Tiny living doesn’t have to look or feel restrictive. These six small homes—one for every color of the rainbow—are proof that downsizing can be as vibrant as it is efficient.

Red

Architect David Lookofsky of Lookofsky Architcture designed Monochrome House, a 269-square-foot getaway in the Stockholm archipelago, for an urban couple. The site—marked by towering pine trees, rocky cliffs, and cinematic views of the Baltic Sea—inspired Lookofsky to use an existing foundation in an effort to conserve as much of the natural terrain as possible. Wrapped in red-painted pinewood, the tiny home is in harmony with the built landscape around it. “All of the exterior details were done monochromatically for a uniform and distilled expression that references the traditional red Swedish houses in the area,” Lookofsky says. “Using a similar logic, the inside of the house is clad completely in [unfinished] pine, adding warmth to the concrete floors and referencing the tall pine trees outside.”

Orange

Surrounded by boulders and twisted yuccas, the two cabins that Malek Alqadi built on a 1954 homestead outside Joshua Tree National Park are sided with naturally rusted steel that beams a bright orange tone in the desert sunlight. Behind the simple gabled forms the Folly cabins lies a complex network that enables them to operate wholly off the grid.

Yellow

When the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, Australia, commissioned Maddison Architects to devise a home that facilitates compact and sustainable living for an exhibition, architects Peter Maddison and Jesse Newstadt responded with a design that’s as vibrant as it is dynamic. “It’s a tiny home that acts as an education tool for visitors, showcasing sustainable building practices, materials, and technology within the fabric of a compact, transportable building,” Newstadt says. Marked by sunshine-yellow hydraulic panels crafted from fiberglass mesh grating that fold open or closed like the panels of a cardboard box, the 204-square-foot RACV tiny home slides off a truck and can be situated on almost any lot in any landscape. “We used the gridded yellow panels to create sun shades, wing walls, and decking,” Newstadt says. “They fold and hinge, adding a playful touch.”

Green

Strategically designed by Canadian tiny home builders Summit Tiny Homes, the West Coast is a 375-square-foot tiny house sited on Vancouver Island in British Columbia for a young family of four. Featuring a double-door entry, as well as a hidden, mechanical slide-out, the striking abode also has a unique exterior facade of wooden shingles and green-stained siding—inspired by homes in the Pacific Northwest.

Blue / Indigo

Completed on a budget of less than $20,000, the Blue Baloo, a 200-square-foot tiny house located just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, led to financial freedom for a family of four and their two dogs. The family spent over a year designing and scraping together a bare-bones budget of $18,000—including opening a line of credit—to fund the construction of the tiny house. "We spent so much time researching this project," Jilan says. "The learning curve was massive, and the inspiration was our budget. We wanted to create a beautiful space with new material for not a lot of money."

Violet

Designed and built by Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses, the Pemberley is a 460-square-foot, two-bedroom home clad with cedar board-and-batten siding that's painted a shade of bright purple trimmed with a charcoal gray tone. Set on wheels, the vibrant tiny home can be set in practically any landscape. The Pemberley’s interior is finished with clear-coated tongue-and-groove poplar and engineered cork flooring.

Shop the Story

Related Reading: 7 Companies Building Tiny Homes That Fit the Whole Family

Appears In

This Bold Tiny Home Blends The Best of Traditional and Contemporary Aesthetics

In Living Color: 6 Tiny Homes for Every Hue of the Rainbow