My Dream Tiny Home: Entry & Kitchen

Tiny homes are getting more and more popular every day.  It seems like they are being talked about all over the country.  There's a documentary on Netflix and even a Tiny House Hunter's show on HGTV.  

I've always been fascinated by tiny homes.  I would personally love an excuse to get rid of half my belongings.  Thinking about minimalism and simplicity has gotten me dreaming about designing and buying my own tiny home.  I currently live in an apartment, so my monthly rent isn't going towards any type of investment.  Wouldn't it be better to spend that money (or even less) on something tangible that I can sell later if I want or need to?

Yesterday I went to a tiny home Christmas village where they let you take tours of about 6-8 tiny homes from different local builders.  It was my first time being inside a tiny home and it was really cool to see all the ideas and options that are available.  I also went to a Meetup with the Denver Metro Tiny House Enthusiasts group.  I met lots of nice people and learned a ton of information.  One of the people I met was Ryan, who runs the Tiny Home Connection, where you can build and store your tiny house if you are a DIY-er or you can have them build the whole thing for you.

And before you think I'm starting to go all hippie, I don't plan on having an outhouse or trying to live off grid.  I fully plan on having all the luxuries of a modern house, including a washer/dryer and a flushing toilet!

I already found a tiny home model that I love, but it's from a builder in Virginia.  My plan is to find a local builder in Colorado and work with them to customize the floorplan I found so I can make it my own style.  I'm going to show you pictures of the model, which is called The Kate from Tiny House Building Company.  Then I'll walk you through some of the changes I plan on making for my own design.  There are lots of pictures, so I'll be breaking this up into a few different posts that I'll share over the next week or so.

The Entry

When you first walk into the tiny house, you see the stairs leading up to one of the lofts.  The kitchen is off to the left with a pantry next to the fridge.  The living room is on the right. One of the only changes I would like to make to the entry is to turn the cubby spot with 3 shelves into more of a coat nook.  I'd take the shelves out and add coat hooks on the back to make it a nice place to hang up jackets.  I'd probably use the 2 shelves next to it for shoes, so maybe I'd make those shorter so I could fit 3 or more shelves in there.  I'm also not a fan of the material on the back of the storage area, so I'd pick something else.

The Kitchen

See what I mean about the luxuries of a modern home?  This is a full-size kitchen that might actually be bigger than the one in my current apartment!  My first change to the kitchen would actually be picking out a smaller fridge.  I don't need one quite that big and that extra space would let me make the pantry on the right even larger.  I'd keep the cabinets the way they are, but I'd like to add a dishwasher somewhere, possibly under the counter in the foreground of the picture.

I really like the window over the sink and I absolutely love the sink & faucet, so I'll be keeping those.  I'm planning on putting a microwave on the counter to the right, which will kind of tuck it away off to the side of the fridge.  I plan to keep the open shelves, but I'd like to have 2 sets of shelves on each wall and then remove the two shelves closest to the window over the sink.  I'd use that open wall space for my hanging spice rack and probably one of those magnetic strips that's meant to store knives.

On the counter next to the stove, closest to the camera, I plan on making a drink station.  This is where I'd put my Keurig and some type of storage for all my tea.  I'd also like to find a cute way to display coffee mugs.  I've seen a few ideas on Pinterest, so maybe I'll find a nice "Coffee" sign to hang on the wall and then hang the mugs from hooks underneath.  I also think it's really hard to see the glass tile backsplash because it blends in so much.  I'm hoping to do something that will stand out a little more.

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So that it's for today!  There's a whole lot more to share though, so I'll be posting more about all the other rooms in the next few days.  In the meanwhile, let me know in the comments if you are a fan of tiny homes and if you think you could ever live in one.