Tiny House Stand-up Lofts Are a Crazy Space Saving Innovation

I am a residential designer specializing in tiny homes and small spaces. I recently had the opportunity to design a stand-up loft, and it blew all the other lofted bedroom configurations out of the water.

Conventional Lofts Only Have 36"-42" of Headroom

Once you add in the thickness of the mattress of 8–12", there is not much headroom left over. Some clients choose to have a skylight over their bed, which adds a few extra inches of headroom. Keep in mind that the skylight frame contributes to the final height of the tiny house. So if you have a flat roof, your skylight will count against the allowed height.

Another way to get more height in the loft is to simply lower the ceiling on the ground floor. 80" (6'-8") is the lowest that is permissible. So you could theoretically have up to 48" of headroom in a tiny house loft. You could also do steel joists and simply run floor boards across. This would have less privacy, but it would give you more headroom.

The Standup Loft Gives You Full Head Height

The days of crawling into your tiny house loft are over. Even though your bed still only has 36"-42" of height, the approach to the bed is still standing. That means that you can actually walk all the way to your bed. This makes getting in and out of bed a breeze, since you do not have to crawl through a confined space. Since the access is via a platform, you do not need to crawl up steep stairs or climb a ladder.

What About the Wasted Space Underneath?

Under the bed itself is a full height bathroom, and under the walkway is plenty of room for a washer and dryer. Look at all that space! In this configuration, the client only wanted a combo washer / dryer, but there is room for a separate washer and dryer. If you were to wash your clothes elsewhere, there is plenty of room for a full length closet where you could store suitcases.

The Standup Loft is Not 100% Private

But neither is living in a tiny house to begin with. Since a pocket door competes with the bathroom entrance below, there is not a practical way to install a door to a stand-up loft. You could possibly have a bi-fold door, but for aesthetics, it’s just better to keep it open.

Would you have a stand-up loft in your tiny house? Or would you do something different like have a ground floor bedroom?