Tiny houses have become all the rage in recent years due to their affordability and portability. They’re a great option if you’re looking to downsize to a more minimalist lifestyle or simply want to save on costs associated with buying a home.
But tiny houses come with their own sets of challenges, namely with space and storage. Stairs can be an unexpected area in your tiny house to save space or double up on your storage opportunities. Get inspired to design your own efficient tiny house with this list of examples of tiny houses that made the most of the stairs in their space!
25 Ideas for Tiny House Stairs:
1. Stairs with Cube Storage
Storage is easily the key issue facing any new tiny house owner, but with a bit of clever planning it doesn’t have to be. One easy way to get around the lack of storage space in any small home is to take advantage of the unused space under a flight of stairs, like in this example.
Cube storage is a great way to keep your belongings organized while making use of a loft bedroom style. With a clever setup like this one, you’ve got a bookcase, cubby storage shelf and staircase all rolled into one!
2. Log Cabin Kitchen and Loft
Can you spot the entrance to the loft bedroom in this tiny house kitchen? (Here’s a hint: check out the bathroom door!) This totally ingenious design utilizes the setup of the kitchen and includes a sliding barn door into the bathroom with a ladder built right into it!
Staircases can take up a lot of extra room and with a tiny house, you want to make sure that no square inch of space is going to waste; that’s not a problem with a ladder setup like this one!
3. Kitchen Cabinets and Stairs in Tiny House
I love the design of this tiny house staircase setup because of the way that it seamlessly blends into the cabinetry in the kitchen area. With well-placed cupboards, shelves and cubbies, these stairs help extend the kitchen, which is often an area that could use more space in any house, no matter the size!
Since the storage compartments are under a wide staircase, the cabinets and cubbies are deep and have a lot of storage potential; consider adding a closet bar to make one of them into a coat closet, or add doors to all of the cabinet spaces and store your pots, pans and appliances!
4. Kitchen Stairs to a Loft Living Space
When you think of a loft in a tiny house, you might imagine a small room tucked away above the kitchen, high up and out of sight. But I love this small loft that doubles not only as a bedroom but as a living room as well!
The small staircase connecting the loft to the kitchen includes drawers for extra storage space as well as a small and discreet shoe cubby at the bottom. The layout of the two rooms gives the sense of a private, enclosed kitchen and a separate living space, even in a house where all the rooms are right on top of each other.
5. Tall Black Cupboard Stairs in Tiny House
Sometimes when trying to create stairs in a tiny house, you end up with something that feels small and discreet, but this staircase demands attention with its large frame and striking black color.
The Stairs become the main attraction in the room and the perfect place to store a variety of items and keep your tiny house clutter-free. The tall storage area is perfect for a closet or coat storage, and the smaller areas are great for shoes, books, and other items that can tend to clutter up a space.
6. Tiny House with Large Living Room
This amazing tiny house feels much bigger than it actually is due to the smart use of space and the layout of the room. Almost the entire house is taken up by the living room, likely where the owners will spend most of their time, while a loft bedroom is accessed by a wooden staircase that almost blends into the background since it’s made from the same materials as the ceiling. Instead, your eye is drawn to the stunning brickwork on the opposite wall!
7. Mobile Tiny House with Hidden Bedroom
In a house as small as a mobile tiny house (usually under 200 feet), it’s so crucial to have a keen attention to detail. But when you have a space this small, is there any room for privacy? This tiny house answers taht question, featuring a beautiful kitchen area with a staircase that leads up to a small loft bedroom that is half-hidden behind a wall.
While the stairs don’t have storage incorporated into their structure, the wall that they’re connected to is the perfect place to include a closet or cupboard!
8. Tiny Home with Ladder in Kitchen
Ladders are an excellent staircase option if large stairs don’t suit your style or your square footage. In this example, the beautiful white kitchen includes a ladder that leads up to a loft bedroom, which takes up less space than a traditional staircase.
This is perfect if you want to have as much room in your kitchen as possible and are willing to sacrifice a full staircase. It might not be an option for everyone (homeowners with small children come to mind), but for the right person a ladder can bring a tiny home design to the next level!
9. Ladder to Loft Bedroom
I love this example of a ladder used in a tiny home because of the space-saving potential that it affords. A ladder can be easily pulled out of the way and tucked in the corner up against a wall when needed, especially when you don’t need to have access to the loft bedroom.
This leaves your space feeling open and larger than it would if you had a full staircase. Since stairs are such a great option for hidden storage, this design idea works best for those who prefer a more minimal lifestyle.
10. Minimalist Staircase in Rustic Tiny Home
Now, this is an amazing example of how clever design can make a full staircase practically disappear! In this rustic tiny home design, the stairwell is made up of the same material as the wall, and the first couple of steps double as cube storage!
The remaining steps stick out from the wall, with a handle for safety, leading up to the loft bedroom. Their minimal design means that you don’t even notice them, which allows the home to feel larger and airier.
11. Tiny House with Open Plan
In this tiny house design, the classic staircase is tucked out of the way of the flow of the kitchen, but provides ample storage space and a large, safe walkway to the loft bedroom above. Having the stairs located next to the door and out of the way creates a long, open walkway throughout the house that feels uncluttered and easy to navigate.
Keeping the staircase white is another nice touch; it allows light to bounce off of it and help the whole house feel brighter.
12. Classic Cool Tiny Home
Without the ladder to indicate that there’s a loft bedroom above, you might not even know it was there! Pulling the ladder out of the way will create more flow throughout the lower floor plan and add privacy to the bedroom area (while also opening up the way to the bathroom). I love the inclusion of the classic ladder in this cozy, contemporary look, because it makes the space feel modern and fresh.
13. Rustic Tiny Home Interior with Ladder
This ladder was not meant to be moved or hideaway, and is in fact one of the main features of this contemporary tiny house. I also love the inclusion of the gold pole, so you can climb up the ladder to access the bedroom loft, and you can come back down by sliding down the pole. What a fun way to add a bit of personality to the space!
14. Tiny House Interior View
What a cherry, peaceful room! I love that the walls, ladder, and dresser are all made using the same wood to create a monochrome effect. With the walls and furniture blending in together, it helps the room feel larger.
Keeping a light color throughout the entire space is another bright idea because the sunlight from the large window will bounce off the walls and help the room feel bigger and brighter.
15. Sleek and Modern Tiny House Kitchen
This modern and modular room is the perfect space for someone who loves efficiency and organization. The ladder leading up to the loft bedroom is placed in just such a way that it doesn’t feel out of place or in the way, and since it’s directly upright you’re not likely to trip on it.
Its sharp, rectangular shapes work well with the minimalist design of the kitchen cabinets and helps make the whole room feel more streamlined.
16. Rustic Wooden Tiny House Interior
I love this gorgeous open-plan tiny home! Rather than try and wall off specific rooms, the designers of this mobile tiny home have kept everything out in the open, which helps the room feel bigger and less cluttered.
The stairs are large and heavy-looking, but it means there’s a ton of storage potential underneath them! Keeping them the same width as the kitchen countertops add a sense of continuity to the space.
17. Tiny House Kitchen with Ladder
Sometimes it’s a tradeoff between having stairs for storage space or leaving out the stairs altogether to allow for more room. If you want your tiny house to have a standard-sized kitchen, you may need to think like the designers of this example.
The ladder that allows access to the loft bedroom above the bathroom is tucked away behind the refrigerator when not in use, allowing the space to have a better flow.
18. Tiny House with Double Lofts
When you’re designing your tiny house, you may opt for a loft bedroom, but what about two lofts? This example shows a tiny house with two lofts on either side, one with access by stairs and one with a ladder. It’s an excellent way to have the storage capacity of stairs and space-saving abilities of a ladder, all while adding extra room up top.
19. Open Plan Tiny House with Double Lofts
When you don’t have much space to work with, it’s best to consider how to separate out your space without losing any much-needed square footage. Walls work to block off spaces, but they take up room that most tiny houses can’t afford.
This tiny house interior shows a double loft, one with a staircase and one with a ladder. This is an excellent way to zone out your tiny house and have specified areas for different “rooms”, even if your house is completely open plan.
20. Rustic Tiny Home Interior with Stationary Ladder
Ladders really are one of the best ways to conserve space in a tiny home that may not have the luxury of space. They have a small footprint, you can walk under them (if you’re not superstitious that is), and they can be moved around easily enough to fit your individual needs. They can be a bit tricky to navigate though, so they’re usually best for families that don’t include children.
21. Compact Wooden Staircase
If you’re going for a staircase in your tiny home, and especially if you have children, you should consider having a railing covering the steps for safety. This staircase leading up to a loft area is a bit steep, but having that extra protection makes climbing up and down less of a chore. Steep staircases are actually a great option in a tiny house, since they take up less of a footprint in your overall square footage.
22. Sofa Underneath Black and White Staircase
I love this stylish and elegant sofa positioned underneath this black and white staircase! The geometric patterns and bold mix and match color scheme works really well against the backdrop of a stairwell. But besides the design aspect, it’s a really great idea to position your sofa underneath the stairs of your tiny house, since it will free up more floor space for your living room!
23. Pull-Down Attic Ladder
Staircases can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the size of your tiny house and how much hidden storage you need. And ladders can be a better solution since they take up less space, but in reality they can be a pain if you can’t move them out of the way.
But a simple and elegant solution could be one you’ve seen a hundred times before- a pull-down attic ladder! it can be built into the floor of a loft bedroom, so when it’s not in use it can be safely stowed away!
24. Classic Staircase for Tiny House Design
Sometimes you just have to go with the classics! If you have the space for it, there’s no reason not to include a traditional staircase design with hand railing, painted finishes and all. Instead of including cube storage, you can keep an entire storage closet underneath it! Or, if you like, try implementing a bookshelf or extra cabinet storage.
25. Mobile Tiny House Ladder to Loft
While some may prefer to stow their ladder away if they can, others may choose to incorporate it directly into the design. This ladder is fixed to the wall, meaning it’s not going anywhere, but its sharp clean lines really add something to the space and it feels like a natural element in this sleek and minimal kitchen design.