Why the Wardrobe Loft In Our Tiny House Was A Mistake

After 10 years of living tiny, we’ve learned a lot about the nuances of life in a small space. But if I could pick one single thing that I absolutely hated the most in our first design, It would hands down be the wardrobe loft. We have the classic style tiny house which consists of two lofts, one for sleeping and the other we’ve used a wardrobe space. This was something that our 10-year-old younger selves thought would be no big deal, and quite honestly, we didn’t give much thought to it while planning. Lofts, in general, have become less and less popular over the years, but that’s a topic for another article. 

The sleeping tiny house loft hasn’t been bad, but a loft as a wardrobe became a sore point very early on. It seemed like a great solution for space saving on the main floor, and it was nice for that aspect. However the logistics of a wardrobe where you can’t easily access it are terrible. A few key points that make it a terrible design choice.

First, to state the obvious, the fact that you can’t stand up in it. It really didn’t seem like it would be a big deal when in our 20s, being younger and spry, plus the fact that it isn’t even that deep. Iit wasnt as though I’d be crawling in very far, it was just a few feet right? So wrong! Even crawling in on the knees and sitting on them while looking through clothes in the tiny house loft and trying to decide what I was feeling to wear that day got so annoying so fast. It just gets flat-out uncomfortable quickly.

Second, heat rises. In the summer, this is particularly rough. Even while the AC is on, once we climb up the ladder to the tiny house loft, we are hit in the face with an easy 20+ degree heat difference. This goes for winter as well when the heat is on. It feels great on the main floor but can be uncomfortably warm in a loft. 

And lastly, I never paid attention to how often I might change throughout the day until I had to go up and down a ladder. When it’s easily accessible you don’t think twice about it. However, when needing a change of clothes for working in the yard or cleaning or doing a project with paints or grabbing gym clothes and then needing to change again later to maybe go to dinner or changing just to not feel like a dirty mess all day, back up the ladder we go to the tiny house loft. Not to mention for those of us who get indecisive about what outfit to wear. Generally, it entails throwing a few options down on the couch and then going back up to put away the losing outfit. Or better yet, tossing clothes back and up and dealing with the pile later because you’re tired of going up and down that ladder, which leads to a mess. 

All in all, if you must have a wardrobe in a Tiny house loft and there’s absolutely nowhere for clothes to go in an easily accessible spot, it’ll do, but it will get old rather fast. Thankfully, tiny house designs have come a long way in the past 10 years that allow for a catwalk or stairs to both tiny house lofts or even the most popular option, a single-level tiny house on a deckover style trailer. If you are pondering a ladder to a wardrobe in a tiny house loft, and think it won’t be too bad? Save yourself the long-term headache and work a small wardrobe into your design that allows you to not crawl on your knees to access it.