I’m excited to finally reveal the details for the preliminary draft of my tiny house plans.
For the past month, I’ve been working with the architect that my cousin recommended me through his business. While I did provide the architect with a copy of the 3D model Sketchup file, I was impressed to learn that he had only used the screenshots I had sent to draft the tiny house plans (as it turns out, he was not aware of the 3d model) There was really only one turn-around regarding a few details of the layout, but I was delighted to find that the draft was an exact copy of my design. While these plans were only the preliminaries and not engineered yet, I was proud that the design I created (and had an emotional attachment to) was acceptable in the hands of the true professionals of the house designing business.
This view shows back porch and main profile of the house design. I wanted to feature large windows that were accessible from as many viewing angles from within the house. The narrow windows on the second floor were designed to fit within the framing studs to lessen the load of the wall and provide a modern look. There are patterns of threes and fives mimicked through out the design.Similar to conventional tiny houses, the first floor features the majority of the living environment in the house. Each wall on the perimeter measure 10 feet and the unique bend of the house offers more wall-space on the outer wall while condensing the walking length overall to each area.
The full-size kitchen wraps around one end of the tiny house, divided from the rest of the house by the front entrance ‘foyer’. Immediately to the left of the house entrance is the downstairs water closet that utilizes a Sink/Toilet combination (by having these units combined, I can maximize the space by not having to make room for a sink and BONUS: saves water usage)The space immediately to the right of the entrance is a hidden banquette/bar combination that continues off of the kitchen counters. While the unit is closed it can be utilized as additional counter space and a 2-seater bar. With the unit open it offers additional seating with a hidden banquette seat and additional cabinet storage (this will be redesigned for open shelves versus the close cabinet design featured in the screenshot)The Pièce De Résistance is the storage staircase that leads up to the second floor bedroom area. I spent a good amount of time designing this so that it would adequately fit the space and be compliant with building code requirements. This storage space will act as the main house storage apart from the closet units used in the bedroom and is designed to fit IKEA cabinet door sizes. As shown in the screenshot above, the stringer runs through the door opening of the main closet as I would rather duck into a crawl space for storage rather than waste precious real estate in the living room area.The staircase leads to the 2nd floor landing where it has an open floor layout for the bedroom. It does not have a door, but has a 4ft high wall that separates the open area over the living room. The master bathroom has a stand up shower, the same toilet/sink combo as the water closet downstairs, as well as a conventional sink vanity. The bathroom extends about 4 ft into the room to give it a total of 36 sq ft with ample room for toiletries and storage. The master bathroom probably is one of the most extreme luxuries I included in the tiny house plans – as not many tiny homes have two toilets. But I was having a hard time deciding where to put the bathroom that would make it the most convenient for the residents and guests (such as, having guests enter the bedroom area to use the upstairs bathroom versus having residents walk the entirety of the house in a bathrobe to get to a downstairs shower). Allowing for the split made this a more comfortable choice and I was able to integrate both bathrooms without breaking into the layout too much.I opted not to put in a permanent closet in the layout so as to maximize the layout possibilities since there are so many closet systems and other storage solutions available to customize the room. A queen size bed is able to fit the alcove next to the stair landing as well as against the wall adjacent to the bathroom entrance.The ceiling is sloped due to a shed roof style that follows the bend of the house. The highest wall on the outer edge is 9ft tall while the walls of the inner edge of the house measures about 6ft. The open area over the living room measures at around 18ft at its highest point.
Now that the minor revisions were declared, the tiny house plans are now back in the hands of the architect to draft the final engineered plans that will be used by the builder.
Meanwhile, this week also marks another exciting milestone: I’ve put in an offer for a lot!
After months of searching, I’ve found a decent piece of land two minutes down the street from my (hopefully long-term) work place and I-4 between the Lee Road and Maitland Blvd exits in Forest City/Orlando. It’s just within the boundaries of the area in Orlando that I wanted to live and the neighborhood has close and varied amenities up SR 434. The property is .46 acres listed for $30k and has a private set up with natural woods and brush dividing the neighbor lines. A nice feature that immediately caught my eye is the 5ft wide canal that runs right through the property. It’s a canal that connects two retention ponds in the area (which means flowing water, less mosquitoes) and is deep enough to not be concerned about flooding.
As a novice in the land-investing game, I was excited when my broker was impressed with the find and jumped into researching it right away. We signed the contract for the offer today with the owners and begin our due diligence into the next month – time to find out what buried secrets this dream-lot can offer.
