Modern Tiny Home Designs That Will Inspire You

Some of us just don’t have the budget to buy ourselves a large house. The truth is, while some of you may be fortunate enough to do so, most people just can’t afford it, especially those living in cities where housing is incredibly expensive. 

Although the latter may seem more ideal, you would be surprised as to how equally amazing tiny homes can actually be. In fact, tiny houses are not any less cool or special than big mansions. This is because there are plenty of ways in which you can make your tiny house seem larger than it actually is. 

While the term ‘tiny home’ is self-explanatory in itself, if you’re wondering what it actually means in the real estate world, here is a simple description:

Tiny homes have become quite a recent housing trend. People have been considering downsizing their houses simply because they do not want to be left with a lot of debt and a huge mortgage. Therefore, for a much cheaper price, people either purchase an already-made tiny house, an old second-hand moving trailer or even build it from scratch to create an affordable and gorgeous space to live!

We’ve seen many success stories of people DIY-ing their own tiny house. On average, the cost of building one is around $23,000, but believe it or not, we’ve also seen some that were built for much less for under $12,000!

Tiny Home Design Inspirations

There are various home design tips out there that can help transform your little shed into an extremely modern and luxurious-looking home.

In this article, we’ll be presenting you with the best examples of modern tiny home designs that can inspire you. We’ll even be covering some valuable tips that you can surely apply to your next tiny home project. Even if you’re not in the process of building one, these images are just simply fun to look at!

So, let’s get started, shall we?

1) The modern farmhouse design

Hand-crafted homes and farm-like styling has become the next big interior design trend. As you can see in this tiny trailer designed by Tru Form Tiny, it is decorated in a way that evokes a barn-like feel.

For those who grew up on a farm and want to relive or recreate those nostalgic memories, you should definitely consider applying this type of design to your tiny home. Or, if you’re just someone who’s interested in farm-like design aesthetics, this could also serve as a great reference for your housing project! 

This trailer is comprised of wooden barn-style sliding doors, wide plank floors, and an extremely high ceiling which is ideal when it comes to giving your tiny home that extra space. If you look closely, there’s even space that you can turn into a home office. 

2) The clean and rustic design

This clean and rustic tiny home situated in Quebec, Canada was designed by The Laurier. This house has applied the minimalist style to its interiors, using light colors on the furniture and walls and contrasting them with dark wooden floors.

Actually, painting the walls white is a smart tactic used to expand the size of a tiny house, making it look larger, and this is clearly proven by how big the kitchen and living area looks. What’s also interesting is that the mirror on the left-hand side is multi-functional. Believe it or not, it folds down to become a dining table as well!

In addition, the combination of light and dark tones translates into an extra comfy and homey feel to the house. It gives you this heart-warming feeling inside that can’t quite be explained. 

3) The glasshouse treehouse design

This is not the regular treehouse design you’d usually come across. When you think of treehouses, you’d probably be thinking of the small, dirty-looking, treehouse with just one single empty room for your kids to play in.

But have you ever considered transforming it into something this spectacular? This glass treehouse design is one for the books!

Christina Salway, an interior design expert is responsible for this amazing tiny treehouse design. She strategically installs various windows to make up the exteriors of the house and even admitted that she just borrowed all the old windows from here family members. Hence, there was no need to buy new ones.

The windows also bring in a great amount of natural light into the house which enhances the look of feel of it all. Therefore, if you’re looking to expand the space of your tiny home, the addition of windows will be key!

4) The nature retreat design

This tiny house turned nature retreat is definitely the place to go to when dreaming of a beautiful staycation. With a stunning exterior made out of timber and a sliding glass door that brings in natural light and views of nature, this tiny house gives the ultimate modern yet laid-back feel to it. 

The Het Bos Roept, which translates to “The Forest Calls!” is a natural site where visitors can go camping. While you can choose to go camping in tents there, they also offer you the choice to stay in cute little campers and caravans to get the full experience. 

This site was founded by Gidus Hopmans and Sasja Wiegersma, however, this forest cabin masterpiece was designed The Way We Build, an Amsterdam-based architectural studio. This cabin is decorated with light plywood interiors, which adds to the rejuvenating atmosphere of the place.

5) The recreational wooden trailer

This recreational trailer is a prime example of how you can transform any old-school moving trailer into a beautiful and cosy home for your family. It was created all by Macy Miller herself back in 2011. Today, she is the owner of the website, MiniMotives, which helps guide people on how they can build their very own tiny house! Isn’t that amazing?

This particular 24’ long flatbed trailer shown right here was one that was bought a while ago, yet Miller has turned it into a 196 square foot home, one that fits an entire family of 4. This trailer is built with a natural wood exterior, all of which were either reclaimed, recycled, or leftovers. The wooden material is contrasted by the black painted edges which enhances its visual aesthetics.

Interestingly, Miller has even added radiant floor heating and has made her trailer home one that is also sustainable by building a composting toilet within it. Composting toilets are great for saving resources, therefore when building a tiny home, this could also be something that you may want to consider.

6) The tiny house/workspace design

This 280 square foot tiny house was designed by Driftwood Homes USA. Perfect for couples, this indigo-colored home is furnished with a large loft bed that can be used by guests as well as another private bedroom at the back of the house. 

Decorating the place using white interiors and indigo-colored furniture, this truly helps make this trailer stand out from the ones that we’ve seen earlier. In addition, the bed within the private bedroom can actually turn into a bar/workspace.

Multi-functional pieces of furniture are always ideal for tiny houses, and the interior designers of this place have made use of them very well. I mean who wouldn’t want to work while also having a glass of wine?

Tiny Home Design Tips

Now that you’ve seen some great examples of how you can design your tiny house to get the most value out of it, read on for some final tiny home design tips that you can definitely take away from this article!

1) Buy fold down or multi-functional pieces of furniture

Doing this is ideal when you have limited space. Being able to fold away your furniture can allow the space within your tiny house to look larger than it actually is. Some great examples of this are sofa beds, fold-down countertops, as well as furniture that allow for extra storage.

2) Install lots of windows

As seen in the treehouse example, windows will let in natural light into your home and make it feel way larger. Plus, it’s a great way for you to take advantage of all the amazing views around you, especially if your place is surrounded by great natural scenery. 

3) Using lighter color tones

By maintaining the lightness of your color palette, this will allow your tiny house to look more expansive. You can use white, cream-colored, or light wooden tones for your walls and furniture. 

However, when it comes to flooring, you are free to use any color. In some of the examples we’ve seen, you’ll notice that white walls are often paired with darker wooden floors or furniture to create contrast and make the home look more modern. 

4) Design multi-purpose living areas

You can design multi-purpose living areas to truly make use of the limited space that you have. While this can be a bit of a challenge when coming up with your design plan, it is definitely possible. 

For example, your living room can have a couch that turns into a bed. Or, you could also have a bed that turns into a desk, as seen in our last example. This way, you’ll be able to have a study room by day and a bedroom by night!

5) Make sure to have high ceilings

High ceilings will provide your tiny home with the extra height, a.k.a space. Even better, you can make use of this extra height to install more windows! 

6) Install collapsible or sliding walls and doors

At times where privacy isn’t necessary, you may install mobile walls to give your house more space. Collapsible or sliding doors are a great way to do this. 

Final thoughts

There are various ways in which you can choose to design your tiny home. All the examples we’ve shown on here, although all stuck to a modern transformation of their home, have added their own twist to the interiors which makes them unique from each other.

All in all, I hope that this article has been able to inspire you with your next tiny house design project. When building one, remember to keep always keep the tiny house design tips in mind. By applying them, you will be able to transform your own tiny home into your dream living space!