Looking Back: The Most Memorable Tiny Home Trends from 2017

Tiny home fever has swept the nation, and we’re seeing more and more people downsizing their homes to free themselves of material possessions, reduce their expenses so they can work less and live more, and reduce their carbon footprint.

Even those who are not giving up their homes for tiny homes are taking their design cues from tiny homes. Architects for these smaller spaces have to get creative so they can fit everything a family needs into just a few hundred square feet (or less), and people are fascinated with the solutions they come up with. Many people are using these solutions in their larger homes, just so they can become better organized or make better use of their space.

Here are some of the most memorable tiny house trends we saw in 2017:

Compact Appliances

You can’t really put a full-size refrigerator or stove into a tiny home. Well, you can, but your kitchen and your overall space would become a lot more cramped if you did. By using compact appliances, you can still get the same functionality you need but save a lot of space. Plus, if you have a smaller refrigerator, you won’t be as prone to buying more food than you need. You will be forced to buy only what you need for a few meals, which will ensure that you always have fresh foods.

You can use compact appliances in your full-sized kitchen just to save space. Then you will have more room for preparation or entertaining. Or you will just clear up more room to make your home seem larger and easier to navigate.

Creative Storage

Tiny homes have to be creative with storage – they just don’t have the room for clutter, and they don’t have the room for a lot of cabinets. With tiny homes, you see creative storage like a cabinet that’s a few inches thick inside of a sliding door, kitchen cabinets that fold up and flat against the ceiling, or even a few inches of space below the kitchen floor to store the dining table when not in use.

You don’t have to hire a contractor to build these types of storage options in your home. Expand Furniture has some creative storage options that you can add to any room. We have slim bookcases that have multiple shelves with doors that can hide what’s on those shelves. We have modular shelving systems that can be put together in multiple shapes, giving you plenty of storage and enhancing your décor. Fabric bins can be used with the shelves to store small items or to keep items out of sight.
Advanced storage solutions include our Murphy beds with shelving and our lift and store beds. We have the solutions you need for any room or any space.

Multi-Purpose Beds

A bed takes up a lot of floor space in a room, so it helps to make it serve double-duty if you can. That way, you get more use out of the space. For example, our lift and store beds allow you to make use of the usually wasted space under the bed. Just lift the mattress, and you’ll discover an under-bed cabinet that you can use for any kind of storage. Put clothes, seasonal décor, or other items in that storage space.

Murphy beds give you even more options. These fold-away beds can be paired with a sofa, a desk, bookshelves, and more. The beds can be stored in a wall cabinet when not in use, leaving the sofa or desk for use during the day, or clearing up space. The shelves provide more storage space. You can clear space in any room, or you can get multiple functions out of a single room, such as a guest space and a home office space.

Pop-Out Porch

Tiny homes are made to be mobile in many cases. Those that aren’t are designed to take up as little space outside as they do inside. So they don’t often come with accessories like patios or wrap-around porches. One way that designers have been able to give tiny home owners the best of both worlds is to include a pop-out porch. When the home is stationary and the home owners want to relax outside or entertain guests, they can pull out the deck from under the house. Putting it away can be a bit cumbersome, but the ability to have that porch out of sight when not in use is worth it to many.

Loft Beds

Almost all tiny homes save space by putting the bed on a loft. The bedroom is condensed to just this loft with a bed on it, and there may be a small area for a trunk or other small piece for clothing. You can get the same space-saving style in your home by investing in a loft bed system.

Expand Furniture offers several loft bed systems. The platform allows you to create a cozy sleeping nook up high, and leaves you the floor space to create whatever set up you would like. You can put a study area under the loft in a bedroom, or you can use the loft in a living space such as in a studio apartment to put a bedroom over a couch and TV. You have a variety of options with a loft system.

When you take your cues from some of the tiny home design trends, you can get more functionality out of your space and make your home appear even larger than it is. Many of today’s tiny homes also feature a modern sensibility, with things like granite countertops and subway tiles. Pair the style with the creative functionality in the design and you will get something truly special for your home, no matter what its size. Expand Furniture is there to help by offering you the New York space-saving furniture you need to reduce clutter, get more from your space, and improve your overall style.

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Expand Furniture
2050 Scotia St #108
Vancouver, BC V5T-4T1, Canada