The Top 43 Small House Ideas

The tiny house movement is in full swing, with more and more people deciding to ditch the palatial mini-mansions.

If the idea of living in a tiny home sounds appealing to you, then it’s time to start downsizing your belongings. With a smaller home comes less storage space and smaller living spaces.

Just because you have a small home doesn’t mean that it can’t be warm, welcoming, or stunning. The challenge is to utilize your space so you can optimize every inch.

Decide what type of aesthetic you want and how much storage space you need. These small house ideas will help you enjoy living in your small home.

1. Cabin

Your smaller house is perfect for turning into a cabin. Embrace the size of your small home and turn it into a cozy space. This is also a good idea for a guest house, or backyard storage shed. Add wood shingles or planks to the outside to create a natural siding.

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You could use the cabin as storage space or a guest house. Outfit the inside of the cabin with rustic wood furniture. Replace the flooring with hardwood or wood laminate flooring. Then lay an area rug down. It could be a thick plush weave or a faux fur.

2. Cottage

Create a quaint cottage out of your small house. The unassuming approach to farmhouse decor blends well with a cottage style.

Add a small porch to the front of the house to create a welcoming entryway. Add a stone walkway leading up to the front door. Then plant several blooming plants to create a garden feel around the home.

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Inside, keep things quaint with simple wood furniture. Light linen window treatments will keep your cottage feeling quaint while still letting in plenty of light. Choose light woods and white or pastel paint. Add touches of glamour, such as a chandelier or gilded frame mirror.

3. Decor

Just because the house is small doesn’t mean you can’t decorate. You just have to scale the art down to match the size of the wall space you have available. Or you could mount floating shelves on the walls and place several small items on them.

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Keep the decor in line with the aesthetic of your small home. A cabin could have forest-inspired decor.

A cottage will look complete with farmhouse or country-inspired decor. A modern small house could have abstract paintings. A classy or elegant home could have a wall hanging made by a local artist.

4. Front

It doesn’t matter if your home is tiny or palatial; its curb appeal can make or break your home. Adding a porch to the front of your home can increase its curb appeal and give you an outdoor living space.

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Build a porch onto the front of the home and add a railing and roof covering. This creates a living room-type feel. It can be a small room outside to receive guests, enjoy a morning coffee, or host cocktail hour.

Add comfortable furniture like rocking chairs, glider chairs, or a love seat with plush cushions.

5. Furniture

When you have a small home, your furniture needs to be scaled down to fit the size of the home. A California king bed may be way too large for your small master bedroom.

Instead, a twin or queen may be a better choice. The smaller bed won’t overpower the room and leaves space for you to walk around the bed easily.

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The same approach needs to be taken in the living room. It helps to create a sketched floor plan before you start buying furniture.

Start with a small sofa, love seat, or armchairs. Then place a small coffee table in the center. Be sure you can easily walk around the table and seating.

6. Garden

Feeling stuck inside your small home can be restricting and stifling. Try growing a garden around your tiny house. This takes the small house design outside and gives you more livable square footage outside of the home.

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An English garden is a perfect garden idea for your small home. These gardens are bright, welcoming, and full of flowering plants. What’s even better is that they embrace a sort of natural feel with no need for perfectly manicured plants.

It’s perfect if it looks slightly overgrown. Add a stone path through it with a small bench or chairs so that you can sit among the plants and enjoy your garden.

7. Guest House

You may not be ready to commit to living in a small home, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dream of trying out the small home lifestyle. Instead of moving into a small home yourself, build one on your property and turn it into a guest house.

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You can keep the house small by skipping the full bathroom and only having a half bath. Then choose bunk beds or a murphy bed. These keep the sleeping area square footage requirements minimal.

Now you can use the floor space for other things. You could have a sitting area, a small desk, or a mini kitchen. It can also be nice to have a small breakfast or dining table. This lets your guests enjoy a relaxing breakfast or late-night snack without disrupting you in your home.

8. Interiors

Plan your tiny house interior carefully. You need to maximize the space you have available. There are some rooms you can’t compromise on, such as the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

However, you can create flex spaces in an open floor plan. You could place a table between the kitchen space and the living room area. This would be a dining area that can also function as your dining room.

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Plan out your home plan before you start planning your interior decor. Let the home’s design tell you how the home should be decorated. The home’s architecture and materials can tell you how to decorate it and the furniture that would make the most sense in it.

9. Landscape

When you check out tiny house ideas, you’ll notice that everyone adds landscaping around their home. Take pride in your small living area by adding a deck or patio. Then add flower beds or large potted plants. You can turn your outdoor space into a living area.

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Take advantage of higher-end materials. Your yard area is smaller, so you can splurge on more expensive materials. Doing this will elevate the perceived value of your small house.

Add a paver walkway around your home. Build a fountain or another water feature. Add lighting along the walkway or string lights over the seating area.

10. Modern

Modern interior design and minimalism go hand in hand. You can embrace these two ideas and create a small modern house.

Start with an open floor plan to reduce the number of walls. Then choose scaled-down furniture that has a simple design with clean, straight lines.

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A modern small house floor plan focuses on the beauty of the land around it. You can do this by adding large windows to your small house. Focus on the side of the house that has the best view.

11. With Loft

If your small home has a lot of vertical space, then you could add a loft. You need a high ceiling or at least a slanted one with enough space on one wall.

Then build your sleeping loft by creating a platform and stairs leading up to it. Now you have useable space underneath the loft and an extra useable space above.

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The loft could be a sleeping space if you don’t have a lot of headroom. If you have a bit more headroom, it could be a bathroom. Just be sure to close the loft in if you decide to do this. Another great option is to turn the loft into an office.