25 Of The Best Space-Saving Design Ideas For Small Homes

[Midpack]

May not be imminent, but we expect to move/downsize one of these days. There's a good chance we will build new. Though I want a smaller home, I want it have more efficient use of space than a conventional home, driven partly by my experiences spending days on boats (which tend to use space more efficiently). Not for everyone, but some of these design ideas seem pretty clever.

25 Of The Best Space-Saving Design Ideas For Small Homes | Bored Panda

Other than Ross Chapin & Sarah Susanka, I've not had a lot of luck finding articles/info on space efficient home design, internet searches overwhelmingly come back with energy efficient designs.

 

[braumeister]

Cute stuff, but I would feel like I was living inside an IKEA store.

 

[REWahoo]

... I would feel like I was living inside an IKEA store.

I know that feeling - got it both times I went to IKEA and tried to find the exit.

 

[braumeister]

That's why they have a restaurant inside the store. You could starve to death before you found the way out.

 

[jollystomper]

Cute stuff, but I would feel like I was living inside an IKEA store.

I've actually never been to an IKEA store. I'm tempted to go just for the adventure.

 

[RunningBum]

The drawers on the stair steps would be dangerous if you didn't shut a drawer well and then went downstairs in the dark, or carrying something, or just not notice. To take advantage of under stair space, I had a cat door put under the stairs and that's where the litter box goes.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oooh I love ikea! The little rooms they have set up are my favorites, I like going in there and imagining living in those tiny spaces. Great fun!

 

[Bestwifeever]

If I had so much stuff I needed to hide it in secret drawers under my stairs, I'd reconsider living in a tiny place.

Speaking of space saving, let's not forget Kramer's beds in a bureau!

 

[pb4uski]

The drawers on the stair steps would be dangerous if you didn't shut a drawer well and then went downstairs in the dark, or carrying something, or just not notice. To take advantage of under stair space, I had a cat door put under the stairs and that's where the litter box goes.

Yes, I don't see the stair drawers as being practical unless the stairs were very narrow as in most cases there would be a support stringer in the center of the stairway as most treads would not support the load across the span.

 

[pb4uski]

Our stairway is similar to #2 with an adjoining hallway. The other side of the stairway is one of the walls of our smallest bedroom and the bedroom's closet is under the stairs. The closet has a full height door at the tall end...... but the shorter space in the interior of the closet is difficult to use. I have considered putting doors to access the shorter part of the closet in the hallway but the slide-outs in the illustration might be better yet.

Thanks for posting.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Thanks for the link. We like watching the tiny house shows and seeing all the innovative ways people can live well in smaller spaces. We plan to move to a retirement village condo or townhouse some day, so we've been thinking about how we would manage in half the space we have now.

The pool table / dining room idea I could actually see utilizing in our current home.

We do have a doorway to use the space under the stairs for storage, but what goes in there usually gets forgotten about and rarely comes out anyway.

 

[Meadbh]

The pool table / dining room idea I could actually see utilizing in our current home.

This is not a new idea. My aunt and uncle have had a beautiful oak dining/pool table in their home (in Ireland) for at least 40 years, and I think it is older than that. Of course you need plenty of space to play pool!

 

[rodi]

Some of the designs are pretty clever - like the couch that turns into a bunkbed, or the couch that has a murphy bed component... Good for multi-use spaces. (An office or tv room that needs to double as a guest room.). But some were silly - like the modular student room (#15) - folds up tiny (and non-functional) - but then expands to HUGE with lots of couches... The window blind as drying rack was interesting - would make sense in a tiny home. I loved the aesthetics of the obolisk outdoor furniture thing (#18).

 

[pb4uski]

DD has this. Set up just like in the last picture. It is actually quite comfortable as a bed.

FRIHETEN Sofa bed with chaise - Skiftebo beige, - IKEA

I would consider this or the sofa/bunk bed or the sofa/murphy bed for our smallest bedroom if we ever need additional office/den/family room space.

 

[Zathras]

...
25 Of The Best Space-Saving Design Ideas For Small Homes | Bored Panda

Other than Ross Chapin & Sarah Susanka, I've not had a lot of luck finding articles/info on space efficient home design, internet searches overwhelmingly come back with energy efficient designs.

Just don't go overboard and dismiss energy efficient designs without looking them over. Many energy efficient designs incorporate efficient space saving designs as well.

 

[stepford]

I think filling up our small house was a necessary precursor to ER. Since we can't fit anything more in our home we think twice before buying anything. Built in frugality enforcer.

 

[W2R]

I think filling up our small house was a necessary precursor to ER. Since we can't fit anything more in our home we think twice before buying anything. Built in frugality enforcer.

I like that approach best.

Having lived in cramped quarters on a boat for longer than just a few days or weeks, I really don't like most of the ideas in the original article. There are a few things that I did to conserve space, and they were very helpful and it pleased me to do them.

However, there is a point at which fitting just one more thing in a small space is not worth the effort. A ping pong table? Really? And you can't use the doorway while using it? To me that's nuts. If one is living in a small space, at some point one has to start thinking carefully before acquiring similar big and seldom used items.

A Kindle would help with the book storage problem quite a bit; no need for the bookcase stairway.

Rather than tripping and falling and ending up in a hospital due to those stair drawers, why not just cut back on stuff and put the rest in storage benches.

Instead of the cutesy chairs that fit into cube storage, why not just use camping chairs which can be stored in existing storage spaces such as under the bed or above the ceiling.

I would have to figure out what I could live with, and what would drive me up the wall after the initial "wow" factor wears off. Living with some of these ideas could become tedious and a lot more daily hassle than the items are worth to me.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Here is the best real storage idea we had: A couple of years ago we (that means a carpenter, not "we") tore out a long shallow closet with bifold doors and put a cubby in, at the back door. The cubby has bins and shelves, a storage space under the bench for boots, and hooks for jackets, hats, leashes, etc. The interior of the closet next to it was also reconfigured with sideways hanging rods for jackets in one half and nice (nice to me!) built-in wooden shelves on the other half for my sewing and knitting stuff, but we put new nice (to me) bifold doors on and good molding. These closets went from hardly ever being used for to being part of our daily lives.

 

[Badger]

The pool table / dining room idea I could actually see utilizing in our current home.

Cheers!

 

[Midpack]

Just don't go overboard and dismiss energy efficient designs without looking them over. Many energy efficient designs incorporate efficient space saving designs as well.

Agreed, I am looking for both. It's just that finding energy efficient home information is very easy, finding space efficient home info has been far more elusive for me at least. Space efficiency should enable a smaller footprint which improves energy efficiency - IOW it all goes hand in hand to me.

 

[Midpack]

I think filling up our small house was a necessary precursor to ER. Since we can't fit anything more in our home we think twice before buying anything. Built in frugality enforcer.

We've been employing that approach for a while. Best example, I have one full sized bookshelf, and it's full. I won't allow myself to buy another book without donating an old book to make space. Otherwise I'd have several bookcases, like my parents who are buried in books they'll never read again. We do the same with clothes, tools, kitchen stuff, etc.

 

[NW-Bound]

I think filling up our small house was a necessary precursor to ER. Since we can't fit anything more in our home we think twice before buying anything. Built in frugality enforcer.

We've been employing that approach for a while. Best example, I have one full sized bookshelf, and it's full. I won't allow myself to buy another book without donating an old book to make space. Otherwise I'd have several bookcases, like my parents who are buried in books they'll never read again. We do the same with clothes, tools, kitchen stuff, etc.

... but not before optimizing the existing spaces to cram as much as possible. I have spent $1K in steel cabinets for the garage this year, and am nowhere near done.

 

[Hermit]

I think filling up our small house was a necessary precursor to ER. Since we can't fit anything more in our home we think twice before buying anything. Built in frugality enforcer.

I guess I blew it. The trusses over the garage are the "room in an attic" type. That means I have a storage room 40 feet long, 10 feet wide, and about 5' 10" tall in the center. I'll be able to put endless junk up there. I'm hoping to keep it empty. DD suggested turning it into a bowling alley.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Midpack, I am sorta the same way, spend a lot of time looking at drawings of all kinds of small spaces and how to optimize it for the best use.
If you haven't sat down in those tiny spaces in Ikea, I urge you to do it. It helps me "walk through" some of the plans I really like, to imagine what actual furnishings (built-in and freestanding) would look and feel like in small spaces.

Things that I know I would hate: fold down beds, fold down tables, and composting toilets. No matter what, these are just not things I can imagine using and being happy about it.

 

[pb4uski]

I guess I blew it. The trusses over the garage are the "room in an attic" type. That means I have a storage room 40 feet long, 10 feet wide, and about 5' 10" tall in the center. I'll be able to put endless junk up there. I'm hoping to keep it empty. DD suggested turning it into a bowling alley.

Wow, that is one long garage but it sounds narrow. Good for storage. Have you considered attic lift to get stuff up there more easily? Lots of examples on youtube.

We used attic trusses in our 24x28 two car garage and planned on the attic loft. The original truss design was only 12' wide and I objected and told them they could do better... expecting I would pick up a couple feet... but they came back with 16'

We finished it off and it is now DW's she-cave.