Imagine fitting a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room in less than 100 square feet. Doesn’t that sound like an impossible task? Well, it’s not! Tiny Housers have proved that, with a little creativity, there are hundreds of ways to design a micro-home with all of these elements. One way they are able to accomplish this is by building custom multi-purpose furniture. Below I’ve listed some of my favorite examples to get your creative juices flowing.
7 Multi-Purpose Furniture Ideas (Designed by Tiny Housers)
1). Their Office Converts into Bedroom
After getting laid off, the Meija family downsized and designed a Tiny House to accommodate a home business. Their office features two work stations with collapsible desks and fixed computer monitors. But that’s not all it does…
See this Multi-Purpose Furniture Piece in Action:
What’s behind the wall? A queen-size bed!
At night, they fold down the office wall to reveal a queen size bed, turning their office into the master bedroom. Read the full article on this Tiny Home.
2). Her Staircase with a Secret Dining Room Table
Anita’s house features an easy to climb the staircase that takes up a lot of space in her Tiny Home. In order to compensate for the size, the staircase needs to have multiple purposes.
See Anita’s Staircase in Action:
Staircases MUST Have Multiple Purposes in Tiny Homes
Not only does Anita’s staircase offer an easy climb to the loft, but it also features a ton of storage (which acts as her pantry) as well as a slide-out dining table! Read the full article on this Tiny House.
3). Her Piano Converts into Bed
Shorty travels around in her Tiny House to attend civil war reenactments, so she made her home authentic to the time period. While researching antique furniture, she found a Civil War-Era murphy bed that converts into a piano! This was one of the craziest pieces of multi-purpose furniture I’ve ever seen! Read the full article on this Tiny Home.
See this Multi-Purpose Furniture Piece in Action:
4). His Two Sofas Become a King Size Bed
Mike built his Skoolie to host friends, which means it needed sleeping space and comfortable seating for several guests. In order to get both of these things, he built custom sofas that unfold to meet in the middle and create one super large bed!
See this Custom Sofa Bed in Action:
5). Their Closet Becomes Bedroom
Van dwellings are even smaller than Tiny Homes and Skoolies. Dan and Rachel use their van to travel around the country to volunteer, but they didn’t want to sacrifice on some of the more important creature comforts – like a closet! So, they created a sliding closet space that tucks away into their bedroom during the day and moves out into their living room at night.
See This Sliding Closet in Action:
6). Master Bedroom that Becomes Classroom
When a family of five hits the road in a converted school bus, they have to prioritize the children’s needs and education. So what do they do? They create a classroom for the kids to learn and do homework. At night, the classroom becomes the master bedroom for the parents. Read the full article on this Skoolie.
See this Multi-Purpose Furniture in Action:
7). Chalkboard Becomes Dining Room Table
This last multi-purpose furniture piece is from yours truly! I’m really proud of it, actually, because I designed and made this table all on my own.
The design was inspired by photos of furniture pieces for sale online, but none of them were perfect. So, I decided to make the table myself. I painted the backside with non-toxic chalkboard paint. My ottomans move into place to create seating for four. The only downside is that the table has to be lifted to get in and out. So, the deal is, the people sitting on the bench-side aren’t allowed to move until AFTER dinner is over!
Now that you have seen my favorite multi-purpose furniture ideas, what are some of the creative ways you’ll customize your Tiny Home, Van Dwelling, or Skoolie? Please share your ideas in the comments.