered what they find important.

With a tiny home lifestyle, more focus is placed on spending family time, healing the environment, strengthening communities and saving money. By downsizing our living space, we simplify and embrace "living with less."

What Are The Benefits Of A Tiny Home?

When looking at what we sacrifice versus what we gain living in a tiny home, we soon realize it is absolutely the way to go!

Let's have a look at just a few of the benefits:

Efficiency

Considering what you can do with a little bit of planning there isn't much of a difference between tiny and regular homes. Everything is just a little more compact and a lot more efficient. Small spaces means that you need to take a structured approach to your layout, maximize storage space and eliminate unused space.

Optimization

Taking the approach that no space gets wasted, allows for an optimized living environment. Due to the relatively small volume of air inside a tiny home, it is easy to regulate the inside temperature. A small air conditioning unit can keep your tiny house at the ideal temperature without using much electricity.

Family Time

A small space is very conducive to spending more quality family time. Find out how your partner's day was while preparing dinner in your kitchen, or watch a movie with the whole family, even if you are in the living room and the kids are chilling in the bedroom.

Eco-Conscious

The environmental impact of a tiny house is absolutely remarkable. With their minimized footprint and efficient use of resources, tiny houses are prime examples of sustainable living at its best. These compact dwellings consume significantly less energy and maintenance is a fraction of what larger homes require.

The size of these tiny houses often encourages a simpler, eco-conscious lifestyle, where occupants are more mindful of their consumption and waste. Many of these homes are built using eco-friendly materials and make use of renewable energy sources such as solar panels, reducing their carbon footprint even further.

By embracing the lifestyle, individuals commit to preserve natural resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote a more harmonious coexistence with the environment.

How To Make Tiny Spaces Feel Expansive?

When we have limited space available, it could give a restricted or confined feel when walking into a room, but this doesn't have to be the case. Making tiny spaces feel expansive requires a clever interplay of design, colour, and functionality.

A lady sitting on a couch

Light Up A Room

A great way to make a small space look larger is by making sure it is well lit, whether it is using flowing natural light, or well placed artificial lighting.

Natural Light

Natural light provides a free and open feel, making a small space appear more open and spacious. Large windows and skylights allow sunlight to flow freely through your tiny house and give a warm and inviting atmosphere.

Strategically placed mirrors help to bounce light around the room, allowing even more sunlight in and creating an illusion of depth.

Open windows for a cool summer breeze, or bake in the sun on cold winter mornings.

Artificial Light

If you are not blessed with an abundance of natural light, or simply want your tiny house to have the same cozy effect after dark, well placed artificial lights could do wonders. Focus on warm white light bulbs (rather than a cool white) to give a more natural feel.

Use multiple light fittings in a small space to make a room feel more open and spacious. A combination of ceiling lights and wall lights, complemented with table lights and floor lamps will add extra lighting to fully illuminate a room.

Colours

Light and neutral colours visually enlarge an area, as bright tones reflect more light, creating the illusion of more space within. This goes for interior walls as well as furniture, curtain or bedspread colours.

Tiny House Furniture Ideas

When you think of tiny house furniture, multi-use space is essential. A tiny house bedroom can consist of traditional sofa beds that double as a sofa, or a Murphy bed that folds up neatly to make space for a living room. Multi-purpose furniture maximizes utility while minimizing clutter.

In order to get the desired effect out of your tiny house furniture, consider pieces with clean lines and slim profiles to maintain an unobtrusive feel.

The Transformer Dining Set 3.0 - The Family gives us just that, with the added benefit of extending the solid wood dining table from 2 to 12 seats! The perfect solution to take care of the day to day 4 seater family dining needs AND ample dining space for a dinner party for all your friends and family. The Transformer Coffee Table 3.0 - Panel Storage neatly and compactly stores the table panels stacked inside the coffee table when not in use and still has enough space for your coffee maker. Pair this with folding chairs and you have a winning combination.

 

What To Consider When Decorating A Tiny Home?

As potential tiny home owners, floor space is usually considered as the biggest limiting factor when thinking of a tiny house, but this is where you can get your creative juices flowing. Planning your decorating well in advance, gives you the opportunity to get everything just right, rather than having to redo, or replan something that isn't working.

When decorating a tiny house, we need to keep in mind that several critical considerations can make a huge difference in the comfort and functionality.

Functionality is Key: In a tiny house, every square inch and hidden space must serve a purpose. Prioritize functionality over aesthetics when choosing furniture and décor. Choose multi-functional pieces that can be used for different purposes.

Scale and Proportion: Choose furniture and décor that are proportionate to the size of your tiny house. Oversized furniture can overwhelm the space, making it feel cramped.

Light Colours and Natural Light: Use light colours on walls, ceilings, and furniture to make a tiny space appear larger and more open.

Storage Solutions: Effective storage is essential. Built-in storage, under-bed storage, and wall-mounted shelves helps keep clutter at bay. There might also be hidden storage opportunities in furniture!

Minimalism: Embrace a minimalist approach. Clutter can quickly make a tiny space feel chaotic.

Vertical Space: Make the most of the space with floor to ceiling corner shelving and cabinets can maximize storage potential while keeping the floor areas clear.

Flexible Furniture: Consider fold-down tables, Murphy beds and collapsible furniture that can be tucked away when not in use.

Open Layout: An open floor plan can create a sense of spaciousness. Unnecessary walls or barriers can make the space feel smaller.

Personal Comfort: While optimizing space is crucial, don't sacrifice personal comfort. Ensure that your tiny house includes the essential creature comforts that make daily living enjoyable.

Future Needs: Our lifestyle and needs evolve. Consider having the flexibility in design to change your tiny home as this happens. Down the line, this can be very beneficial.

While decorating a tiny house is a creative challenge, it can also be incredibly rewarding. Each decision should be made with careful consideration of both aesthetics and functionality to create a comfortable and efficient living space.

Follow room by room guide and consider the furniture choices for your tiny house kitchen, living room, loft bedroom, etc. 

Unlock Hidden Storage In Compact Living

With limited floor space, storage can quickly become a concern. This is where we need to delve into clever storage ideas, innovative design solutions and practical tips to maximize your space.

An aspect that is commonly overlooked, but can make the world of difference for your storage needs is vertical spaces. Utilize as much vertical space as possible and save space by incorporating tall shelving units or hanging storage, freeing up precious floor area. This also helps create an open layout that gives a flowing connection between different rooms, making the space feel like one complete unit from beginning to end.

It makes sense to create extra storage space for items in the room you use most often. There is ample storage space in storage drawers underneath the bed. Why not use this for extra linen, winter blankets and pillow storage. Consider foldable tables to provide the extra space in Tiny house kitchens and dining areas.

How Does Furniture Shape Space?

Furniture plays a vital role in shaping the space within a tiny house. It has the power to transform even the most modest room size into a functional and inviting area, by using some modern and stylish options available. Every piece of furniture becomes a strategic element, carefully chosen to serve a multi-purpose role and optimize the available square footage.

Furniture Shape Space

Thoughtfully designed furniture can create distinct zones, seamlessly merging the living, dining room, and sleeping areas while maintaining a clean flow. A great resource for inspiration is 38 Furniture Ideas for Small Living Spaces.

Smart storage solutions, like multi-functional furniture with a built-in storage compartment, help minimize visual clutter and keep everything you use daily close at hand. Imagine storing your extra linen in the base storage underneath your beds, or your seasonal clothing in hidden shelves built into a staircase.

The choice of furniture style, the colour tones and arrangement can do wonders to create the perception of spaciousness, either enhancing the cozy feel of a room or visually opening up and expanding the confines.

Furniture becomes a vital part in the design of your home, molding the tiny house into a comfortable, efficient, and beautiful sanctuary for you and your loved ones to enjoy.

How Do We Make The Most Of Our Outside Area?

An often overlooked hidden gem is a well planned outside area. This is where we can entertain friends, have family barbecues or spend time alone to connect with nature.

It begins with thoughtful landscaping, choosing native plants and creating a relaxing and inviting atmosphere. Outdoor furniture should be comfortable and durable, encouraging us to spend more time in the open air.

We can explore Ideas on How to Turn a Small Backyard into an Oasis and with a little creativity, shape your outside space to your personal sanctuary.

A huge part of your outside area tone is set by your outside furniture. Durability, comfort, colour, flexibility and adaptability is very important. The Transformer Patio Conversation Set - Modular 3 Piece to 5 is an excellent choice to extend your tiny home.

Each piece in the Transformer Outdoors set is made with a sturdy metal frame, weather-proof resin wicker, giving it the look and texture of natural wicker with the durability, weather and UV resistance of resin. The resin wicker is made from high-density polyethylene, a commonly recycled material without any heavy metal plasticizers. It is a non-toxic and environmentally friendly choice.

All cushions and accent pillows are constructed from weather, UV and mildew resistant fabric. The fabric is woven from tough acrylic fibers to create a high-performance fabric that is stain resistant. A special finish is added to the fabric to enhance water repellency, making sure it stays vibrant for years to come.

Grey Wicker / Grey Cushion::Gallery::Transformer Outdoors Set - Grey Wicker with Grey Fabric Cushions

There you have it! With a little planning and a dash of creativity, you could soon fall in love with the tiny house lifestyle.