Space age: The best big ideas to make the most of tiny homes
If you have unused attic or under-eaves space, look to American-style A-frame homes like this triangle-shaped tiny house in Colorado, for inspiration. File pictures
Sometimes it just takes a new perspective to help us see how we can improve our homes. We all tend to do things on autopilot just because that’s how we’re used to them being done.
We design furniture and put things away in ways that seem normal and familiar to us.
Every culture has its own unique norms and traditions, and what may seem completely mundane to someone across the world may spark a new idea for how we maximise the space in our own homes back here in Ireland. Here are some interesting ways that other countries create additional space and storage in their homes.
I could easily dedicate a whole other article to all the clever space-maximising ideas that come from Japan. As a nation, they are a source of innumerable cleverly designed pieces of furniture that transform and double up for maximum usage. High-density cities have resulted in the need for micro-apartments — indeed some, known as “three-tatami rooms” are as small as three Japanese tatami mats, which translates into nine metres squared. Seriously tiny!
One clever way that the Japanese maximise space is to make use of vertical storage. Stackable boxes are often used to maximise space and clear items from floor level. We tend to overlook this in Ireland — you will often see kitchen cabinets that don’t quite reach the ceiling, for example.
The Japanese are huge fans of built-in furniture, and one piece that you will see in many Japanese homes is “tenbukuro”. Tenbukuro translates to a storage unit that is built above eye level. While you may need a ladder for access, it is a concept that could add plenty of extra storage to your home.
Search for tenbukuro images and see if you can find some inspiration for where there might be space at a height that you could use to clear away some clutter.
Cycling is the most popular way to get around in The Netherlands, it’s no big shock that the Dutch have some clever bike storage ideas. What might be surprising is that most of these are actually outdoors. The Netherlands is a high-density country, so apartment living is common.
Since the 1950s, Dutch building regulations mandate bike storage rooms with street access for most apartment buildings, which is good news as trekking a bicycle up and down flights of stairs (especially steep Dutch staircases!) is not an appealing option. Plenty of people also simply chain their bicycles to one of many bike racks on the streets.
In Ireland, we don’t have any such mandates and bike theft is a concern, as is rain and rust. However, we should still consider outdoor storage options for our bikes. Installing a permanent locking point, such as the Kryptonite Stronghold Ground Anchor, and investing in good locks and a cover to prevent rust is a great way to free up indoor space (and keep floors clean!).
Dublin City Council has started rolling out a scheme of secure bike storage lockers for city residents. Check out bikebunkers.ie or cycle-works.com and consider talking to your neighbours about investing in shared bike storage units for your area.
A-frame houses are those cute homes that look like little triangles. They experienced a huge revival in the USA in the 1950s, and remain very popular as an affordable building style. They’re low cost, the pointed triangle shape brings a feeling of space through ceiling height, and are very popular as holiday homes in the USA. However, their sloped walls present a design challenge, to which there are many creative solutions that we can learn from.
If you have unused attic or under-eaves space because you’re struggling with how to deal with a sloping wall, look to A-frame homes for inspiration. You can install angled wall-mounted shelving to store books and other items just like on a straight wall.
There are some very clever clothing rails with small pegs or hooks that prevent clothes hangers from sliding down the sloped angle.
You can use modular furniture such as cubed shelving to follow the slope of the wall.
Finally, many A-frame dwellers make use of hanging storage, such as baskets, to maximise space on the sloped walls.
There is a town in the middle of Australia called Coober Pedy where the majority of people live underground. This makes sense in a place where the temperature regularly surpasses 50C. It’s also not the only example of subterranean dwelling — even here in Ireland our ancestors dug pits as early refrigerators to keep food fresh. Plenty of homes around the world have basements and wine cellars, and while that’s not common here, we can still look downwards for storage inspiration.
If you have high ceilings but are low on floor space, consider raising the floor slightly and adding trap doors to store items underneath. I’m considering doing this in my tiny hallway — I have some space in between the joists underneath my tiled floor and I would love to add a hinged trap door and put storage boxes in there for shoes. If you're really stuck for space, consider creating a platform in part of your room where you can store items underneath.
- Got a question for Jennifer Sheahan? Email home@examiner.ie
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