the idea collection

With the average tiny home measuring under 500 square feet, these mini abodes often have to be designed radically different from larger traditional houses. We take a look at seven of the biggest lessons one can learn from tiny home design. No matter if you plan to call a tiny house "home" or not, these key tips are relevant to just about any space, large or small.

“It’s the biggest one you can get,” says Patrick Powers of the shipping container he revamped and moved to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Steel frames hold ample glazing, including a pair of custom 2,000-pound sliding doors.

Because the architects wanted to showcase the view of one of the more majestic oaks on the property, they placed a lap pool below the tree so the mirror-like surface of the water would gracefully reflect its image.

When Rob and Mary Lubera started pulling threads to uncover the origins of their new home—the lone midcentury house amid rows of Tudor Revivals in suburban Detroit—not even architecture scholars could have anticipated what they would find. Theirs is the last surviving residence by Alexander Girard (1907–1993), a modernist visionary who made his name in textiles but tried his hand at virtually everything, architecture included. The shoji-like laminate screens, seen in the entryway, are characteristic of his Japanese-influenced work.

#Honomobo M.05

Mirrored glass allows this holiday home in Mexico to blend in with it's woodland site.

At night, the quiet drama of the shed roof's angles glows against the darkened forest.

Preston Hollow, Exterior.

Photo by Andy Liffner

Front View

"Amplified" Tiny House - Brazilian Abaco hardwood and corrugated metal siding

All of Scott Palamar’s selections and customizations brought the total to $150,000 for the 640-square-foot home and surrounding land. “I feel like I struck on such a novel solution because I was able to afford a home tailored to my lifestyle,” he says.

Once immortalized by master architectural photographer Julius Shulman and currently being considered as a historic landmark in Los Angeles County, this four-bedroom, two-bath residence was built in 1954 by builder and craftsman Ken McLeod to be his personal home. In 1964 architect Rufus Turner restored the rear after a fire damaged the living room.

The evening bath is a ritual in Japan, and public baths are still around, but this is a new twist. Moriyama curtains the bath during use, but won’t cover any other windows, “because it feels good to couple the inner space with the outside world.”

At the opposite end of the house, the soaking tub gets almost daily use. The bath and shower fixtures are by Dornbracht

With this curvy, glowing form, architect Jesse Judd has rendered the sometimes-harsh Australian bush habitable for his friends and family.