Chicago Loft - photo credit by Lavender & Lilies

Finding a home in the perfect location at the right price can be difficult. It seems that most urban areas offer very small homes or homes that are extremely expensive.

Picture this; you find a terrific urban neighborhood that offers walking or biking to local shops and restaurants and the school district is distinguished, unfortunately the only house you can afford is under 1,000 square feet and you know that size just won’t accommodate your family’s needs. An alternative to a smaller abode might just be to raise the roof, literally, by adding a loft. Creativity is a plus in this scenario, you can A.) convert your attic into a room, B.) add a loft to a volume ceiling (higher than just a vaulted ceiling), or C.) raise the roof and build up.

Take the attic for instance; most families don’t use the entire portion of the attic for storage. With the help of a contractor, you can convert a portion of your attic into another room. Apparently, rafter attics are the easiest to convert without raising the roof, truss-built attics require more work to convert and may require an architect. A contractor will make sure your walls and floor will support the weight of an addition. Within your plan, a contractor will also make sure fire exits are available and take into consideration windows, sky lights, and air flow. Resource for attic conversions.

Can’t covert the attic? What about a vaulted-volume ceiling? If your ceiling is high enough, you can build a loft room or just a sleeping loft to add a little extra space. Sleeping lofts are quite popular in cities like New York where space is limited. Narrow ladders can be tucked away during the day and brought out when it’s time for bed. Resource for loft conversions.

West Hollywood Cottage - photo credit Sunset.com

Sunset.com recently showcased a small cottage in West Hollywood. Originally only 600-square feet without much land to work with, the couple built up and doubled the square footage. Adding plenty of windows, using bright white walls and geometric designs and colors gives the illusion there’s more room than what’s actually there.

Would you consider a smaller home in a better, or more prestigious, neighborhood? Would you add on?

Tumbleweed Tiny House Plans are on sale and these aren’t the teeny-tiny ones that are built on a trailer; these are the ones that fall  under the term “cottage.” Both the Enesti (which is the larger of the two) and the Bodega require foundations. The Enesti is quite large compared to its Tumbleweed counterparts at 746 sq. ft. and can be added on to for a total of 843 sq. ft. This is one of my favorite Tumbleweed plans and for a savings of $400 off the plan, it’s quite reasonable in price.

Enesti plans on sale

The Bodega plan is one of the smallest “cottage” plans, but it’s quaint and very similar in style to the Enesti. I liken it to being sort of like the Enesti, but miniaturized. Its square footage ranges from 261 sq. ft. to 356 sq. ft. These plans are on sale for $500 off making it a bargain.

Both homes have nice-sized front porches implemented into the plans allowing a person to stretch out their legs when things are feeling a bit cramped. And the loft in the Bodega plan isn’t counted into the square footage – meaning it’s a little larger than the square feet state.

Which Tumbleweed is your favorite?

My obsession for residential home designs continues. This is an interview with Kai, the owner of ShelterKraft Werks, a company that builds homes out of shipping containers.

ShelterKraft Werks Container Home

Could you tell me a little about what motivated you to build container homes?

Well, I’ve always loved the challenge of building small spaces - everything from secret forts when I was a kid to a neo-classic dog house.  The idea of using containers first occurred to me when I was working at Starbucks as a store architect, looking out of my office window at the Port of Seattle, with all of the big ships, stacks of containers and cranes, I began fantasizing about stowing away in a Hamburg Süd container and getting shipped to Germany to within 5 kilometers of my grandmother’s house. For the next 10 years, as I pursued various long-distance sailing and architectural adventures, I kept thinking about what it would take to make containers livable and how many ways you combine and stack them – like  playing with giant Legos!

In the fall of 2009 I came back to Seattle and met my partner Anne. With her extensive business experience and my design, engineering and construction background we began to explore the possibilities of starting ShelterKraft Werks. We got excited about how containers could provide a truly sustainable housing method, that also offered something more cost-effective in this new economic era as people are seeking ways to reduce their footprint both ecologically and financially with an awakening interest in small homes. From my sailing experience, I could see ways to make elegant and effective use of small spaces to create comfortable and functional living environments inside even a single container.

It all came together as a culmination of my lifelong passions and Anne’s entrepreneurial experience. What inspires us is the philosophy that ALL people should have a safe and secure place to call home. A home that’s affordable, appealing, durable, and sustainable.

How much do they cost (at minimum)?

ShelterKraft’s fully-built container house lines start at $35K for our CargoCottage(tm), a single 8′ x 20′ container that sleeps two, with kitchen, sitting area, and bathroom/shower. We offer a range of “stock” models up to a 2-bedroom house made from 2 40′ long containers with a base price of $68,000 (http://shelterkraft.com/products/stock-house-models/).

We also offer backyard office/studio spaces with a half-bath starting at $17,000 (http://shelterkraft.com/products/ecottages/).  We can also design custom houses that include additional containers, or stacked (multi-story) structures.

The price per square foot drops a lot as you build larger spaces, since a big percentage of cost goes into the kitchen and bath. On average, it costs 25-50% less to use containers than to use traditional (stick frame) construction for a comparable space.

What information do potential container home owners need to know- such as land requirements, plumbing and electrical, etc.?

All of the ShelterKraft houses come ready to install on the customer’s site, with electrical, plumbing and engineering (which can also include solar, wind, or other alternative energy and water systems). The customer needs to take care of preparation of the site, although we can provide consultation on what’s needed.  Depending on the particulars of the site and whether the house is a single container or multi-container structure, a home owner need only provide simple site preparation: a flat gravel bed or concrete slab with RV hookups (for a single container or more temporary structure), or a concrete foundation or pilings plus utility stub-ups (for a more permanent structure).  More information about site preparation and installation is included in our FAQ: http://shelterkraft.com/faqs/

As I mentioned in on your blog, we have had tons of interest in our homes and our biggest barrier seems to be finding creative financing solutions to under 400 sq.ft. houses (the FHA/HUD minimum size limit to a ‘viable’ house).

*Little House notes: These container homes are amazing. I’m also curious about the financing of these homes. Further research will most likely produce a follow  up post on  how to finance homes under 400 sq. ft.

Would you consider a ShelterWerks home for yourself or a guest house?

Earlier in the week, a guest post from Mr. Frugal highlighted the benefits to living in a small space. Many people mentioned the novelty of the small demo spaces at Ikea in their comments. I’ve been thinking about this myself; do the demos at Ikea really work? What does it look like with people living in such a small space? (Since viewing them empty gives the illusion of more space).

A quick search revealed that Ikea has a section on their website dedicated to small space ideas. They highlight how the room was organized maximizing the space and offer photos of families “living” in the room. The rooms used in the videos and photos are still the model rooms, but seeing pictures of people in the room, “living” in that small space, gives a better idea of its functionality.

Ikea Small Space Ideas

In my opinion, the photos of many of the rooms are a bit cramped once you add a  family of 3 or 4, but one or two people could definitely live somewhat comfortably within the small square footage. Yet,  most of the ideas Ikea offers for maximizing space can be used in any size of a room. For example, using glass-front cabinets that extend up to the ceiling allows for more storage, but still keeps an airy, open feeling through the use of glass. Or using two chaise lounges that you can move around the living room for more or less space is a great idea.

However, some ideas seem a bit ridiculous like having a bunk bed in the living room with only a curtain to pull around an adult couple. It might work for a single couple, but throw in a couple of kids and I’m not sure how comfortable I’d feel about that. In my defense, I don’t have kids so maybe I don’t understand that privacy goes out the window. (Any parents want to comment on this?)

Their small space website really cemented the idea that creatively utilizing all areas of a room (floor to ceiling, loft sleeping for guests, cubbies and cabinets) saves floor space, hides toys effectively and items which are rarely used, and allows more room to move around. Ikea’s space saving ideas can come in handy in any household.

How do you effectively utilize your space?

Crystal Cove Beach Cottage

I don’t live in a house (yet), instead I live in a fairly large apartment compared to the average “apartment” size. However, 50% of my time is spent in one room, my office, and the other 45% of my time is spent in my bedroom. I roam the other parts of the apartment throughout the day, but only to get something to eat or use the bathroom.

Out of my 1,690 square foot living space, I utilize 400 square feet 95% of the time. The analysis of my behavior is what has led me to believe that I could live in a tiny or small house.

Not only do I recognize my living patterns and know I could live in less space, some of the tiny house designs I’ve come across are the most space-efficient designs I’ve seen. Partly because they have to be, given the small square footage, but also because there seems to be a trend towards living with less – less square feet, less material items lingering around, less income dedicated to a mortgage or rent payment. When it comes to some of my favorite tiny house designs, less is really more.

My all time favorite tiny house company is, of course, Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. I’ve been singing their praises for a long time. However, they’ve recently added six new designs called Box Bungalows. Each one under 110 square feet with plans selling for $49.00. These plans are different from their original tiny houses, which are now labled “House to Go,” which are intended to be built on a trailer for mobility. The Box Bungalow plans are meant to be stationary with concrete footings for the foundation, though there is some flexibility on foundation choice. The really nice part about these tiny houses, is you can purchase them in a kit or pre-assembled for those less handy with a hammer, and they cost under $20,000!

Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

While reading Westways Magazine, I came across a local real estate company that purchases small houses, renovates them, and then resells them preserving their originality. Better Shelter renovates small houses in the Los Angeles and Orange County area. A unique real estate niche for people who are tired of the McMansions of the early millenia. When the time comes to purchase a small or tiny house, I’ll be investigating this company a little more.

I can also “test-drive” a tiny house by renting one at Crystal Cove Beach, a state park in Newport, CA. In a concerted effort, the Crystal Cove Alliance and the CA state park has renovated the 1930′s beach cottages and rent them out by reserving them through Reserve America. However, I quickly searched for availability on the individual cottages and had difficulty finding available dates from now until next March! I guess the tiny house trend is more popular than I thought.

Not only do tiny houses cost less to build, relieving the owner of a hefty mortgage payment, they also are more energy efficient saving lots of money on utility bills. If you want to learn a little more about tiny or small houses, be sure to check out my house plan page. I’ve done extensive research on small and tiny house plans.

Could you live in a house under 400 square feet in size? Do you find that the majority of your time at home is spent within a smaller space than what the house actually provides?