To Loft, or Not to Loft

     This was a no brainer for us, we've always wanted to have an open loft area. As for some of the other tiny homers, the loft comes with a dreadful connotation. Not everyone likes the idea of a low ceiling in their sleeping area, and many people don't like the idea of stairs/ladders.

     With a loft area you maximise your downstairs space. While also creating what could be one of two things, a cozy space, or a claustrophobic space. There's two good examples here that present this point.

This space has two skylights, and two windows that slide open to create a more open space. When we do this, we intend on having a sort of garage door that could optionally roll down over the skylights.

 

This space has far less of an open feel, and even to us, would feel claustrophobic. Though they do still have windows to give the feel that the space is more open, though not as effective as a the skylights.

     Still though, lofts are not the only option. There is the option to build a bedroom downstairs, but that uses up a good sum of very valuable space. One of the other options is to have a slide out bed like these.

This method though will make your living area double as your sleeping area. For us this was completly out of the question. The reason being was our bad experiences with such things on our boat. We had a dinette, where the table would drop down and become a full sized bed. We just didn't like the feeling of sleeping in the living room, and having to pull it out, and then put it away first thing in the morning. This is especially inefficient if there is more than one person in the house. That is because most people have varying work schedules, and one person might be up while the other would be sleeping. The challenge is that, for one person to navigate the house, the other person would have to get up and mput the bed away.

     So there is pros and cons to both, depending upon from what angle you look atg it. The biggest benefit of a loft is that instead of having to fit a whole bed, or maybe even a room, you just need space for some stairs or a ladder. Tiny home stairs and ladders come in a variety of shapes and sizes, just look here.

For starters we have the o so beautiful spiral staircases, compact and elegant.

Below we have a very compact set of stairs that have very little space to rest your feet, but allow for more space.

Here we've got a set of lengthy stairs that double as drawers. There is many variations of these stairs, the one we like best has the side of the stairwell exposed, and has closets and cabinets in it. Personally I believe this is the most effective use of space.





     Let us know what you think about loft spaces, drop into our Facebook page and leave a post. We would love to hear what you've all got to say.