Tag Feels

Dubbed the Orca Edition Park Model, this tiny house feels anything but tiny. Designed by Mint Tiny Homes, who have some experience in designing spacious tiny homes, Orca aspires to feel like an apartment on wheels! It measures 528 square meters and features a spacious and roomy interior within a single floor. The Orca Edition Park Model measures 44 feet in length and 12 feet in width, making it a pretty expansive model that is ideal for being located on one site, rather than being towed and moved away regularly.

Designer: Mint Tiny Homes

The Orca is founded on a quadruple-axle trailer and features a finishing of board and batten engineered wood siding topped with a sloping metal roof. As you enter the home, you are welcomed by double glass doors that lead to a spacious and well-designed kitchen space. The kitchen includes an oven, a full-size fridge/freezer, a sink, a full-size dishwasher, a four-burner propane-powered stove, and a microwave. The kitchen’s cabinetry features a floor-to-ceiling pantry, amped with adjustable shelving. A central dining table is also located in the space.

Adjacent to the kitchen is the living, which is equipped with a full-size sofa, fireplace, coffee table, and space for a wall-mounted TV. You can enter the secondary bedroom of the tiny room via a sliding door. There are no lofts in this home as it follows Canadian planning laws for a home of this size. The bedroom is equipped with a generous amount of glazing, as well as ample headroom to stand straight without bumping your head onto the ceiling. It also features a double bed and some storage space.

The other end of the kitchen is flanked by a small hallway equipped with a laundry area with a washer/dryer as well as storage space. There is a bathroom located close by, and it is outfitted with a vanity sink, bathtub with shower, and a composting or flushing toilet. This small hallway then naturally connects to the main bedroom, which holds a double bed and wardrobe space. The master bedroom also features a door that leads to the outside, so you have separate access to it.

Tiny homes are one of the most popular home styles in 2023, and I’m pretty sure they’re going to make their way well into 2024. They had started off as a fun and cute trend, but now they’re a space-saving and environment-conscious housing option that is economical as well. They reduce the load on Mother Earth and are a simple and minimal alternative to the imposing and materialistic homes that are not preferred by everyone. And an excellent tiny home that I recently uncovered is the Beach by Raglan Tiny Homes

Designer: Raglan Tiny Homes 

Designed by New Zealand’s Raglan Tiny Homes, the recently completed Beach tiny home features a compact and cozy interior that instantly welcomes you in. The tiny house is non-towable and equipped with a welcoming indoor-outdoor lifestyle and aesthetic, which is accentuated by a part-enclosed deck area. The main section of the home has a width of 2.5m, with the covered deck adding another 2.9m, which covers a total width of 5.4m. The length of the home is 6m.

The exterior of the home is finished in Douglas fir, giving it a warm and minimal aesthetic. Although the layout of the home isn’t very typical and seems more like a beachfront getaway villa, it is in fact intended to be used as a full-time dwelling. An outdoor shower has been outfitted ahead of the entrance, which is teamed up with a small outdoor bathtub, that is concealed under a hatch in the floor. This functions as a quaint outdoor bath for some much-needed pampering sessions.

As you enter the Beach via sliding glass doors, you are welcomed by a combined living room/bedroom space that is equipped with a sofa, and a bed, as well as some storage store. However, this is the only space in the home, there are no other rooms or even a loft, which can be a bit limiting. The tiny home is equipped with a wood-burning stove, shelving, a diesel-powered heating system, and an off-the-grid solar panel setup. You can add an additional studio area if needed.

I love a good tiny home! They are a space-saving and eco-friendly living solution that reduces the load on Mother Earth. They’re simple and minimal alternatives to the imposing, materialistic dwellings that seem to have taken over. And they’re also notable for their ability and gift to maximize the use of limited space. And, a tiny cabin I recently came across that totally blew me away is The Nest. Nestled in Hocking Hills, Ohio, The Nest is one of the two short-term rentals available at ReWild Rentals – a property owned by husband and wife Aimee and Andrew who wanted to share the natural beauty of the place with their guests.

Pros:

• Unique layout unlike the typical tiny homes
• Seems more spacious and larger than it actually is

Cons:

• The barn-style door is a bit old-fashioned and doesn’t provide much privacy in the bathroom

Designer: Aimee and Andrew of ReWild Rentals

The exterior of the small house is clad in black board-and-batten wood siding, which gives the home a modern and contemporary feel, accentuated by a long sloping roof on one side, that also shelters the outdoor patio. A door invites you into the home, which is painted a warm green. To the right, you are welcomed by the main living space which is highlighted by height ceilings and large stacked windows that allow natural light to effortlessly stream into the home. This section of the home also includes a kitchen, living room, and a small dining area in between the two.

The living room is great for comfy movie nights, and it is warmed up by a wood stove in one corner. The kitchen is well-equipped with all the basic amenities including a full-sized stove, oven, and refrigerator. The dining table is crafted from walnut wood, and it is compact enough to seat two people. The round shape of the dining table makes the space feel less cramped and small.

The bedroom and bathroom have been located side by side, and the bedroom is marked with a generous amount of windows to give the space an open feel. The bathroom features a skylight, and a sliding barn-style door separates it from the rest of the house. Quite interestingly, the outdoor patio has a DIY suspended bed made with a recycled trampoline, that makes for a great spot to lounge about in. The Nest has a unique layout that makes the home feel much larger than it is, allowing it to stand apart from typical tiny homes on the market.