Tiny House Giant Journey loft with space saving Tuft & Needle Mattress
I don’t know about you, but without proper sleep I morph into a zombie-turtle. That’s right, a hybrid of a zombie and a turtle. I slowly waddle and groan through my daily routine and occasionally retract my head into my mobile shell. It’s not a good look. Sleep is a necessary part of life and creating a healthy bedroom should be a priority in any tiny home.
Lofted Beds
Space is valuable in a tiny house and sleep is something you can do in a compact area. This is why the majority of tiny housers choose to sleep in a loft. Lofts are space savers! They are also therapeutic. A compact loft can act like a cocoon for the human body. After all, homo sapiens have been sleeping in small dark caves for thousands of years! The effect is organically comforting.
Gallery of Tiny House Lofts:
I love my loft because it gives the bedroom a feeling of separation. If I need privacy, I simply tell Guillaume: “I’m going to read in the loft.” He knows I need “me time” to remain sane and that little partition goes a long way. Sharing a tiny space is not always easy and while respecting your partner’s needs is important in any home, it is absolutely critical in 125 square feet.
Non-Lofted Beds
Climbing is not for everyone and, take it from me, making the bed in a loft requires some funky gymnastic moves. Some tiny housers prefer non-lofted bed options. In order to save space, this usually means incorporating convertible furniture. Take Lina Menard’s Lucky Penny (pictured above) for example: her comfy couch converts into a full size bed! Watch the full video tour to see how Lina can pull her bed out into a full size sleeping space.
Zyl Vardos “Dewdrop” Tiny House
Another non-lofted convertible bed is used in Abel Zyl’s “Dewdrop,” where a Japanese-style floor couch pulls out into a bed from underneath an elevated kitchen. Abel’s bedroom designs are always innovative and whimsical. His unique rooflines create inventive loft spaces as seen in the Pinafore, the Fortune Cookie and the Ark.
Taking cues from the RV and sailing industry, Derek’s tiny couch design converts into a full size bed. It’s one of my favorite folding bed designs, that I’ve seen in a tiny house, so far. Watch a full video tour of Derek’s tiny house in New Orleans.
Andrew Odom from Tiny r(E)volution came up with a compact roll out bed design that will knock your socks off! Check out the above video to see it in action.
Lastly, I want to show you this awesome electric lift-bed design from Tiny Idahomes. The downstairs bed actually lifts to the ceiling at the touch of a button, allowing for additional space when not in use! Out of sight, out of mind. I am curious how much electricity is required to power this bed – personally I’d prefer an old-fashioned pulley system. Perhaps this is not a great option for off-grid power, but it’s a cool design for those looking to stay on-the-grid.
Rooflines & Tiny House Beds
The shape of your tiny home is going to dictate possible bed options. For example: Music City Tiny Home (pictured below) has a shed roof, which is adequate enough space for not only one, but two lofts, while Russ’s Gypsy Wagon is far too short for a lofted bed. Instead Russ keeps it simple with a ground floor twin bed.
Music City Tiny House – 1 of 2 Identical lofts
Russ’s Gypsy Wagon with Twin Bed
When designing your roofline, consider your sleep space.
Dormers expand a gable roofline and are becoming popular in tiny home construction even though they add weight, build complexity and create a blocky aesthetic. Curved rooflines, such as the Lilypad Tiny Home, allow for more headroom but are difficult to construct and add weight. A simple a-frame would make a gorgeous tiny home, but the loft would be teeny tiny. A gable roof, such as in Brittany’s Bayside Bungalow is a charming and easy to construct, but might be tight for two dreamers… unless you like to snuggle.
Here are a few bedroom ideas I’d like to see functioning in future tiny homes: 1). Hammock Bed, 2). Murphy Bed, and 3). Bunk Beds. Or how about a water bed? That would be unique!
Tiny houses have always been intriguing to me. They definitely make for a good vacation home. Murphy beds/cabinet beds make a lot of sense in a tiny home as they save a lot of room.