Ten Steps to Plan Your Tiny House Build

Before you pick up a hammer and get to work, it’s crucial that you plan out your tiny house build. This is an
important step in building your home and it shouldn’t be overlooked.

Step 1.
It’s fun to think about what your tiny house will look like, how
you are going to organize things, what color scheme you’d like,
and so on – but the first step is to analyze your current
lifestyle. Sit down and make a list of everything you do in each
room in your home right now. Think about things you do in
your home every day, like sleeping, cooking, and brushing your
teeth – as well as things that you do every now and again, like
hosting overnight guests or throwing parties. Take this list and
rank each activity in terms of priority. Consider the components
you will need to easily perform each high-priority activity. Look
at lower priority items on the list, and think about how you can
allow them to happen outside the tiny house or off-site. From
this line of thought, the form of your house will emerge.

Step 2.
At that point, start sketching various floor plans until you
come up with something you like. Once you have something
that seems reasonably close to what you want, grab some
masking tape and map out the entire plan to scale on the floor.
From there, act out an entire day of your life and see how
things work out. Be sure to consider where your trash, recyclables, kitchen compost, and dirty laundry will go.
Also consider clearances for doors and how wide doorways and passages need to be for you to pass through
them comfortably. Be sure to check out our Tiny House Floorplan Kit in our store.

Step 3.
It is at this point that you will discover things that don’t work and need to be changed. Start the process over
again and implement the new changes. After you have worked out a solid plan, set them aside for a while
and revisit them after a few days. It will be surprising what things jump out at you that you were blind to
before. You can even enlist friends to give feedback on the design; sometimes a fresh pair of eyes will be
useful. Be sure not to rush this process. If you’re going to invest the time, money, and energy into building a
tiny house, you want it to be right for you and your needs.
Step 4.
At this point, take a look at some of the tiny house plans that are out there and see if one of them is close to
what you have come up with. It might be worth purchasing plans if you are new to building. If you opt to
come up with plans yourself, then be prepared to do a lot of research and work to come up with a structurally
sound plan.

Step 5.
I would strongly suggest learning SketchUp, a 3D rendering tool which is free and easy to learn. Seeing your
home in three dimensions can help you spot potential problems with the layout.

Step 6.
Once your plans are drawn up, consult with other people who have built tiny houses to get feedback on
your plans. They will also be able to advise you on certain aspects that even experienced home builders will
not have experience with because they are unique to tiny houses. Meetup.com is a great way to meet other
tiny house folks – just search for tiny house groups in your area.

Step 7.
Finally, draft a parts list of everything you will need. Understand that some parts will take a long time to
come in, so order those ahead of time. The big things will be: trailer, windows, roofing, siding, and flooring.

Step 8.
Once the plans are pretty firm and you have had them reviewed by someone who has experience in building,
set a few hours aside to mentally work through how you will build the house. Envision the building process.
Where do you start, then what is after that and after that? You will inevitably find some things that need to be
reworked or given more thought when you discover how the order will impact other parts.

Step 9. From there, consider work flow and your building site. Here are some questions to think about:

Step 10.
Next consider where you are going to source your materials. The big ones are your trailer, windows,
roofing, dimensional lumber, siding, appliances, and any specialty items. Windows, trailer and roofing often
take a few weeks to get delivered if you are special ordering them, so think about your timeline. I would take
your parts list to the store where you plan to purchase the bulk of your stuff and get prices and lead times on
it all. If you are trying to use reclaimed materials, then hit up Craigslist, Habitat for Humanity ReStores, and
other sources for the parts.