My Tiny House Floor Plans — FINALLY!

I’ve been so busy lately, that I’ve failed to take the time to transcribe my grid-paper (working) version of my little house floor plans into something a bit more palatable for public consumption.

There is still much to be done, of course, but I did take the time today to learn how to use Google’s SketchUp drafting program, and used it to create my floor plans to share here on WickedBlog.

tiny house floorplan - first floor
Top-view of the first floor

My little house is super small, by modern standards, but is plenty big enough for me and mine. There are two very small bedrooms upstairs, a media room (large screen TV to be hung over the stairs sometime in the near future), and an open “great room/kitchen” area downstairs. There is a comfy chair downstairs, right next to the bookshelf for curling up for a good read and a rocking chair upstairs (belonging to Alex) for the same purpose.

View of the first floor from the landing on the stairs
Reading nook on the right, kitchen to the left, bookshelves in center (with fishtank and bathroom to the left of that) and dining area.

Currently, I use a secretary for storage of my writing reference books and as the platform to use my MacBook Pro. I just love the storage space offered by the drawers and all the little cubby holes behind the drop leaf desk surface. I also like the great use of vertical space — something that is imperative when living in small spaces.

Top floor of the cabin with media room, two bedrooms and staircase

Downstairs we have a large fish tank (not yet set up, but it will contain Oscars soon) and a small table for dining. At some point in the future, when I decide on what type of counter tops I want, I’ll be building a bar on the other side of the kitchen and add two or three bar stools.

It’s not seen in any of the images, but Max’s bed is under the stairs and he loves his little “cave” away from being underfoot, but still QUITE near all the action in the house. He’s been very good about not going upstairs (since that’s against my rules), but he has ventured to the landing on occasion when he’s feeling particularly rebellious. 🙂

View from the front porch

Alex still needs a desk set up in the media room for homeschooling. The one she’s using right now isn’t seen in the floor plans because it’s temporary and is too large for the space. It also doesn’t offer the vertical space SHE needs for all her books for school and pleasure reading.

The upstairs closets are marked with doors, but I didn’t put in walls. I didn’t add interior walls to any of the plans, because doing so would make it impossible to get the “photos” of the place to share.

Tiny house second floor plans
Close-up of media room, currently rather barren, while I determine how to set up a work area for Alex and select the low bookshelf I plan to use in lieu of a banister around the stairway. Closet outlines can be seen on the tile floor – accessed from bedrooms, leaving a blank wall for desks on the media room side.

Both of our bedrooms are finally set up, but I’d really like to move the books out of her room and allow her to use the shelf space to display her personal belongings instead. The drawers underneath her bed are a god-send for a teenager who has a knack for collecting “stuff” for its own sake. (It’s a habit I’m hoping she will outgrow.)

tiny bedroom plan in cottage
Alex’s tiny bedroom, with ONLY the basics. We are planning to hang a couple large framed pictures to personalize it and her VERY girly pink bed set and feminine curtains don’t show here — of course neither do the stacks of books she ALWAYS has in the floor because her bookshelf isn’t quite big enough for her literary appetites.
My own tiny bedroom
The bedroom is kept clear of all storage and clutter. There is enough room for a full-sized bed with a couple of small bedside stands. I like the bedroom to be serene and restful. I do plan to redo my current curtains to make them extend across the entire window wall and to enable more decoration with rich brocade and damask fabrics in hues of taupe, brown, burgundy and beige.

I didn’t draw in the walls for the closet by the bathroom downstairs — I’m still trying to decide if I’ll continue to use it for my clothes, or if I’ll convert it to a pantry. The pantry is probably going to win out since the pantry shelves under the steps aren’t nearly big enough for the amount of stock I like to keep.

Tiny bathroom plan for cabin
The bathroom was planned small, allowing only enough room for a corner-standing shower. Even the entry-way door is tiny. The luxury here is the custom tile work inside the shower which matches the dark, chocolate brown tile throughout the house.
The laundry area is tucked behind the reading nook, still convenient, but out of the “living” area downstairs.

As you can see, the laundry room isn’t really walled in at all. Instead, I’ve used a bookshelf to divide the space because I needed the storage space for all my books (in fact, it’s overflowing right now) and because NOT building a wall means it can be re-commissioned for other uses later without major reconstruction, should I decide to do so. I opted for a stackable washer/dryer unit because it takes full advantage of that precious vertical space, preserving the floor space and giving me room to work.

I still need to determine if I can manage to get a small freezer into the laundry area. Having a chest style one would offer my space for folding clothes and would enable me to install cabinets above it, but that’s in the future.

For now, I have everything other than the hot water heater, which decided to go out last week. The new one is scheduled for delivery tomorrow morning, so I hope to have that fixed very VERY soon. (I’m a real whiner when I don’t have hot showers.) The water pressure on a cottage water system based on a well doesn’t do well with instant, on-demand hot water heaters, so I’ve opted for a more traditional, albeit less cost-effective style with a tank.

All told, the cabin has right at 750 square feet (taking out for the stairwell upstairs) of interior space and the front porch adds an additional 192 sq ft. of covered outside space. The porch swing really makes me happy — and it’s a great vantage point to look out over the farm, especially lately when wild turkeys have decided to peck around in the front yard (so long as Max isn’t around to chase them away).

These two hens were pecking around in the yard outside the media room window – with their IMPRESSIVELY large male counterpart and a dozen or so fellow-hens strutting around in the woods on the other side of the creek on Monday morning. Max was NOT invited to go outside for awhile. 🙂

Sorry it has taken me so long to post these shots, I wasn’t ignoring those of you who asked… I’ve just been a little busy getting things settled around here 🙂

If you have any questions, leave me a comment. I’ll do my best to answer them in a timely fashion.

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Writing online since 1999. Visit her at WickedWriter.com. Angela specializes in real estate topics for brokers, agents, and homeowners. She also writes articles for small business owners and entrepreneurs to help them succeed in their businesses and online. Visit her blog at WickedBlog and Follow her on Google+

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