While they primarily are focusing on offices, these structures have been designed to suit various applications, one of which is small floating houses.  Here is their typical office setup with a conversion couch to bed.

Typical specs include:

• a compact design giving enough space for one or two people to work in comfort
• a “private” working area
• a “breakout” area
• an external sun deck
• a kitchenette
• a pull-out berth (for overnight stays)
• plenty of storage space
• bathroom

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Many of you are familiar with the book An Omnivore’s Dilemma, written by Michael Pollan.  What you might not know is that he built a little cabin in the woods to write much of that book in.  His Tiny House is mainly for writing check it out!

Wanting to have a place of his own where he could think and write, Pollan decided to erect a small structure in the woods behind his house. Fancying himself a modern-day Thoreau, he wanted to build his “dream hut” with his own hands, even though he had no carpentry skills or experience. We learn very little about how to build a small structure; the majority of this book is devoted to Pollan’s pretentious musings about a variety of architectural theories and about his interaction with the architect and carpenter who helped him (wasn’t this supposed to be a simple structure?). Although it cost Pollan $125 per square foot and took him two and one-half years to build, ultimately it is the reader who works the hardest.

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We all know and love Jay’s amazing design that truly sparked the imagination of thousands.  When most people say Tiny House, we see in our minds an image of a Fencl or a Lusby, but it is important to remember that Tiny House come in all shapes and sizes.  This is important because by choosing a Tiny House we are breaking out of a mold, but sometimes we find ourselves in a new mold.  The out-of-the-box thinking that started Tiny Houses must be continued to improve an already great idea.   I submit these five improvements of the Tumbleweed Houses, but the face of Tiny Houses isn’t limited to Tumbleweed by any means.

Radiant Heat Floors

The Tiny House is typically heated by a small boat fireplace, which can run close to $1000, must be vented (which means cutting a hole in the roof) and I don’t like the look of the chimney.  Now radiant floors for those of you who don’t know, are wires inlaid into the subfloor to heat from the bottom up.  This gives a nice cozy feeling for your feet and since heat rises, you are heating the space as a whole.  It has been successfully done in the PAD (portlandalternativedwellings.com)

The best part about this option is that it adds about ½ inch rise on your floor level, which is unnoticeable, while the boat fireplace takes up a lot more space.  The downside to this is you will need electricity.  At 50 square feet (remember you don’t heat areas you don’t walk on) running an hour will need around 6 amps at 120 volts for a total use of ~750 watts.  Most folks are going to have power, so this is pretty reasonable when combined with a programmable thermostat.

Lockers

I came upon this idea over at Jonathan’s blog (http://gungy.livejournal.com) and it just made sense.  Upstairs in the loft he has created small “lockers” that line the side of his bed.  This frames the mattress, adds storage and keeps things looking neat while still having access to it.  He did an excellent job at taking the existing structure and integrating the storage to match.  The added bonus of this is that your mattress will have less room to shift as you climb in and out of bed.  I would take this option one step further by adapting one of the “lockers” near the head end to have a power outlet inside of it with holes to run cables to the top, this would create a way to charge your cell phone and ipod etc. neatly.

On Demand Water Heater

This one will certainly take a bit more expertise and planning, but there is one thing I would miss after a long day in the garden is not having a hot shower.  These water heaters are really small, can fit just about anywhere and mean that you only expend energy when you are in need of hot water.  Take all that and top it off with tax credits and it sounds like a great idea.  What is the catch?  You will need electricity (albeit a small amount and propane), which I feel is something that most Tiny House people have, either solar or grid.  You certainly can design it so you can bypass this when you are running off the grid.

Integrated Jacks

One thing many people don’t realize is that if you are going to be setting up in one spot with a Tiny House on a trailer is that just letting it sit there can lead to tire shock, which will put flat spots on your tires or break down the walls faster.  It is probably a good idea to jack the trailer up and remove the tires, this way people can’t steal your house. With jacks you also have a more stable floor, it could be argued that it is safer too.

Integrated jacks aren’t anything new, look at trailers and popup campers, but for $100-200 you can get some nice looking jacks that can be integrated into the trailer so you are never without them.  Be sure to take into account what weight they will be holding, 4 tons per jack will be overkill, but you will never have to worry about it.  The added benefit of these are if you ever get a flat tire on the road, these are already in place and are safer because they are welded to the frame.

Flexible Shelves

This one is a bit of a stretch, but I decided to add it anyway.  Jay’s craftsmanship is nothing short of beauty, the quality is superb, which is why he is a premium brand.  I felt the need to have my storage in these to be a bit more flexible.  With moveable shelves, rolling shelves, etcetera you are able to accommodate a wider range of items and have them tucked away out of sight.  See my photo here and take a look around my blog for lots of ideas.

Here is a Tiny House that comes from the Designers at Ecospace.  They design a full range of building from small office pods and bigger.  Using SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) these houses can be put together fairly quickly.  At only a few hundred feet, they pack a ton into this thing.  At around $55,000 this is a premium house, but I feel it serves to provide good inspirations for your own design.

Made from sustainable cedar wood with an optional plant covered roof, low-energy heating, lighting and insulation, it’s right at home with the environment as well as your garden. Use it as your office and the garden commute will do wonders for your carbon footprint too.

Click link below for more photos!

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This Tiny House, well truth be told it is a Tiny Apartment, with a small floor plan it sits at 303 square feet.  Located in Soho, you can bet this place is a pretty penny to rent, but it has great charm with an even better location.  Here is what Valerie said about her Tiny House:

Though I’m a native New Yorker, I lived in Maui before moving to this light-filled studio seven years ago. Hence my love for things like bamboo (the lampshades and cabinets are covered with placemats from Pearl River) and an organic-zen, “planty”, green, life-filled feeling.

Being in such a small space also inspired an obsession with clean lines and efficiency going vertical with the Shelfshop shelf-desk-combo was nearly life-altering.

Though I’ve gradually matured the space by replacing street-found and Surprise! Surprise! furniture with grown-up stuff (by weird, cool circumstance Todd Oldham helped me pick out fabric for the Snap sofa himself), I still love meaningful, often DIY, whimsy hence the purple birds, funky angel doll, and horse-head lamps.

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This great guest house was designed by Wayne F. Tjaden, he was tasked to figure out how to take a awkward space of 100 square feet with 13.5 foot high ceilings and make it a home away from home.  The end result is pretty amazing and the re-purposing of an old mill reduces its impact.

Here is what he had to say about the process of design:

I was inspired by the challenge of converting a 200 sq.ft. former factory restroom plus 100 sq.ft. of an adjacent corridor, all with 13 ft. ceiling, into a guest apartment for the owner/architect’s live/work loft on the floor directly above.  To solve the problem, I introduced diagonal walls, at aspect ratio of 1:4 separating the space longitudinally into principal living spaces and support spaces located adjacent to existing plumbing services. Then, I suspended a sleeping mezzanine within the 13 ft. tall space.  The diagonal walls create forced perspectives which enhance the perception of spaciousness and the floating mezzanine allows the spaces to be appreciated as parts of a single whole.

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This neat Parisian flat was designed by H2O Architects and is just under 650 square feet.  With a unique flowing wall that is designed to define space while maintain the flow, it allows the owner, an avid comic book collector, to show off his collection.  The built in storage is pervasive through out the apartment and has really nice accent backings to break up the almost overwhelming white.

Here is what the architect had to say about the design:

The new design offers a continuous wide open space which expands, becomes more complex or dense depending on orientations and uses. These variances are defined by the variable geometries and the usable thickness of the casework and walls. A study on sculpting these depths allowed to create a variety of cavities, niches and alcoves. The sculpted shapes vary in size and colors to adapt to multiple functions in different locations. They can harbor either the vast collection of comics or a bar, a bathroom, a closet, and so on.

The front side of each shape always maintains its negative volume on the back. Behind the scenes can unveiled new uses taking place like cupboards, a desk, video, shelves, etc… In this manner, the apartment is continuously renewed and cross-views can become through-views.

Check out the multi use area below.  First it is a flip out office, but tuck that away and you have storage for your things.

More photos here

Though he is still crawling, 9-month-old Thurston Conder takes about 10 seconds to have the run of the house. It’s not that he’s exceptionally fast; he just doesn’t have that far to roam. Thurston shares 380 square feet with his mom and dad, Kelly Breslin and Ryan Conder, and a medium-sized mutt named Charlie.

Lots of young families start out in small houses, just not this small. These parents say it’s their preference, and that the small space hasn’t cramped their style. It’s arranged for maximum efficiency, but it still looks comfortable and fashionably decorated. Conder, 35, owner of the men’s clothing store South Willard, and Breslin, 32, a ceramic artist, have given it a distinct personality: Quadruple their living quarters and it would look like a downtown artist’s loft with a carefully edited selection of contemporary art and Midcentury Danish and Italian design.

“Everyone who comes over says, ‘Wow, it’s so cute,’ but I know they are thinking, ‘Wow, it’s so small,’ ” Breslin says.

Adds Conder: “Even the guy who comes to fix the sink asked where the bedroom is.”

There isn’t one. Built atop a two-car garage, the 1950s house’s living quarters consist of two rooms — and that’s if you count the bath. There isn’t a designated nursery or even a crib. Along with other parents in their Echo Park circle of friends, Conder and Breslin practice co-sleeping, so Thurston rests with them.

Read more here