Tag: international residential code

How Many Bedrooms Can A Tiny House Have?

How Many Bedrooms Can A Tiny House Have?

Bedrooms are an essential part of any house. Even tiny homes also have bedrooms. But given its limited space, it begs the question: how many bedrooms can be placed in a tiny home?

A typical mobile tiny home can only have one or two bedrooms. However, if the tiny house has a foundation, it can have three or more because it is not limited to the size of a trailer. Several factors, such as the design and size of the tiny home, could dictate the number of bedrooms you can install.

The standard bedroom in the US measures 132 square feet. However, a bedroom only has to be 70 square feet to be legally considered as such. Hence, you can fit a bedroom even to a 90 square feet tiny house, the smallest mobile home commercially available.

Tiny house bedroom

Fitting Two or More Bedrooms in Your Tiny House is Doable

Most tiny homes that sit on a trailer don’t have a conventional bedroom. Instead, they have sleeping quarters, which often have walls to separate it from the rest of the house. The sleeping area usually consists of a bed and things like a night lamp or a small cabinet.  

Tiny home bedrooms don’t necessarily need to have the same parts as those of their standard counterparts. Because the goal of a tiny home is to save space, it usually has furniture that has multiple purposes.

Below are some things you can do to save space and fit multiple bedrooms in your tiny home:

  • Make a storage cabinet under your bed to maximize space. Nothing fancy, and it can be a simple wooden box with casters.  
  • The bed can also be a foldable type that you can store on a wall when you don’t need it. Other tiny home owners use beds that can convert into a sofa. 
  • Install a headboard with storage where you can store your things. Here you can store items such as books, reading materials, trinkets, and other small objects. 
  • Install a double-deck bed if more than one person will use the bedroom.
  • Keep hammocks and sleeping bags, just in case you have guests who need to stay for the night. 

Every square foot you can save from your bedroom can be used by other parts of your tiny home. However, considering that you spend almost a third of our lives asleep, it might be a good idea to maximize the comfort of your bedroom. 

layout of a tiny home

Tiny Home Designs that Can Fit More Bedrooms 

Generally, the more floor space you have on your tiny home, the more bedrooms you can build in it. There are numerous ways you can add living space in your mobile tiny home despite its size limitations.

Below are some ingenious designs that small home builders used to maximize the available space:

  1. Adding a Second Floor

The largest mobile tiny home can measure more than 500 square feet. Because they have plenty of floor space, you can install pillars which can support a second floor. 

The 28-feet long Chalet Shack in Missouri is a 3-bedroom mobile home thay incorporates this two-floor design. Its builders used reinforced framing to support two left areas on the top floor. Meanwhile, the main living bedroom is also quite spacious and stylish.

2. Using Multiple Deck Beds

Depending on the height of your trailer home, you can install double or even triple-deck beds. Again, the idea is to expand vertically and save valuable floor space. However, the main disadvantage of multiple-deck beds is it becomes more difficult to get in and out of bed because of the reduced space. 


3. Use Curtains Instead of Walls

Privacy is one of the recurring issues when it comes to a tiny home. However, if you are not too concerned about showing the contents of your bedroom, there is a way to save more space. Instead of installing walls, you can instead use thick curtains. 


4. Install Sliding Doors Instead of Hinged Doors

To further maximize the space of your tiny home, use sliding doors instead of hinged doors. The former can be operated without having to use the extra floor space required to turn it open. Moreover, sliding doors are cheaper than hinged doors, especially when they are made of the same material.    

stairs leading to tiny house bedroom

Is it Legal for a Tiny Home to Have Multiple Rooms?

The Tiny House Movement is a fairly new concept for the US housing industry. Several states consider them as recreational vehicles, while other states are more leaning to calling them houses. The consensus, however, is if it sits on a trailer, it’s an RV. But, once you settle it in a piece of land and build a foundation within it, then it’s considered as a housing structure.

However, as more people adapt to this style of living, several laws can be passed to define what’s legal and what is not clearly . In the case of a fixed tiny home, numerous states and cities require tiny home builders and manufacturers to follow the building code. 

In the US, a room needs to at least have a 70 square-feet area and a height of 7-feet for a one-family dwelling. A tiny house can have multiple bedrooms provided that it strictly follows these specifications and other details set by their state or city government.

For more information about this issue, you can look at the International Residential Code.

tiny home extension

Why Multiple Bedrooms Matter for Residences of a Tiny House?

Much like in a typical home, a bedroom is like a personal space for those who use it. If you are a couple with children, it’s important that you have separate rooms with your kids. Having their own room can help children assume more responsibilities. Doing so will help them be responsible for the cleanliness of their room which is a necessary part of growing up. 

Sometimes the extra bedroom is met for guests to stay in. Whether it is your child, parents, relatives, or friends visiting, it would be great if they have a room they can stay in. 

Furthermore, building numerous bedrooms can alleviate one of the recurring issues of a tiny home- privacy. Furthermore, who doesn’t want a comfortable sleep on top of their own bed?   

small house

Conclusion

Tiny homes can have multiple rooms provided that it provided that the structural design can support it. In most cases, however, a tiny home can only have four or fewer bedrooms depending on the floor size available. 

Related Questions

Do Multiple Bedrooms Increase the Value of a Tiny Home?

In a way, yes, especially if you’re a buyer is a small family that needs two or more bedrooms. However, there are also instances that a buyer would want functionality over the number of rooms in a tiny room.

What’s the Most Number of Rooms a Tiny House can Have?

We’ve looked around the site of the most popular tiny home builders and manufacturers. The most number of rooms we found was four and it was built inside a two-story trailer home. Maybe in the near future, we might even see tiny houses that will have five or more rooms.

What’s the Price Range of a Multiple Bedroom Tiny House?

The price of a small house that has two or more bedrooms vary based on a lot of factors. However, to give you an idea, a two-bedroom tiny home can cost $25,000 to $30,000. Meanwhile, a three-bedroom mobile house can have a price tag of $35,000 to $40,000.