So you’ve decided to embark on the daunting yet exciting journey of a DIY tiny house build. You’ve considered the realities of how you live your life and have gotten clear on exactly what functions your tiny house needs to support. Now it’s time for your Tiny House Plans to come to life.
Let’s look at some of the things you should consider when designing a tiny house and creating/finding your tiny house plans.
Things to include in your tiny house plans
Begin by finding inspiration
A great place to start every tiny journey is with a collection of ideas from existing builds. As you go through tiny house designs on Pinterest, Insta, Youtube, and builder’s websites take note of the interiors and build materials that really stand out to you.
Always note down any design features that you would want to have in your own tiny house plans. This makes it easier for you as you go through your list room by room because it will help you figure out the size of the tiny house to go for…Below are a few other ideas you can take note of as you go through your inspiration journey.
- Natural lighting alternatives such as incorporating skylights or having wall-length windows.
- Storage potential such as having a storage bed, wall shelves and inbuilt stair storage.
- Bedroom designs like having a sleeping loft, a sleeping nook, or a considerably raised bed.
- Couch designs such as futons, transforming sofas, or a small sectional sofa with a storage option.
- Kitchen appliances you would want to have such as a dishwasher, full-sized stove or a stovetop.
- Electricity options and alternatives such as generators, solar power, or getting hooked into the main grid.
- Interior décor styles such as colour schemes, wall colours, carpeting or wood flooring.
- Bathroom amenities such as a compost toilet, toilet shower combo or having a small tub.
Decide on the size of your tiny house
After collating your collection of tiny house ideas and getting clear on what you most value and want in your own design, the next step is coming up with your tiny house plans! The first step of coming up with your tiny house plans is deciding on the size and dimensions of your tiny house on wheels. Things to consider before deciding on the size of your tiny house include;
- How many people will be living in the tiny house? How many beds do you need? How many spaces on the couch? How much seating around the kitchen table?
- Current Regulations. In Aus tiny houses on wheels are currently classed as caravans so to be legal they must meet caravan legislation. This includes things like: The dimensions currently permitted in caravans in Australia — (2.5m wide, up to 4.3m high (from the ground), up to 12.5m long and under 4.5 tonne. Very rarely do people go as long as 12.5m because having such a long length simply makes the structure too heavy. Most tiny houses are around 7-8m in length. If you exceed these dimensions, your tiny house cannot be towed and must instead be transported on the back of a truck.
- Dimensions & weight of any existing materials. If you’re wanting to use recycled materials in your tiny build and have already secured items such as windows or doors, now is the time to factor in their size as part of your plans.
It’s also a good idea to consider the size of the appliances you’ll include in your tiny house. Will you be happy with a two-burner cook-top, or must it be a four-burner? How big does your oven need to be? How much counter space is enough for you? How many chairs do you want to be able to fit around your table?
As you start to consider the appliances for your tiny house, keep in mind any future intentions regarding off-grid capability. If you’re ultimately looking to make your tiny home off-grid capable you need to factor this in when planning for appliances (eg. Plan for a gas oven rather than electrical to reduce solar load etc).
So how do you find your tiny house plans?
Below are four options that you can use to find yourself the perfect tiny house plans to suit your needs.
- Find existing tiny house plans
- DIY tiny house plans
- A combination of options 1 and 2
- Work with a builder or architect to draw up tiny house plans
1. Finding existing tiny house plans
You can choose to get predesigned tiny house plans which include features that most tiny house customers look for. These include floor plan layouts, square metre layouts and dimensions, most sought-after amenities, and the number of rooms. A good predesigned tiny house plan that meets Aus tiny house regulations saves you time and money and has all specifications included in the package.
Benefits of buying existing tiny house plans include:
Affordability
Building a customized tiny house can be expensive and most people don’t know that a portion of the costs is tied to design and development. This may take thousands of dollars from your tiny house budget. Finding an existing tiny house plan is very effective as you don’t need to pay an agency or builder to design it.
Saves time
The time it takes you to go through predesigned tiny house plans is much less compared to designing a custom tiny house yourself. As a result, you will be able to begin constructing your tiny house much sooner and you won’t have to dedicate time to meetings with your designers.
Variety
Predesigned tiny house plans are usually available in a range of styles to meet different specifications and needs. With a wide selection, you have the chance to get a feel of what you like and what you don’t before making the final decision.
You get all details
When buying an existing tiny house plan, you get all the details you require before constructing. These details include materials needed to construct it including the exterior cladding finish. You get to have the floor plans and room sizes, the size of kitchen appliances that can fit, bathroom size and its finishes, electricity installation details and much more.
Personalization
Good quality tiny house designers who sell predesigned plans may also offer simple alterations to plans without exorbitant customization fees. This means that you can customize tiny house plans with ease when you can’t find one that suits your needs exactly.
You can get existing tiny house plans for the Aus market from websites such as https://www.tinyhouse.com.au/ for free.
2. Designing a Tiny House – DIY Tiny House Plans
Constructing a tiny house always begins with a plan. When you’re looking to design one yourself it can be worth considering the following factors in choosing your design software:
- How easy it is to use
- How much time it takes to learn how to use it.
- Whether the software is free or if it has a free version
- Does the software have customization options?
- Can it export plans for printing?
- Does it have customization options?
- Does it have 2D and 3D floor plan options?
Sketching your ideas on a paper is okay however it is more beneficial to scale-out things with design software to make it easier. Below are some of the best design software in the market.
- Sketchup
- Sweet Home 3D
- Floorplanner
SketchUp
SketchUp is extremely comprehensive however it requires a steep initial learning curve. Its a great option for people who want to generate tiny house plans from scratch because it has an excellent way of displaying customized solutions. SketchUp enables a user to generate anything from his/her imagination.
You simply start by drawing a shape then use the pull or push features to modify the shape accordingly. It may however not be the best choice for a person who wants instant computer-generated results. It is best if you’re patient and want something that allows you to design from scratch with unrestricted room for creativity.
Sweet Home 3D
Sweet Home 3D enables you to create rooms to your desired dimensions which makes it easy to render the design into a usable blueprint. It is also quite easy to add objects to the floor plan as you only need to drag and drop them from the objects library. Although the software does not have a wide range of furniture and fixtures, it enables you to customize the walls, floor, furniture, and roof.
This makes it easier when visualizing the floor plan into an actual tiny house model. Sweet Home 3D may not be as intuitive as other design software but it is still useful for designing tiny house plans. It may be a bit challenging to navigate around it at first but once you get accustomed to it, the rest becomes easy.
Floorplanner
Floorplanner is a great design software tool to use even for a person without experience in using design tools. It is free online tiny house design software that can be used to generate floor plans. It has a very intuitive interface that uses an easy drag and drop feature which any design newbie can use to generate a customized floor plan in a matter of minutes.
It has both 2D and 3D floor plan presentations however it will direct you to its affiliate (paid) site “Roomstyler” for you to see the 3D version of the floor plan. With Floorplanner you can easily export your tiny house plans to PDF or other formats such as jpg, png, or gif files. It has an extensive objects library which enables you to envision everything from windows to doors to the number of rooms you want.
3. A combination of options 1 & 2 (Existing House Plans that you can modify)
You can also download premade tiny house plans which you can then alter yourself. With editable floor plans, you can add doors, walls, staircases, and windows.
You can also change the wall thickness of the original design to match the materials you plan to use. You can change colour schemes as well as include furnishings for each from the range of furnishings available in the tiny house design software you are using.
You can find a collection of editable house plans here. Always make sure that your tiny house plans are compliant with all Australian caravan legislation and before starting to construct.
4. Work with a builder or architect to draw up your tiny house plans
Designing and customising a tiny house is a big deal. There are so many elements to consider that are easy to overlook if you’ve never designed one before. This is where hiring a builder or architect to help you design your tiny house can be extremely beneficial.
The beauty of this option is that as long as you choose someone who has designed tiny houses before, they will have a wealth of knowledge of what needs to be considered in the build and will know all the right questions to ask you. They can guide you through all the technical work whilst you focus on the fun part of designing your dream home.
They can also recommend and help you to choose the building materials for your new home.
Contractors in Australia that can help you draw up your tiny house plans include:
Conclusion
Do not rush the process of designing your tiny house plans because any mistakes can prove to be costly when you’re constructing your house, as well as expensive in terms of time when making corrections. Put aside the first draft of your tiny house plans after completing them, allow some time to pass, and then revisit them. You will have a pair of fresh eyes to study your blueprints with. You can also have a friend look at them or share the plans with an expert tiny house designer for a review. Once everything is set with no missing details, you can embark on beginning the construction process.
More Tiny Houses Aus Posts
Ready to read more about having a tiny home on wheels? Check out these great posts!
- Take a look at our 7 savvy search tips to help you find land rental for your tiny house!
- Tiny house living in Australia – Is it for you? Click to find out.
- Here’s what you need to know about what to look for in the ultimate tiny house parking spot!
