Update: Our Tiny House Interior Plans & Inspiration


It's been a while since I shared an update on the tiny house we're building in the garden of the summer cottage in southern Sweden. A lot has been going on behind the scenes, but most excitingly Per and I headed up there for a meeting with the builders last week and it's starting to feel VERY real! A while back, I shared our plans for the exterior. I'm looking forward to sharing the finer details of that soon (once we have settled on the wood finish). Until then, I thought I'd share the plans and inspiration for the interior! 

Layout: 
Our cabin is called a Komplementsbostad which is a special Swedish dwelling measuring 30 m2 (323 f2) and a maximum of 4 metres (13 feet) high. The idea is to use it as a place to unwind at the weekends and in the holidays. If we're staying in the main cottage, it will be a place for guests to stay and hopefully in the future, somewhere our children to come with their family and friends!

The cabin will contain a small kitchenette, social area, bathroom and two sleeping quarters. It's designed to sleep 4. I think I'll start with the latter! 

We decided to lay the sleeping zones out over two floors (which is fairly customary with this type of house). The 'master bedroom' will be in an alcove / nook on the lower floor, and a sleep loft will be placed over the bathroom and bedroom. 

The reason we decided to do it this way and not create a separate master bedroom is because we also wanted to create a nice social area in which to hang out - so we needed the extra space. For the same reason, we also decided not to have a formal entrance / hallway. 

Inspiration for the bedroom / sleep loft area: 

I absolutely love the look and feel of Lina Kjellvertz's cabin (the swede has impeccable taste - check out her house in Mallorca if you have the time!). Her attafallshus was designed by Sommernöjen and features white walls and a light wood ladder and sleep loft - something I am looking to emulate. The only difference is that the atelier / desk area will be exchanged for a bed. Basically like this: 


The bedroom nook will be fairly snug! The cosy danish bedroom below has also been a major source of inspiration for us. See the rest of the lovely cabin here

We are looking to convert the under section of the bed into two separate, very large drawers which will be used to store clothes, bed linen, towels etc. A little like the ones in this tiny Norwegian house on wheels.


We're also hoping to add shelving, but sadly we won't have space for a surface behind the bed like the one seen above since the nook is the exact length of the bed! 

Kitchenette

The kitchen and dining area is very much a work in progress! As with everything else, it will of course be small. Since space is of a premium, it will involve upper and lower cabinets. I love this kitchen by Swedish Nordiska Kök - it's clean and contemporary, but also features some beautiful natural elements including stone and wood, which would be a nice way to bring the surroundings inside. Do you like this look too? Clearly the island is a no go, as we simply don't have room! Instead, I'm hoping to find a small vintage table for four. Let the hunt begin! 

One big dilemma: we were hoping to put the boiler in the top right cabinet BUT the plumber told us it would be way too small. Instead it might need to be placed to one side of the sleep loft which is not ideal. I know my family, and they do love their showers! If you have any other ideas on where to place it, I'm all ears! 

Main living / social area

You might have noticed that all these inspiration images have something in common: wood panelling. I absolutely love wood panels, they bring a more relaxed feel to space and help to add a coastal touch.  Are you a fan of panelling too?

This panelling by Swedish brand Norrlands Trä seen in this Scandinavian cabin is spot on. I'm just in the process of ordering samples to see which style would look best (every panel option comes in an option of at least two different whites as well as various textures - I tell you, it's a minefield!).

Sitting room
I'm going to be honest, we still haven't decided which direction to go in with the sitting room. All thoughts are welcome at this stage! The only thing we do know is there are a LOT of windows and doors to contend with (see plan) and there'll definitely be a woodturning stove (more info to follow soon!).

But what we don't know, is what seating to go for. 

Do we go for some kind of built-in bench running from the kitchen units to the wall with storage underneath like in these lovely rooms?

Or do we opt for a sofa-bed with storage to make room for extra guests? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Looking at these images I'm wondering if I've over sold our cabin now!! I mean, some of these spaces are simply incredible and quite a lot bigger than our cabin! The pressure is on! 

I can't wait to share more plans with you soon including the bathroom, outdoors space and wood burning stove! Meanwhile, we're hoping the first spade will go in the ground this week - woohooo! 

For more tiny cabin inspiration check out: 

Opening doors vs folding doors - see the comments for the final reader verdict!

And the tiny house archive - which is full of inspiration for small spaces! 

Right guys, that's it from me this week, thank you for coming along for the ride - and for all your kind messages in yesterday's post, it really meant so much. 

Trevlig helg / have a great weekend!

Niki

Photography: 1. House Doctor. 2&3 Sommarnöjen 4, 5 & 10. Morten Holtum 6. Nordiska Kök 7. Norrlands Trä 8. Femina 9. My Domaine

LATEST COMMENTS:

  1. Hi hi! This looks great : ). We have a cabin in northern Minnesota & my first thought was comfortable dining chairs! We hardly ever sit in our seating area. Most nights we go from eating to playing a game to bed.
    I am inspired by your built in seating idea. I made a note forever ago about using refrigerator cabinets for bench seats. I was planning to prop them up with 2 x 4s.
    Thanks for so much inspiration & happy building ~ Sandra

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    1. This is really helpful! Before live in a space it's hard to know how you'll actually use it in reality. I'm now going to ensure that our dining chairs are comfy! PS I love the sound of your cabin - I hope you get the chance to build the seating area soon, I'm happy this post was a good reminder :)

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  2. So exciting. I love everything about it and now wish I had somewhere to build this type of cabin. I do love the idea of custom building a sectional in the sitting area that would consist of two twin mattresses for additional guests to sleep if needed. they could maybe be two simple twin beds on wheels that can be moved to be a sectional for two people or a to be a large bed for a family (I used to love sleeping between my mom and dad on short vacations). But even better they could be built in with additional drawers for storage. That picture with a luxurious white built in with drawers is a dream but it doesn't have to be that luxurious :-). anyway, good luck. looking forward to seeing the progress and how you use it when built.

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    1. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. It would be really nice if the seating can double up as a bed and storage in some way - all the while looking nice! I'm going to do some research. PS my ten year-old would love nothing more than to sleep inn our bed every night, so sweet!

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    2. There is something so comforting sleeping between your parents when you are little. I can still remember the feeling. You have a great taste and anything you do will be beautiful and will fit well with how you and your family need to use the space.

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  3. We have a little cottage on Mayne Island in British Columbia, Canada and the one thing we always wish we had was some sort of built in sleeping sofa bed in the living room for extra people. We are planning for something but I would definitely recommend something that could accommodate guests to sleep.

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    1. This is so helpful, thank you! I need to research built-in sofa beds! PS I love the sound of your little cottage - and its location.

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  4. By boiler do you mean just a water heater or do you also mean for it to be used to heat the cabin? If the first in the US we have on-demand-water heaters that you can put under a sink cabinet for example to supply only that sink, or there are larger units to use for say a whole bathroom. They tend to mount on the wall. Maybe you could fit one in the bathroom and since it is only the kitchenette sink to it might work. They are also called tankless water heaters. My guess is it will translate to "genomstromnings varmare" that is the water is heated as it runs through the unit. Sorry don't have access to the 3 extra letters i det svenska alfabetet.

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    1. Yes, just a water heater, I think we're going to go for underfloor heating so we can avoid radiators. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts / insight. I chatted to Per about this and he thinks that you might need gas for one of these - is that correct?

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    2. I've seen electric ones that run on either 110V or 240V

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    3. Hi Niki, I have a tankless water heater in my house (I had it installed about 6 years ago after the existing water heater went to heaven) and mine does require a gas line. Actually it requires both electricity as well as gas. I am not familiar with the gasless ones and I hope they are better than mine (mine appears to be rather cantankerous with a mind of its own, the faucet must turned fully on, it's actually quite disappointing - I don't know if mine is a lemon or if they all work that way.

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    4. Sorry I didn't realize there was a response. There are both electric and gas/propane on demand water heaters. Best would be to talk to a plumber about it. We have a propane one for our whole house, but an electric for the sink in our shop which is too far from the house to run the hot water there too.

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  5. Such exciting plans! The built in seating looks lovely, but how comfortable is it for sitting and sleeping? We have a very comfortable sleeper sofa for sitting (our house is small and that's the only guest area that we have). I'm not sure how it feels when you sleep on it--we got it just as the pandemic broke loose so, no overnight guests for us. I've stayed in a lots of VRBO rentals and comfort is key! You have the skillset to make it pretty no matter what direction you choose to go.

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    1. I totally agree that comfort is key. It is tempting to go for a sofa bed for this very reason - plus I like that you can move them around, where as if we create built-in seating it will be permanent. Hmmm. Something to think about. I hope you are able to host overnight guests soon so that they can put yours to the test (and have some fun!)! PS thank you for the vote of confidence, I really hope so, feeling a little nervous about the project right now!

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  6. I absolutely love the leading photo, what a view!
    I cannot wait to see your finished cabin, I know it will be fabulous.

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    1. It's divine!! Sadly ours doesn't look out over the water with its own private jetty, but a girl can dream, right? :)

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  7. Hi! Can't wait to see your plan on your dream bedroom. Those inspired bedroom photos are so damn nice. This is also good for small tiny house.

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  8. Adorei o projeto e as inspirações.
    Usar a cama como guarda roupa foi uma ótima ideia.
    Ter um sofá cama é interessante.
    Colocar a cama do lado do banheiro ficou bem legal.
    Li seu artigo, mas eu não consegui identificar se o projeto foi feito por você ou por um arquiteto.
    Vou ficar de olho no seu blog. Quero ver como ficará este projeto quando ele estiver pronto.
    Um abraço.
    arquitetoversatil.com

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  9. Hi, the electric flow boiler from https://www.heatraesadia.com/products could be what you need just to heat hot water for showers - friends of ours have one in a house with no gas and it’s ace.
    Thanks, Karen

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  10. Is it a Scandinavian tradition to place the external door in the bathroom? Also beds in alcoves become difficult to climb in and out of after about age 40. And difficult to change the sheets. But the inspiration photos are lovely.

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    1. Two good points, thank you for highlighting these.

      We thought long and hard about where to put the front door and although not absolutely ideal, we decided to put it in the bathroom for two reasons: firstly we wanted the doors on the front to open right out into the garden - something which would have been way trickier if not impossible had we put the front door there. And two, the floor in the bathroom will be tiled (the main living area will be wood), with gives it better protection on a rainy day etc. Once inside the cabin, the other doors can be used to go in and out, so it's just that first moment when you arrive.

      Thank you for also highlighting the bed nook - another good insight. We also thought long and hard about this, and decided that creating a separate bedroom on the lower level would eat into the living space, and since we'll be staying there for weeks at a time, we're keen for the family to have plenty of room to hang out, play board games etc. Having said that, we're going to ensure the cabin has a good sofa bed in the main living area, as well as install blackout blinds, so if the bed nook doesn't work for us, we can always use the double sofa bed instead - and the nook could be used as a desk area or children's bed. Time will tell!

      Happy you liked the inspiration photos :)

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  11. Love this inspired photos, this is great for small spaces.

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