Could you live in 200 square feet or less? For most people, the answer to that question is an emphatic no – but perhaps that’s because you’ve never seen some of the amazingly imaginative, well-designed tiny houses that are popping up around the world. Tiny houses can be mobile (including awesome converted house trucks) or stationary, plugged in or off-grid, pre-fabricated or built on-site. Some are ultramodern while others are decidedly rustic, and though a few are just part-time retreats, many shelter occupants year-round. These 14 tiny house designs show just how diverse compact dwellings can be, from three-story apartments in urban Tokyo to whimsical cottages in the American countryside.
Fab Lab House: Small and Modern
(images via: fablabhouse.com)
Far from a shed-like tiny house, this imaginative home that was designed to ‘act like a tree’ won the Solar Decathlon Europe people’s choice award for both looks and sustainability. Created by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, the Lab House in Madrid has a rounded shape and a roof covered in photovoltaic ‘leaves’ made from the world’s most flexible solar panels. The energy captured by these ‘leaves’ runs down to the ‘roots’ of the house where it’s stored for later use. The surprisingly roomy interior features a large open room that functions as a living room, dining room and extra bedroom. Additional sleeping space is located in a loft.
Tiny Green-Roofed Egg House in China
(images via: treehugger)
A Chinese student lives in a tiny egg-shaped house made of a bamboo frame and inspired by the grass-covered domes of Norway. Parked right across the street from where owner/builder Daihai Fei works, the Egg House was topped with a layer of stitched bags filled with sawdust and grass seeds, from which the green roof sprouts. This layer provides both protection from the rain and insulation. Inside, Fei has a bed, a small sink, a lamp powered by a solar panel and a bookcase.
Solar Powered Cube House
(images via: jetson green)
Incredibly simple and easy to build, the first prototype of the Cube Project – known as QB1 – is three meters square, or about 97 square feet. Designed to generate more energy than it uses over the course of a year thanks to a 1.48kW rooftop solar system, QB1 houses a lounge, table, two chairs, double bed, a full-sized shower, a kitchen, a washing machine and a composting toilet. All it needs is grid connection and cold water to operate.
Vodafone Mobile Solar Home
(images via: tiny house design)
While this home wasn’t built to actually live in – it’s actually just a mobile display to demonstrate Vodafone’s fixed phone and internet service – it’s an interesting example of a beautiful and modern tiny home. Measuring 19.7 feet long, 8.2 feet wide and 12.6 feet tall, this tiny house on wheels includes a staircase leading to a sleeping loft, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room with a fold-out dining table. Slide-out side tables, built in bench seating and niches under the stairs provide lots of function and storage space for such a small area.
Wacky ‘Dome Lady’ House
(images via: tiny house design)
Bet you’ve never seen a tiny house quite like this before! While it’s more folksy than modern, the Dome Lady by Bev Magennis is certainly an imaginative take on the tiny house concept. Located in remote Apache Creek, New Mexico, the 18-foot-tall home, decorated on the outside with scrap ceramic mosaic tile, serves as a guest space on a 10-acre homestead. It was made using rebar-reinforced PVC pipe gathered at the top to create the dome shape and then lathed and plastered.
Traditional Javanese ‘Joglo’ Guest House
(images via: tiny house blog)
Incredible ornate and intricate, this Javanese guest house spotted at an antique store in Bali – with a price tag of $8,000 – is likely an antique. Traditional Joglo houses can be found all over Indonesia, many at least a century old, with carved details and elevated floors. They’re fitted together like puzzles, without using a single nail, so they can be easily dismantled and moved. These guest quarters often have second stories and can be as large as 1000 square feet.
Tokyo Micro Home Built from Grid of Boxes
(images via: inhabitat)
The Cell Brick home of Tokyo is a tiny two-story home smaller than most garages. Architect Yasuhiro Yamashita crafted it from a grid-like pattern of opaque and translucent boxes to give it a geometric look and let in lots of daylight. It includes a kitchen, living room and bedroom on the main floor, a lounge space and bathroom on the second floor, a basement for storage and even a roof deck. The boxes were bolted together to create an overall volume that is surprisingly sturdy, even for an earthquake-prone region.
Tiny Treehouse on Stilts
(images via: tiny house talk)
Hovering over a man-made pond, this incredible ‘treehouse’ on stilts by Baumraum is definitely tiny – there’s barely more than a bed inside, though the large porch does extend the living space to a considerable degree, which would help in temperate climates. But the Baumraum design makes for stunning and unique guest quarters, and could possibly be enlarged just slightly for year-round living.
Hyette Tiny House
(images via: tommie-wilhelmsen.no)
More of a relaxation spot than an actual livable house, the ‘Hyette Hardanger’ by architect Tommie Wilhelmsen is notable for its streamlined shape and its construction, which was achieved with layered wood. This style could easily carry over into tiny houses that are slightly expanded in size to include a kitchen and bathroom.
‘Dwelle’ Modern Timber Frame Tiny House
(images via: tiny house blog)
Offgrid micro-homes by UK company ‘Dwelle’, known as ‘dwelle-ings’, are entirely prefabricated and easy to erect in practically any landscape. Small enough for two people to assemble with no large machinery required, these homes feature compact layouts with sleeping lofts and are insulated with 100% recycled newspapers. The homes can be put on different kinds of foundations and the exterior siding is customizable to fit specific climates.
Whimsical House by Rustic Way
(images via: tiny house blog)
No, that’s not a quirky prop from the Harry Potter movie set. It’s an adorable custom-built house by Rustic Way, a Minnesota-based company that can produce these these structures in a variety of sizes from teeny-tiny sauna size (as pictured above) to guest houses that are 12×12 feet. The structures are made from salvaged wood and can be shipped all over the United States.
Tiny House by Casey Brown
(images via: design milk)
Casey Brown’s tiny minimalist home is equal parts rustic and modern, with its reclaimed ironbark exterior and two shade eaves that drop down to protect the little relaxation retreat when it’s not in use. Located in a remote part of the Australian outback, the ‘Mudgee’ house measures three square meters. It was built offsite and transported to its current location.
Shelter No. 2: Affordable Prefab Pod House
(images via: inhabitat)
This unusual-looking three-story structure is a prefabricated modular house by Broisson Architects of Mexico. Known as Shelter No. 2, the ‘pod’ has sleeping space for three people as well as a kitchen, a reading and living area and a hydroponic garden. The three levels are connected by a central spiral staircase. It was made from 90% recycled materials.

