While tiny homes offer many benefits, one potential drawback of living in a home with a small square footage is a lack of privacy. That includes between family members, as well as between the home’s inhabitants and their neighbors. Thankfully, there is a lot you can do to increase privacy while living in a tiny home. Let’s go over some tips.
1. Choose a home with the right window design.
Ensuring ample privacy starts with picking a tiny home that has features that augment your privacy. The design and placement of the windows is a key consideration. Here is what to look for:
- Number and size of windows: In some cases, fewer windows and smaller ones can be worth it, even if it is just on one wall, as you see here with this 527 Loft Model. While there are plenty of large windows on the other sides of the home, no one would be able to see inside if they were facing this wall.
- Height of windows: Note that this wall still includes clerestory windows. They bring in light, but they are positioned close to the ceiling, so people standing outside cannot look in at the occupants through them.
- Blinds: Built-in blinds are a great feature for tiny house windows, ensuring you can rapidly block views in or out of the house when needed, even through large windows.
2.Choose a home without a completely open floor plan.
Most tiny houses have floor plans that are pretty open. Aside from the bathroom, sometimes every zone in the house is part of a single large common area. But there are a couple of layout options that increase privacy within the home through a division of space.
- Downstairs bedroom: This image shows you the downstairs bedroom in the Champion Athens APL 544. This room is closed off from the rest of the home, providing privacy for its occupant.
- Loft: Many tiny house lofts include a simple railing (or sometimes nothing). But you can apt for a wall instead of a railing, splitting off the loft as a separate room.
3.Pick a site with plenty of space.
While your choice of tiny house floor plan will have a big impact on your privacy, so does your choice of site.
Try and pick a lot that includes plenty of space around your home. You do not want your house to be crammed up against others in your community. Note that homes are more likely to be packed together in RV parks than in tiny house communities.
Speaking of choosing a lot that offers sufficient privacy, you should also be selective about the tiny house community or RV park you pick.
Different communities each have their own distinct cultures. Some encourage privacy, and residents tend to mind their own business.
Others, however, are the opposite. They encourage interaction between residents. Sometimes this is in a “nosey” way. Other times it is just in a neighborly way. While the latter can be positive and rewarding, it is a lifestyle choice, and not for everyone. If you prefer people to largely ignore you and let you go about your business, you definitely should seek out a community that emphasizes privacy and space over interconnectedness.
- Position your home in a way that maximizes privacy.
Depending on the configuration of your site, you might have multiple options for how you can orient your home. Simply by positioning it one way instead of another, you might dramatically improve your privacy. Try to point large windows and doors away from your neighbors when possible. That way, you can leave them open more often without worrying about people looking in at you (and you might enjoy a better view than looking out at your neighbors).
- Make use of vegetation and barriers.
Finally, if you live in a community that gives you permission to modify your site, you can further enhance your privacy through changes to your landscaping. One of the simplest options, if you have it, is to add a fence around all or part of your lot. This will help to screen off not just your home, but your yard, giving you the chance to enjoy some privacy when you use your outdoor spaces as well.
Another possibility is to make use of privacy bushes and trees that form a dense screen of foliage, blocking out views. You may be able to find a lot that already has this type of vegetation ready for you to use. If not, you could try planting some fast-growing privacy trees or shrubs.
We Can Help You Choose a Tiny House Layout
If you want to move into a tiny house, please contact us. During your consultation, you can tell us about what your goals are with respect to privacy and your lifestyle. We can then recommend park model homes to you that will fit your needs. We also can tell you more about the park model homes we featured in this post.
