China Rose and AJ decided on a Vardo-style tiny house to enable them to live nomadically. It’s 24 feet long by 12.5 feet high by 8.5 feet at the highest point, and due to the distinctive bowed roofline of this historic design. Then it narrows down to 7.5 feet at the wheelbase. It comes to about 175 square feet. Fittingly, the decor embraces vintage charm. They worked to create an open, inviting feel with old-world flair.
To achieve an airy feel, China Rose and AJ opted for an elevator bed to maximize the vertical space. This keeps their main living space open. Upcycled antique furniture brought their family history into their home. This also added to its vintage look & feel. For instance, the buffet from China Rose’s great-grandmother that’s attached to the wall. It hadn’t been used for quite some time, but now, they use it as clothing storage. Additionally, they used her great-grandmother’s dining table and chairs for their dining area and our workspace.
About China Rose & AJ modified them to work for their vardo-style tiny house:
“So in choosing furniture, we knew that we didn’t want to go the cookie cutter kind of IKEA approach. We wanted it to feel like home right away. So my mom was actually gracious enough to let us use my great-grandmother’s dining room set that was in storage. And it had been used for years and loved for years, but it wasn’t being used anymore.
So we are using basically half of the table, both of the chairs. The table, actually, the legs fold up underneath it, and it folds flat against the wall when we’re moving so that it protects it. And then, we also took the rest of the pieces of the table and made the cabinet above, which houses all my work equipment, my printer, all our paper and books, and all of that. And we use the buffet actually for clothing storage and shoe storage. It feels like my Nana’s with me.”
Further, they designed the house’s functionality around their lifestyle with clever space-efficient features. They attached side tables to their bed frame, for example. These raise and lower with the bed, so they don’t have to worry about forgetting stuff downstairs when we’re ready to go to bed!