Guest Post by Nicholas Haywood
Tiny homes can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you are incapable of accumulating useless junk. On the other, we as tiny home owners would often prefer to keep at least a portion of that junk. Fear not. There are ways to increase the amount of space available to store all of those wonderful items that you cannot live without.
Utilize All Spaces
It’s not that tiny homes lack space to store items; it’s that the space that is available isn’t always utilized to its full potential. Walls and ceiling space are valuable resources that tiny home owners may fail to utilize to their full potential.
- Additional storage areas or shelves can be built near the ceiling to create additional storage areas in spacious rooms.
- Purchasing shoe shelves that can be attached to the doors of your bedroom will allow you to store shoes behind doors which would otherwise be unusable.
- Floor to ceiling shelves will allow homeowners to utilize all of the space available in the room. Doing this with all the walls may be too much, but utilizing this method on some of the walls will provide tiny homeowners with a lot of vital space.
Dual Purpose Furnishing
If you are a tiny homeowner, dual purpose furnishings will allow you and your family to make the most out of all your furniture choices. Not only can it magically create more storage space, dual purpose furniture can allow you to choose which house you want to show guests: the crowded, cramped house born of necessity or the spacious, well-crafted illusion.
- The couch by day and bed by night is the oldest dual purpose furniture on the market. This piece of furniture is a solid way to save space if you do not have enough room in your house for a full bed.
- This sofa/table can serve as either a 2 or 3 person couch or a 6 person table.
- Stow ottomans serve as both seats and additional storage spaces. They can provide additional areas to put must have items.
- Window seats can be created that serve as both as storage areas and a comfortable place to entertain guests or curl up with a book. The only downside of this plan is that the glare from the sun can create an uncomfortable atmosphere and can cause cushion fabric to fade over time. Both problems can be dealt with by applying window film to the window or purchasing blinds.
- For additional dual purpose furniture ideas you can peruse this article.
Think Smaller Appliances
Why does everything have to be so big? The mainstream American refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers, are all massive items that take up room that tiny home owners may not be able to give up to the appliances.
Thankfully someone heard the cries of distress from hundreds of tiny homeowners and created a solution. Fun size appliances.
- Tiny portable dishwashers akin to the size of a larger microwave can be acquired for your kitchen. This small appliance can be set on top of your countertop.
- Washer/Dryer combos allow homeowners to purchase only one huge appliance to do the job of two. Stackable washers and dryers will also save space.
- Tiny refrigerator/freezers about waist height are sold. They have all of the capabilities of the larger refrigerators, but with slightly less storage space.
With a few tactics you can transform your tiny cramped home, into a spacious living space that can still manage to hold more than you ever thought possible. Once you have started your home’s transformation you will wonder how you ever lived in the old version of your home.