The Elise tiny house has just 25 sq m (270 sq ft) of floorspace available. In an effort to provide a comfortable interior suitable for a small family in such a compact space, Sweden's Vagabond Haven has installed an unusual floorplan that raises the living room above a small child's bedroom.
The Elise is based on a double-axle trailer and measures 7.3 m (24 ft) in length, which is by no means the smallest model we've seen but still a lot smaller than many family oriented models we cover, like the Magnolia V5, for example. The exterior can be finished in engineered wood, spruce, Shou Sugi Ban-treated charred wood or cedar, and the insulation is made from recycled textiles.
Visitors enter the home into the kitchen area. This contains an oven and stove (electric or gas can be installed), a fridge, sink, optional dishwasher, and some storage space. Nearby lies the dining area, which looks rather small, but includes another storage unit and a folding dining table for up to four people. Adjacent is the child's bedroom, which has a very low ceiling and contains a bed and some storage space inside. The room is enlivened somewhat with a large porthole-style window.
The Elise's living room is situated above the child's bedroom and accessed by a couple of steps. Since the bedroom below is so low, it looks like there's plenty of headroom available and it contains an L-shaped sofa with some integrated storage space, coffee table, and a small wood-burning stove.
Vagabond Haven told us that the idea behind lowering the height of the child's bedroom and putting the living room mid-height was to make Elise's interior essentially one large connected space, while still having separated areas for living and sleeping. It also offers the side benefit that the young occupant doesn't need to climb up and down a ladder or steps to get in and out of the bedroom, as would be the case with a loft space.
Over on the other side of the home is the bathroom. This features some more storage space, a washing machine, shower, sink, and composting toilet. Above the bathroom is the main bedroom for the parents. It's a typical tiny house-style loft bedroom and is reached by removable ladder, with a low ceiling and a double bed, plus a little storage space.
The Elise gets power from a standard RV-style hookup but can also be configured to run from a full off-the-grid setup with solar panels, rainwater collection and water tanks.
The tiny house starts at €39,200 (roughly US$39,000), however this will no doubt rise considerably depending on options selected.
Source: Vagabond Haven
We live in a lot less space in a sailboat.
I do ones that are just 8' tall for strength, low cost to build with boat building methods, even float in a flood, and if you need more space, go longer, not up. Especially if moving them much.
2' wide long wall lofts about 6' high makes a large amount of great storage especially in marked bins, by far the best use of lofts I use of normally wasted space.