June 2016 Update: The design I am building has changed once again and will be entirely different from the one pictured here. I’m keeping the new design under wraps for now–hopefully you will enjoy seeing it revealed as it is built!

A rough scale model of ProcessHouse created out of cardboard and construction paper to get a better feel for the relative dimensions.

June 2016 Update: The design I am building has changed once again and will be entirely different from the one pictured here. I’m keeping the new design under wraps for now–hopefully you will enjoy seeing it revealed as it is built!

Ok, so let me be honest: the loft in my tiny house has always been a bit of an afterthought. In fact, my design in its original form bypassed the loft altogether. Not only am I not a fan of heights, but the low ceilings can sometimes give me a mild case of claustrophobia. So for me, the addition of a loft to my design was more of a “might as well” kind of prospect. I figured that it would be good for storage, if nothing else.

I had thought a lot about how to get up to my loft, but the loft itself was just a stark, open 12’ x 7.5’ space. Although there was a lot of room (enough for 3 twin beds) and plenty of space for extra storage, the only window was at the far end (I didn’t like how additional windows looked from the exterior), and since it took up the entire wall, it made the prospects for using the area for storage awkward. Putting the storage space toward the living room end would block the view to the room below, while putting it on the window end would block the view of the window. Putting storage on the sides would narrow the space, and still run into issues with the window at the end. Something about the whole space just seemed bland and uninteresting, and impractical in spite of its large size.

Well, I’m happy to say that–at long last–I’m excited at the prospect of using my loft! Here’s what I came up with:

The loft is now partially divided into two areas. The first is a large area capable of comfortably fitting a queen sized mattress, a side table, and some book shelves. The old stout window that used to span the entire back wall has been replaced by a square window (in a sense mirroring the small window on the opposite end of the house) which forms a little “nook” or bay. I think this adds visual interest and an element of fun to the design.

But it also has a practical side, like any good design decision should:

The space behind the wall is a spacious storage closet, which is sectioned off by a curtain. Here’s the cool part, though: It’s also just wide enough to fit a standard twin-size mattress in case you have need for housing a visitor for the night. In this case, the curtain could be rehung to separate the two sleeping spaces, or simply removed altogether:

Cozy, huh?

(Note: The window will be operable and also provides an egress in case of emergencies.)

There was one more piece to this puzzle, and that was the issue of headroom at the entrance to the loft. Unlike most tiny houses, the stairs to my loft are on the lower side of the ceiling. While this isn’t ideal, it was a compromise that I felt was justified in light of the rest of the layout/design. Although I had determined that this would be okay, I was still not real happy about it. The “eureka” moment came when I realized that by adding a skylight right above the last stair, I could gain ~6” of headroom in that all important spot.

Not pictured: The A/C unit has been moved from the loft to above the fireplace. I wasn’t too fond of the idea of a noisy A/C unit blaring away next to my head as I’m trying to sleep at night!

The new window design as viewed from the outside.

Up next: Changes to the kitchen and exterior facade.

June 2016 Update: The design I am building has changed once again and will be entirely different from the one pictured here. I’m keeping the new design under wraps for now–hopefully you will enjoy seeing it revealed as it is built!

I’m happy to report that I put the finishing touches on my first “legit” construction project last weekend, finishing up a small deck expansion project. I’ve worked with wood many times before, but I’ve never had the experience of calculating materials, buying lumber, and framing a structure from start to finish. Digging those 48” deep post holes by hand was no picnic, but once the concrete was poured and everything measured out, it was an utter joy to see it come together–so much so that I would come home from work after sundown and be excited to get straight to building without missing a beat. There’s something extremely rewarding for me about the whole experience.

With this project wrapped up, I’m feeling a bit more freed up to focus on the tiny house. I’ve made two somewhat significant design modifications. The first is that I’ve increased the pitch of my roof to 1.5:12. I’m still debating what to cover it with, EPDM (rubber) or metal. I would prefer standing seam metal for the purposes of a rainwater collection system, since this will not leach potentially harmful chemicals into the rainwater. However, I’ve been told by a builder acquaintance of mine that I should go with EPDM in order to avoid water issues at such a low slope. Alek at the tiny-project blog seems to be doing alright with metal roof at a 1.5:12” slope, so I figured it would be wise to at least match his if I’m going to attempt to go that route. I wonder whether the fact that the run of the roof on a tiny house is as short as it is should play any role in minimizing these concerns. My gut tells me it would, but I could be wrong.

The other part that plays into all of this is maximizing the headroom in the loft and the aesthetics of the design. Once again it’s a balancing of priorities. On the one hand, I’d like to have as much headroom as possible within the overall 13.5’ afforded to trailered structures, but I also don’t want the structure to appear tall or out of proportion. Shorter buildings tend to have a friendlier, less imposing appearance. What I like about the increased pitch is that it gives ProcessHouse a less imposing appearance from the front and a more interesting profile and interior, and gives the large windows in the back a more appropriate emphasis.

Part of making this decision involved figuring out exactly how much headroom I’m going to need to be comfortable, which lead to taking a closer look at my floating stair design. I figured out that as long as I have about 31” of headroom at the lowest point, getting up and down the stairs should be reasonably comfortable. The trick in this is making the distance between the last stair and the loft floor larger than the rest–high enough that you can crawl up into the loft without having to duck your head much at all. After doing some real-world testing, I figured out that I was going to need another step in the staircase to really make the trip up and down the stairs reasonably safe and comfortable. I also decided that adding a little bit of storage space under the stairs would both increase the usability of the space and improve the structural integrity of the stairs without losing much visual space.

Well, it’s official–Autumn is upon us. As I’m using these crisp, cool fall days to wrap up some smaller projects around my parent’s house (good practice for what’s to come), I’m starting to think about how to best spend the next 6 months to be ready to start construction on the tiny house come Spring/Summer 2015. Here’s a partial list of what I’m going to be working on over the winter:

1. Finish speccing out a trailer, decide on a manufacturer, and have it built and delivered. I’ve been talking with a manufacturer a few states over about building me a galvanized trailer. More on this soon.
    
2. Solidify framing plans and have them reviewed by a builder to make sure everything will be copacetic. I recently drew out all of my framing in a CAD application using traditional framing methods, but am now considering revisiting this and using lumber saving techniques (i.e. “advanced framing”) to reduce the weight of the structure.
    
3. Decide on exact window sizes and have windows priced out and ready to order. I’ve been shopping around for windows and have settled on Integrity fiberglass windows by Marvin. I’m currently working with a local Marvin dealer. I’ve had a few things priced out but need to go through each of my windows and see if I can save any money by going with standard sizes for any of them.
    
4. Make final decisions on insulation, siding, and the rest of the building envelope.
    
5. Spec out plumbing and electrical for both plug-in and off-grid systems.

Future site of ProcessHouse?

Design is part aesthetics (making stuff “look pretty” as one of my coworkers likes to put it) and part problem solving (making it function well). As a web designer, this is something I know intimately. But most problems can be solved in more than one way. So how do you choose from multiple solutions?

I encounter such design problems every day, and my approach to these situations is to try and find solutions that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. In fact, I think the best designs are the ones that blur or entirely remove the line between function and aesthetics and can give a functional justification for the aesthetic choices made. But what about when there’s more than one solution that’s both functional and aesthetic, or when different solutions solve different aspects of a problem to varying degrees? In these cases (i.e. most of the time), we need goals to help guide our design decisions. It’s about setting your priorities up front and checking your solutions against them whenever you need to make a choice.

Every client has different goals. A good design choice for one client is not always going to be right for another. I can see that this is especially true in architecture, where everyone has different preferences (does the client prefer more bedrooms or a bigger kitchen and living space for entertaining? Do they prefer a sense of warmth and privacy or a huge bank of floor to ceiling windows? How many occupants does the structure need to house comfortably? Are the occupants minimalists, or are they going to need lots of storage space?)

Every design is different, because different people have different priorities, and that’s a-okay.

Now that I’ve completed my tiny house floor plan, I’m able to go back and see the goals and priorities that helped guide my decisions. Here are a few of them:

1. A spacious feel. The eyes are good at playing tricks on the mind, so I want to use this to my advantage. This was a fun challenge for me. I avoided creating narrow spaces that might reinforce the small width of the structure, or suggest the feeling of a bus or RV. Thus, the kitchen is oriented along the shorter wall and the living space contains a huge bank of windows/doors placed along the longer wall of the room, suggesting that the room continues out beyond the wall of windows and opening up the living space to the outdoors (both visually and literally with the outdoor deck space). 

Windows are prevalent throughout, allowing in lots of natural light, and the walls and window trim are bright white. A high ceiling adds to a feeling of spaciousness in the living room. The house has both a front and back door like most homes, which are placed along the longer walls instead of the shorter ends of the structure. I avoided obstructing the open floor plan, opting for “floating” stairs up to the loft rather than adding storage space underneath them. The rooms are not so much minified or compromised, but are designed to be ‘just right’–no more and no less than is needed to be reasonably comfortable.

2. Simplicity and ease of construction. This is my first time building something like this, so a simple, box-like shape with shed roof will simplify the construction process, make it easier for me to visualize the framing requirements, and leave less room for mistakes. It also maximizes the available space and headroom throughout the structure. I’ve favored the simplest solution to any given problem whenever and wherever possible. For example, I’ve raised the height of the floor in the living space to cover the wheel wells and prevent them from intruding on the open floor plan, while keeping the kitchen and bathroom at a lower level to maximize headroom. This also makes the walk up the stairs to the loft a bit shorter.

3. Convenience. A kitchen island might seem like a space-consuming luxury that would typically have no place in a tiny house. But by giving it multiple purposes-a kitchen prep area, dining surface, workspace, and undercounter storage space–it becomes a very practical and elegant space-saving solution. The seating at the counter is also multipurpose–spin the stool around and you’re part of the living space with a great view of the TV. The seating and layout in the living space allows everyone to see each other, the fireplace, TV, and the outdoors. The couch side table also serves as the first step up to the loft. The windows in the front of the home are small and raised, providing some privacy in contrast to the large bank of glass in the back.

The bathroom is also HUGE for a tiny house. (Dare I say it’s full-size!) Normally this might seem wasteful, but by adding a closet with washer/dryer unit and room for clothes storage, the bathroom becomes a place where you can change in privacy, wash your clothes, and hang them up all in one space without ever having to move a laundry basket. This is a big plus when all that you have for a bedroom is a loft. And let’s face it–the bathroom is a pretty important part of what makes a house livable.

4. Energy efficiency. The large windows are at the back of the house, allowing it to be oriented for maximum/minimum solar gain for passive heating/cooling, depending on the season. The house will be heated by a slim propane fireplace mounted and vented against the wall, a heating solution that should be both efficient and very beautiful on cold nights. Water will be heated on-demand with a propane heater. A composting toilet will reduce water use. I’d also like to implement solar and possibly rainwater catching with water tank storage under the elevated living room floor, but haven’t worked out the details yet!