The Smallest House in Italy
At just 75 square feet this little house, designed by Marco Pierazzi, occupies a tiny spot in an alley near Castel Sant’Angelo and St. Peter’s Square in Rome. While the floorspace was minimal, Marco took advantage of the height and built a loft layer above the kitchen/living area. The loft bed turns into a sofa during the day and a trap door, leading to a small staircase, can be lowered to increase the upstairs floorspace. The linked article reports: “Architect and designer Marco Pierazzi saw the potential in an abandoned, one-room alleyway house just steps from Roman landmarks like the Pantheon and Saint Peter’s Square. See more of The ‘Smallest House in Italy’. Below: Front door, and only side with windows. Below: Main living area with the table folded away. Below: Now the table is out and ready for a meal. Below: A peek down below through the loft’s trap door. Below: The loft in bed mode. Below: The loft in sofa mode.
Pico Dwelling – Micro Apartment in Seattle
The Pico Dwelling is a 182 square foot micro apartment in Seattle. It’s the home and creation of Steve Sauer, an engineer with experience designing aircraft interiors for Boeing. The original space was a storage unit in a basement of a 100+ year old building. About ten years ago Steve bought the room as a storage unit but was drawn to the challenge of making it livable. Seattle permits some very small spaces, but Steve’s place was even smaller than that. After completing the project he worked with the city to make it legal, which sounds like a long and risky path but one that ended in success. The old building and the lucky positioning of existing pipes provided the necessary plumbing, ventilation, and heating. Like with most tiny interiors, built-in cabinetry and furnishings need to be custom built. Steve’s place is clearly a labor of love. Great work Steve!
Harbour Attic Apartment by Gosplan
Located in Camogli, a village near Genoa, Italy, the Harbour Attic is a relatively small holiday apartment in an attic above an old fisherman’s harbor. Designed by Gosplan, the 35 square meter (approx. 377 sq ft) apartment makes the most of the room it has by providing all the necessities into a smartly-designed, scaled-down space complete with two bedrooms, studio, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. With not much floor surface and a gambrel roof, careful attention had to be paid to the layout. It also meant that each built-in piece had to have the ability to be stored away when not in use. As you can see, the kitchen disappears when not in use, becoming a countertop or storage surface. The wooden floors have a light, almost gray stain that shows up a little darker on the cabinetry. Wait till you see what this space becomes when it’s needed… A second bedroom! Photos by Anna Positano.
A Small Office Becomes a Private Apartment
Beriot, Bernardini Arquitectos transformed a tiny, 28-square-meter (300 sqft) office into a private apartment located in the historic center of Duque de Alba, Madrid. The design challenge was to create a comfortable home, despite its size, that includes all the comforts of everyday living without having to incorporate things like sofa beds. Thanks to the tall ceilings, a system of levels were incorporated to house all of the necessary functions, like a sleeping area over the bathroom and kitchen. A typical mezzanine level wouldn’t fit but the split levels work perfectly crafting just enough space for each use. A dressing space sits above a storage unit that includes a sliding cabinet underneath. The design adds and extra 8.5 square meters (91 square feet) of space to the small dwelling, helping to make the apartment more functional. The sleeping alcove doesn’t have to be full-height since the residents will be laying down. What looks like your average closest is actually a kitchen.
Manhattan Micro Loft by Specht Harpman Architects
It’s really hard to make 425 square feet look spacious but Specht Harpman Architects managed to do just that in this once awkward New York City apartment that’s set at the top of a six-story building. Rendering By creating “living platforms,” they were able to accommodate all the necessities an apartment might need while keeping the space open and bright. The compact bathroom is hidden away on the bottom floor beneath the staircase. While the kitchen is small, it remains open to the living room. They kept the cabinets and countertops white which helps keep it bright and airy. The space under the stairs doesn’t go to waste… It’s packed full of storage spaces! Up the first set of stairs you have the bedroom layer which seems to almost float above the living room below. More storage is found under this staircase which leads to the roof garden. That’s the view when you go out to the garden. I love the simplicity of the staircases – no chunky balusters here! The before photos:
Tiny NYC Apartment Renovation Full of Nooks and Cubbies
How do you make a tiny New York City apartment into a livable 240-square foot space with a sleeping loft? You enlist the help of Brooklyn architect Tim Seggerman, who renovated this Upper West Side brownstone studio into what it is today. The space was in poor shape to begin with so they incorporated blond woods to build the interior out, including the loft over the kitchen. A nook creates a cubby-like library to crawl into. Can you believe they were able to fit a washing machine in there?! To see the entire space, visit Dwell. Photos by David Engelhardt.
Tiny Studio by Tiny Home Builders
I’m back from Florida where we hosted an open house featuring our latest house design called Tiny Studio. I took lots of pictures so check them out. The plans for this house will be available on our plans page soon!” - Dan Louche at Tiny Home Builders See more of the Tiny Studio at Tiny Home Builders.
Tiny House Bathrooms
One of the bigger tiny space design challenges tiny house owner-builders face are bathrooms. A typical small residential bathroom will measure 5′ x 9′, or 45 square feet. That’s too much space to use when the house is just 120 square foot tiny house. In a tiny house you’ll find normal flush toilets, RV toilets, commercial composting toilets, incinerating toilets, and lots of Lovable Loos (sawdust toilets). If you’d like to play with your own bathroom layout ideas give our free Print & Cut Worksheet a try. See more tiny house bathroom designs on Pinterest. Bathroom above from a Portland remodel - a wet bath in a 3′ x 3′ space. Above is a lovable loo (sawdust toilet) tucked into a closet in the Tall Man’s Tiny House. Shower in the Tiny Tack House. Toilet in the Moschata Rolling Bungalow.
