Unique Tiny House Furniture
Picture from CountryLiving.com. Table by Zack Giffin, Tiny House Nation.
Unique tiny house furniture needs to work hard to deserve taking up your very limited space. Tiny house builders have invented some unique furniture that accomplishes several purposes.
Your living room coffee table can convert into the dining room table, and even your work center. This table was made by Zack Giffin of Tiny House Nation. It opens to reveal a complete video editing center with twin monitors and computer and camera storage.
We’ve done the research, so read on for practical solutions that can make your limited space work for you.
Lift-Top Coffee Table
Tiny-lifers spend a lot of time in their living rooms, so a lift-top coffee table with storage compartments just makes sense.
A high quality mechanism enables the tabletop to be easily lifted up, then lowered down effortlessly and noiselessly. With this versatile lift-top table, you don’t need to lean forward to use your laptop, write, or dine on the table while relaxing on the couch. It measures 41.14 x 19.49 x 24.65 in and is available from Amazon.com. This company has many models to choose from, and they are reasonably priced with good reviews.
Fold Down Tables
Space-Saver Walnut Murphy Table: Wall-Mounted Folding Table for Modern Homes
Kitchen tables normally take up a lot of space. This unique tiny house furniture piece masquerades as bookshelves until you need a kitchen table! You can even arrange your place settings in the bookshelf position, then drop it down into the table position when dinner is ready to be served.
Wall-Mounted Dining Table, Multi-Function Folding Table can be folded down without taking anything off the shelves. It has gas shocks to make lowering and lifting easy, even fully loaded. Made from solid wood and wrought iron so it looks pretty nice. Find it and many others from Etsy by clicking the link.
This wall-mounted table is very reasonably priced on Amazon.com. It’s small, but still quite usable as a computer work station.
The bookshelf provides extra storage. I’ve seen one that has a glass table top so you can see the shelving when the table is folded up. It’s also lighted so it’s more like a display case.
Just like the ubiquitous IKEA folding table
You’ve probably seen these in many tiny builds. These are great! My kids have one. The whole family fits comfortably around it when both sides are extended. The extra storage drawers are invaluable. It comes in white or unfinished, so you can stain it to match your decor. At IKEA they run around $498.00*, and they’re made of solid birch. Here are a couple of options for a fraction of the price.
I’ve seen a version from another company that has casters but it looked way to utilitarian for my tastes. See it on EBay using this link. It sells for just $129.00*.
Use this link for a reasonably-priced choice from Amazon. It more particle board and has casters, but looks good in the pictures.
Open Shelving
Some people prefer the look of open shelving, which gives a feeling of spaciousness that regular kitchen cabinetry does not. Of course, there are pros and cons of each.
You need to be careful that the shelving you pick can handle the weight of the objects you want to put on it.
This Industrial Rustic Modern Wood Ladder Pipe Wall Shelf 4 Layer Pipe Design Bookshelf DIY Shelving shown here, will hold plenty of weight as long as you align the mounting brackets with studs. Amazon.com has many types of “steam punk” shelving to choose from.
You could buy all of the pieces from your local hardware store and make it yourself, but it would likely cost just about as much.
Open shelving is fine if you don’t intend to move around much. If you move, you will need to take everything off the shelves and pack it carefully in boxes.
Pre-made, unfinished kitchen cabinets
All of my cabinets came from The Home Depot. I finished them to match. Very reasonably priced, but I did need to rent a U-Haul truck to get them home. Yes, I used them in my workshop, but my contractor also used them in my kitchen and bathrooms.
The Home Depot has over 40 different cabinet designs to choose from.
Lifting Storage Bed
This lifting storage bed is perfect for a tiny house loft.
There’s always the option of using plastic tubs under the bed, but it can be a real hassle to reach them. For ease of access, as well as using every inch of space, you need the unique lifting storage bed.
You can order this one for $611.09* (not including mattress), or you can build your own using the brackets shown in the right column of this page.
Moisture & Airflow
Notice that the frame of this bed is metal, allowing air to circulate
under the mattress. If you build your own using plywood, you need to use Anti-Condensation Mattress Underlay. Moisture in a tiny house is an important concern to address. Read more about it on this page.
Hide-Away Beds
Your bed will be the largest piece of furniture in your tiny house. Tiny house builders have come up with very creative ways to hide the bed away, or create more bed space for when guests stay over.
One of my favorites is this trundle bed, featured on an episode of Tiny House Nation. It slides out from under a raised living room on casters. I also have seen one that slide smoothly on felt.
Queen Size Murphy Cube Cabinet Bed
Here’s a great Murphy Cube Cabinet bed you don’t have to install. Just set in place.
Convert it from handsome cabinet to comfy bed in less than a minute. When all closed up, it just takes 10 square feet of floor space. Easy to use, easy to love.
There’s even a 6″ storage drawer for sheets and pillows.
Available in Cherry or Chocolate finishes.
Just look how thick that cushion is. Super comfy.
Just $1,797.00*. Click on image to see details.
See more unique convertible furniture from EXPAND on this page: Tiny Home Convertible Furniture from Expand
See this YouTube® video below for more space-saving Unique tiny house furniture.
Making Your Own Unique Tiny House Furniture
Anyone can hammer a 2×4 frame together, but you want to make some really nice looking and long lasting furniture for your tiny home. Besides having the right tools, you need the skill to connect pieces of wood together. This skill is called “joinery.”
With the knowledge of only a handful of essential joints, a woodworker can build anything he can imagine…
Whether it’s a kitchen cabinet or an 18th century highboy, the foundation for all types of woodworking can be boiled down to a handful of essential joinery skills. Once learned, these joinery methods can be used to create almost anything the woodworker’s mind can imagine. From the workshop of The Wood Whisperer, the popular YouTube host and best-selling author Marc Spagunolo teaches his preferred, time-tested methods for creating these joints. Rather than working solely by hand or machine, Spagunolo teaches woodworkers how to choose the joinery methods that make the most sense for the task at hand. And, in his easy-going and accessible style that promotes comfort and confidence, he provides several styles and methods for creating each joint. With Essential Joinery , beginners and pros alike will learn to hone the joinery skills that will take their woodworking to the next level.
One of my favorite YouTube® videos by Anna White.
Anna and her family live in Alaska. She builds super-simple but super-clever furniture. Here is a tiny house they built with amazing space utilization in every area.