5 Things I Would Never Change About My Tiny House
Hello Friends!
It's me, aka Alaska, aka the Tiny House Concierge.
I get asked a lot what I would change about my tiny home, and the answer is almost nothing. While I would love to take full credit for this- I can take none. I bought my tiny house second-hand, and it came furnished. I owe all structural and appliance choices to the builder (Mint Tiny House Company) and the original owners (@bornandbound).
So I may not be responsible for the things I love about my house, but I do love The Tiny House of Peace with all my heart and will gush about its features on the internet into eternity. If you haven’t gone tiny yet, I dedicate this post to you. I hope the information assists you in planning the tiny house of your dreams!
So without further ado, here are five things I would never change about my tiny house!
5 Things I'd Never Change About My Tiny House
Skylights
Friends, if you can swing skylights, I promise you they are worth the money. I mean, spend your money on a great chassis and some good insulation first, but when you get to upgrades, buy skylights. Here’s why.
Skylights provide crazy-amazing natural light. And nothing else will make a small space feel bigger. Skylights help to keep houseplants alive, make your stargazing dreams come true, and if placed in a loft bedroom, they give you an extra six inches of headroom for adult activities. Yes, I went there! You’re welcome, internet.
French Doors
I know this will come as a shock, but tiny houses are small. You will (occasionally) wish your tiny house came with an expansion option. And if you put in French doors, you kind of have one! A pair of open French doors will allow you to walk seamlessly from inside to outside in a way that makes the two feel connected.
Not only that, but French doors make everything seem so much more glamorous. They really take tiny living to the next level. Ever wish you had a personal, outdoor yoga studio? How about an indoor/outdoor living room? Maybe the ability to dine al fresco at your leisure? These things would require separate spaces in a regular-sized house and therefore be obscenely expensive to create.
However, one of the benefits of going tiny is that eating, living, and yoga likely take place in the same area. So all you need is a set of French doors that leads to that area, and voilà! Glamorous living is yours at a fraction of the cost.
Long Eyelines
OK, Friends, listen carefully because this is something I would have NEVER thought about prior to moving into a tiny house: eyelines matter. And by eyelines, I mean what you are looking at and how far your vision extends.
Tiny houses are going to feel bigger if you have a long eyeline. For example, if your seating area gives you a full-length view of the house, it will feel much larger than if you build a bathroom in the middle that requires a wall and cuts your eyeline short.
Long eyelines can also be achieved with windows! For instance, If your couch faces a short wall, your eyeline will be longer if you’re looking out a window than if you are looking at a TV. One thing to consider, however, is parking. If you plan to park in a community where houses are close together, you might find yourself keeping the shades closed for privacy reasons, making the eyeline-lengthening window a moot point.
Length of eyeline is important, but so is what you’re looking at! I can’t tell you how many pretty pictures of tiny houses I have fallen in love with, only to realize that there is no reason I would ever be looking at the house from the angle in the picture.
Trust me; when you go tiny, you will find yourself overcome with desire to sit and stare lovingly at the very small house that changed your life. So please consider where your eyeline will fall when you are sitting on your most comfortable piece of furniture.
Pull-out Pantries
When most people think of kitchen storage, they think of cabinets. And while I get it, I fully assert that the pull-out pantry is a better option for dry food storage. Here’s the thing.
Cabinets get messy quickly. Even with shelves, there will always be quarter-full bags of crackers that get forgotten about in the back. Oh, and when you try to rummage, something will fall on your head every time. This is where an uber-thin pull-out pantry saves the day. It keeps things organized and allows you to access each item directly.
If you want things out of sight, they can be built so that items disappear entirely when closed. And if you’re a fan of jars, you can do what I did and keep the pretty things where they are visible. In the name of tiny house transparency, though, I should tell you that the bottom of this pantry is 100% a total wreck of multi-colored packaging.
Separett Compost Toilet
If there is one tiny house feature you would have to pry from my cold, dead hands, it’s this: my Separett compost toilet.
My house is actually double plumbed for both a regular and compost toilet, and full disclosure; I only switched over to the compost version after my parking space forced me to. I was pretty sure I’d hate it. I thought wrong.
The truth is that I adore a toilet that smells less and saves two gallons of water every time I use it. Friends, at the risk of over-sharing, I am an extremely well-hydrated human. It is entirely possible that I might pee eleven times in a given day. This adds up to twenty-two gallons of water saved! That’s crazy! Moreover, my toilet doesn’t require the use of chemicals. I mean, who came up with a system in which we poo into fresh drinking water and then sterilize it with chemicals until it passes the safe-to-drink test again?
Honestly, I could turn my love of my toilet into its own blog, but suffice it to say that compost toilets make more sense to me. I would 100% put one in a regular house at his point.
Alright, friends, well, that’s it this round! I appreciate your listening and much love to Tiny House Expedition for sharing their platform. I’ll be back soon, but in the meantime, good luck with your tiny home plans! You can do it!
Always,
-Alaska
Alaska is a writer, realtor, and tiny homeowner living in the great state of Colorado. She is the founder of The Tiny House Concierge, a company that offers consultation and copywriting services for people looking to rethink their housing and rewrite their lives. In addition to her website, she can be found on Instagram and YouTube.