Going tiny? Then keep reading! The key to choosing tiny house furniture is more than just making sure it fits inside your new home. Downsizing will mean you’ll have less space than you’re used to. This means it’s essential that each piece of furniture serves more than one purpose as well. Either that or it should be able to tuck away neatly in a closet or corner when it’s not being used. Living in a small space doesn’t mean you have to give up having a coffee table to put your feet up on each night or a desk to sit at throughout the day. Minimalist living can provide you with the same comforts as a full-sized house, as long as it’s done right.
Part of doing it right is choosing furniture for your tiny house that best suit your needs. For example, if you don’t cook often, then you certainly don’t need a large stove. In fact, you might not even need a small one. (Is it just me, or are toaster ovens more useful anyway?) Skipping the oven will give you more counter or floor space, which might end up being more useful to you. Another example is deciding where you’ll eat. If you prefer to eat on the couch, then you probably won’t be needing a kitchen table. These are the kinds of decisions you’ll need to make during the design process of your new house of wheels.
Think you’re ready to dive into building your tiny house? Check out this list of must-have furniture that will help make your transition into minimal living much easier.
A Sofa Bed
Since having both a couch and a bed in your tiny house would take up too much room, combining the two can save you a significant amount of space. It’s the perfect multipurpose piece of furniture as you wouldn’t likely need to use your bed and couch at the same time. Sofas these days not only transform quickly and easily into comfortable beds, but they often also provide a significant amount of storage for you to keep your blankets, pillows, and other items. Consider buying a slightly raised couch so you can utilize the space underneath it as well. If a sofa bed isn’t your thing, here are some other furniture options to consider:
- Futon
- Trundle Bed
- Lofted Bed
- Bunk Beds
- Convertible Chair Bed
- Murphy Bed
Folding Chairs
Regardless of whether you want a single desk chair or a few chairs to go around a small table, they should all fold. This will allow you to easily store them when they’re not being used. Perhaps the extra space underneath your sofa bed will be the ideal spot to tuck them in. Or, you might prefer to hang them up on your wall and utilize some of your vertical storage. Consider choosing chairs that are suitable for both inside your tiny house as well as outside since you likely won’t have room for both. These days folding chairs come in so many different styles and colors, you won’t get stuck having to use those hideous metal seats you were likely forced to sit in all throughout grade school. They can be padded, they can be wood, they can be plastic. If folding chairs aren’t for you, then look into bar stools instead. They’re the perfect piece of furniture to have around for you and your guests since they’re stackable and they don’t take up much space.
Space Saving Table
Even if you don’t sit at the kitchen table to eat every night, having some kind of counter space is going to be necessary. It gives you an area to prepare your meals, to rest your glass of wine on, and to hold your bowl of fruit. Where would your fruit bowl go if you didn’t have a table? Depending on how you design your tiny house, this area can also double as a desk or working space. Some designs are even made for saving space and conveniently offer a storage area for your chairs. Here are some table options to consider:
- Fold-Out Convertible Table
- Bar Style Table
- Coffee Table
- Foldable Table
- Expandable Table
Coffee Table
Depending on the size and shape of your tiny house design, you might be able to fit both a coffee table and a kitchen table inside. Don’t forget that just like most of your other pieces of furniture, you’ll want your coffee table to be multi-purpose. Ideally, the best kind of coffee table will hold storage and has a reversible lid that can provide you with the option of either a soft top or a hard table top. This allows you to have a hard tabletop to do your work or put a cup of tea on but also gives you a cushioned side that can act as an extra seat for when you have guests. Tiny living doesn’t mean you’ll no longer get to entertain! Denise Bryant from My Thrifty House suggests, “You could use an ottoman to store blankets and add a tray to the top to create a table while still using it to prop up your feet and watch a movie.” Ottomans are a great example of something that can be used as a multi-purpose coffee table.
Swiss Army Knife Kitchen
Having a full kitchen in a tiny house is near impossible. Especially if you plan to put your new home on wheels, you’ll want to keep things as light as possible. A Swiss Army knife-like kitchen is all the rage right now in the tiny house community. Similar to the knife we’re all familiar with, these compact kitchens practically unfold before your eyes. Depending on the model you get, your collapsible kitchen can include a sink, stove top, dining area, a counter, and much-needed storage space. Some are even equipped with a wine glass rack, and we all know just how important those are.
When you’re all done cooking, everything collapses back into place so that it doesn’t look like it’s more than a small cabinet. If a collapsible kitchen isn’t for you though, these other options just might be:
- Wood Stove
- Solar Ovens
- Burner Cooktops
- Compact Kitchen
Corner Shelves
When you’re living a minimalist lifestyle, it’s essential to utilize every square inch of your tiny home. The corners can be especially useful, and you will soon find while designing your new home on wheels that shelving and hooks are your best friend. Corner shelves specifically are great as they can be used to display pretty much anything. In your living room, they can add to the decor by carrying books, picture frames, and other knick-knacks you’ve picked up on the road. In the bathroom, corner shelves can be used to hold the essentials such as shampoo, conditioner, toilet paper, and soaps. You’ll even find a use for shelving in your kitchen to hold your spices, tea bags, sugar, and other yummy things. Corner shelves add storage without intruding too much on your limited floor space.
Summary
Living a life of minimalism doesn’t necessarily mean having to struggle without the comforts you’re used to. It’s more about being able to leave some things behind when you move into a small space. Like that dress you haven’t worn in nearly a decade, or those shoes you still can’t figure out why you bought in the first place. Whether you plan on building your furniture yourself or purchasing it all, the key to success in a small space is having each piece serve multiple purposes. And, of course, one of those purposes should definitely be storage!
