Imagine waking up before the sun rises, walking down a small flight of stairs from your cozy loft to the kitchenette. As you watch through the window behind your tiny home’s breakfast bar, a light snowfall covers your wrap-around deck. Surrounded by beautiful pine and evergreen trees, you smile to yourself, maybe tomorrow I’ll see a cardinal.
There is something so majestic about living in a tiny home. Whether you’re looking for a tiny house on wheels or you want to downsize your current living space, the idea of tiny home living is an incredibly attractive option to consider. If you’re not yet sold on the idea of a tiny house lifestyle, you will be after learning about the different styles of tiny homes that exist. With so many amazing options you might decide to move into a tiny home immediately after reading this article.
Tiny Homes On Wheels
A tiny home on wheels is an excellent way to live a mobile lifestyle, making changing locations an easy process. Instead of packing up all your belongings and hiring an expensive moving company, you can hook your tiny home to a trailer hitch and be on your way. Before you put your tiny home on wheels there are a few things you should consider.
- What type of trailer will you build your tiny home on?
- Wherever you decide to move, find out what the local laws are for living in a tiny home on wheels.
- How will you hook up plumbing and electrical sources to your tiny home?
- Where can you legally park your tiny home?
- Can your current vehicle tow your tiny home?
Once you’ve answered these questions and gathered the information you need, you can get started designing and building your tiny home.
Tiny Homes On Foundations
When imagining a tiny home you often picture a structure built on top of a trailer. Unfortunately, inhabiting a trailer can be difficult. There are different zoning laws depending on the local municipality you decide to park in, as well as limited building space. Fortunately, there are plenty of popular foundation options if you decide to build your tiny home on land.
Like a typical home, you could choose to construct your tiny home on a concrete foundation. This option gives you the most freedom when designing your tiny home. You could also use helical piles which are hollow steel tubes that stabilize structures by anchoring the load to the ground. If you aren’t the owner of a piece of land, building a semi-permanent foundation out of skids or runners is also an option.
Converting A Bus Into A Tiny Home
You may think this is a crazy idea, but lots of people are now converting old school buses into legit tiny homes. If you’re thinking this doesn’t sound spacious enough, realize that once you remove all the seating, you can really see how much space a school bus provides. And since the walls are lined with windows, you’re receiving plenty of natural lighting too. You can cover certain windows with see-through coverings, or even blackout curtains, giving you privacy during the day, and helping you sleep uninterrupted during the night. If you want, keep some of the benches around, they can be great pieces of functional furniture for your tiny home.
All Natural Tiny Cob Homes
Cob homes are built using clay, straw, sand, subsoil, and other fibrous organic materials. You may not believe cob homes are durable, but with proper maintenance, most can stand for a lifetime. Some of these structures have been standing for over 500 years. Designing a cob home with the right leak-proof roofing is key to making it structurally sound.
Granny Pods For Everyone!
The idea of building a granny pod or granny flat was originally to allow older people to live with their families while still maintaining their independence. With the growing popularity of the tiny house movement, some homeowners are now using granny pods as a way to make extra money on vacation rental websites such as Airbnb and Vrbo.
It’s A Beautiful Day In The Trailer Park
Don’t knock the idea of a trailer home before you try it. Also known as trailer or manufactured housing, this type of tiny home is known for its affordable pricing. While the public’s image of trailers isn’t all that positive, the option to move your house, along with the lower cost of living, provides a compelling argument for why you might want to consider living in a trailer park.
Convert An RV Or A Camper Into A Tiny Home
Normally designed for luxury camping trips, the popularity of living in a motorhome has been increasing with the growing desire to live off the grid. Do you remember the big beast of an RV from Breaking Bad? Motorhomes aren’t only for cooking, they can be converted into fully functional tiny homes, compact and accessible for everyone without sacrificing on comfort or aesthetics.
The Modern Shed For The Modern Homeowner
Living in a garden shed? You gotta be kidding me. No jokes here, where you may choose to store your garden tools, some homeowners develop their sheds into livable spaces. Backyard sheds are the perfect foundation for building a tiny home, and you can design them to function however you want, from a stylish home office to the music studio you’ve always dreamed of. You can even build a little porch around your tiny home, where you can bathe in the sunlight and listen to the Plum Island birds. The possibilities for a modern shed are endless!
Go Your Own Way In A Mystical Gypsy Wagon
Based on the mystical horse-drawn caravans that were once essential to the gypsy lifestyle, these highly decorated wagons have been receiving a major facelift over the years. Gypsy wagons, also known as Vardos, can be rented or built by ADU companies as either permanent or temporary residences. Intricately carved, and beautifully designed, this style of tiny home would look stunning parked along a lake or private beach, and will always bring you a sense of adventure and fun.
Relax In A Cozy Tiny Log Cabin
When we picture a cabin, we usually think of a small retreat in the woods with no phones or electricity. We imagine a little house built with rich smelling woods, and breathtaking fireplaces. And of course, an endless supply of firewood in not just the back, but also in the front yard. If you own a wooded piece of land, building a tiny home that resembles a remote cabin can be the perfect place to get some good old rest and relaxation.
Whether renting out your tiny log cabin as a vacation home or turning it into a man cave for yourself, the added impact of the rustic design resembles a simpler time, where life didn’t move so fast, and everyone lived in the moment.
Design An A-Frame Tiny Home
Since being seen on the Netflix show “Tiny Home Nation With Zack Giffin, A-frame tiny homes have been rapidly increasing in popularity, especially on the coasts of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. An A-frame is a vertically pointed roof, typically made of metal, allowing snowfall to melt down the sides without piling up on top. The vaulted ceiling also gives a spacious feel to this particular style of tiny home, particularly suited for building a bedroom loft.
Turn A Shipping Container Into A Tiny Home
Designing a tiny home out of a recycled shipping container is becoming an increasingly popular option due to its affordability and sustainability. Container homes are designed to be outfitted with all the typical amenities inside a traditional house, customized to meet any size or layout you desire. Weld multiple shipping containers together and create an ever-expanding fortress of solitude, of course only after you’ve studied local zoning laws and consulted with the building department.
Yurts For A Nomadic Lifestyle
Known as being round, portable structures, yurts have been the homes to the nomadic people of central Asia for centuries. Typically constructed with wooden frames and durable and covered with burlap or canvas, they’re deceptively sturdy for such a simple design. As yurts become more popular as alternative dwellings, due to being easy to assemble and disassemble, more homeowners are making the switch to a nomadic lifestyle.
Never Stop Fishing With A HouseBoat
A floating home designed to meet the functionality of a traditional home, houseboats are typically attached to the shore of a marina. Equipped with all the same amenities inside a normal house, you’ll get to wake up every morning to the sun rising on the waterfront. You’ll have an all-access pass to whatever bay or lake you reside on, so spend your days fishing, catching the cool sea breeze across your back, while relaxing without a care in the world.
Design An Underground Home
If you’re a fan of the Lord Of The Rings series, you’ve probably heard of hobbit holes and wondered what it’d be like to live in one. Besides being humble and cozy, these underground homes are incredibly innovative. When designed well, an underground home is never too dark inside, as you’ll probably want to install tunnel windows, as well as have the house angled in a way that provides you with lots of natural sunlight.
With tiny homes sweeping the nation, it’s incredible to think how these humble structures have been capturing our hearts and minds. What makes these so attractive is the simplistic lifestyle associated with tiny home living. They fulfill our desire to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, free from unnecessary distractions, and urban developments.
If you found any of these different styles of tiny homes inspiring, feel free to schedule a conversation with Perry Brothers Construction to discuss your questions and ideas regarding tiny home living.
