Tiny House Loft design dilemma

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

My husband and I are building a tiny house in our backyard garden. It will be a permanent structure. We are very limited by space and height so the overall stucture will be 3 X 7 meters with an overall height of 2.8 meters. ( 9.85 X 22.9 X 9.1 feet) The interior ceiling will be flat with no slant or gable. We want to have a sleeping loft even though we know headspace in the loft will be very limited. Both my husband and I are short people (around 1.6 meters 5'4").

As we design the space we have come up with a plan where the loft will be over the sitting area in the living room. The plan is to keep the living room ceiling in that area low because we will only be sitting there. The loft will be acessible by stairs with built in storage. Our calculations show that the loft headspace above the mattress will be 80 cm (2.6 feet) - just enough for us to sit up in bed. Now we have a couple of questions:

1. Should the bed go lengthwise or width wise in the loft?

I've done some research and both options are shown but we're not sure which option would make getting into and out of the bed easier.

2. Would a ceiling height of 1.8 meters in the mainfloor living room sitting area be reasonable?

Any comments or suggestions would be helpfull.

Featured Answer

Janie Gibbs-BRING SOPHIE BACK

7 years ago

Hi Dafna,

We live in 519 sq feet, (48 meter) it's not for everyone so I get it.

Only keeping "stuff" that is used on a daily basis (pretty much) is simple and freeing.

I said lengthwise as I assumed there would be a window, but I should have asked that first. And getting to the top and then having to turn around.

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Comments (7)

Janie Gibbs-BRING SOPHIE BACK
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hi Dafna,

I would go lengthwise for the bed, personally.

You're lucky that you're both short, it sounds like you are customizing this gem specifically for the 2 of you, so smart!

7 inches for ceiling height above your head for the living area is tight, that is where the sloped ceiling comes into play for so many. Also, isn't the IRS requirement 7 feet? Unless there are beams?

Do you *have* to make your tiny house permanent?

My FIL just passed away a few weeks ago, my 79 yr old MIL is trying to sell their outdated, undesirably located house, she recently told me she'd love a tiny house, that that is all she truly needed at this point in her life.
Dafna Kremer
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hi Jane

Yes we are custom building this for us to live in part time.

It needs to be permanent yes.

We don't live in the USA so building codes are different here. We actually have been living on small sailboats for most of our adult lives, so we are accustomed to tiny spaces and sleeping quarters with not much headspace :) And yes lucky we are both short!!

As we grow older we definitely don't need a lot of space and we love living with less "stuff". It's not for everybody but I think if we manage to design our space well it will be comfy.

Can you explain why you'd go lengthwise for the bed?
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Dafna Kremer
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
This is the discussion my husband and I are having. He says that if its widthwise then someone would always have to climb over the other person to get in and out of bed.

But if the bed is lengthwise I see that sort of loft as taking up more space.

We do want a window but it could go at the food or head of the bed.... something like this:

(This is what I mean by a widthwise bed.)
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Have you seen this? The whole place is rather brilliant and is worth watching, but they did a kind of elevator bed at 3 minutes in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHjJd4tkvSU
Dafna Kremer
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi Penny

Yes I've seen that and it is a really cool idea but it won't work for us. I like to go to bed early, read a bit and sleep. My husband likes to sit up for a couple of more hours and watch TV. TV really bothers me when I'm trying to sleep so therefore the separate sleeping level. He will use headphones so no noise and I will have relative darkness and no TV in the room. We do this on the boat and it works.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Do you have a plan for the whole space? Frankly, I would think that climbing over someone (2 and a half feet minus a body would leave less than a foot and a half?) might be impossible to do....