Category: Living

This article has been reviewed in accordance with our editorial policy.

Often we are questioned on tips for accommodating guests in a tiny house, so I wanted to put a list together for everyone. This can seem daunting with a small area! However, my husband and I have been living tiny for almost 4 years now and we want to help others understand it.

12 Tips for Accommodating Overnight Guests in a Tiny House:

1. Have a Second Loft
2. Have a Fold Out Couch
3. Have a Fold Down Table
4. Camp Outside
5. Have Instructions for Composting Toilets
6. Spend Time Outside
7. Put Extra Coats and Shoes in Storage
8. Check Your Toiletry Supplies
9. Have Enough Towels
10. Have Enough Blankets
11. Clean Out Your Fridge
12. Use Paper Plates

1. Have a Second Loft

Here is something to keep in mind when you are designing your tiny house: How often will you have guests over? Depending on the answer you may want to design a home with an additional sleeping space, or a second loft.

This loft can then be used as additional storage whenever no one is coming over. Who doesn’t need a little extra storage? Another idea, is that it can be used as a room for your pets.

Often times though you will find that people come over less often than you originally thought. We had people over every now and then before we went tiny, and much fewer after.

It did change. We have people over much less often now that we live in a tiny house, and go over to their houses instead. Plus we now have the ability to travel and move a lot. So definitely less people coming over.

You may now have the option to pull your house over to another person’s house, than sleeping situations will not be an issue.

2. Have a Fold Out Couch

If you are less likely to have people spending the night in your tiny home, but still want the option then having a fold out couch is a great idea! We had a futon in our first house, exactly for this reason.

3. Have a Fold Down Table

This is a less common idea, but you can also have your hand built table fold down into a bed, like in an RV. I have seen several tiny houses that have this. This also allows for additional storage under the seats.

4. Camp Outside

Camping is a great option that is often overlooked. Part of going tiny is the ability to enjoy more nature. If it’s nice whether you can have a camp out in your back yard.

If your guests are not fond of this idea, then you can camp out and let them stay in your bed. Either way spending more time outside is never a bad thing!

Camping can sometimes have a dirty feel associated with it. But remember you are only sleeping on a mat in a covered area. You still have a regular bathroom and kitchen just a few feet away.

My husband and I have camped a lot since we went tiny. We have lived in a tent for a couple months while he was building our second home. We still took showers, cooked, and everything else. It was very freeing.

5. Have Instructions for Composting Toilets

It is important to have instructions posted over your toilet, if it is not a regular flush toilet. This can be easily forgotten. Of course you can always explain it too.

But it may feel awkward to explain how your toilet works to someone who is not familiar with anything like it. Also, if they forget something the next day it may make for an awkward conversation.

It is best to just post some information over your toilet so anyone using it can read it, without having to ask any questions.

6. Spend Time Outside

Remember, going tiny let’s you enjoy more nature! Whenever people come over to our house, we set up some chair around a fire pit and all enjoy the outdoors.

This is especially helpful if you are feeling too cramped in your house with other people. It can always be a good idea to get out and spend time outdoors or go somewhere else, so you and your guests don’t feel suffocated.

7. Put Extra Coats and Shoes in Storage

This is another good trick that can often be overlooked. It is hard to find a good place for coats and shoes in a tiny house. You may have a few coats each hanging up, and extra shoes laying around.

Take some of these to your storage. Just keep what you will use, your guests will need a place for their coats and shoes as well! Plus this can often free up some space.

8. Check Your Toiletry Supplies

Often times we only have enough toilet paper for the week, until we go grocery shopping again. People in tiny houses don’t really over shop and buy extra items.

So this is important! Check for anything your guests may use that you do not have enough of now.

9. Have Enough Towels

My husband and I keep two towels out regularly, and maybe one or two in storage. Make sure you have enough towels for your guests to use too!

10. Have Enough Blankets

Same thing goes for blankets! If you do not have an extra bed, chances are you have not thought about having extra blankets. Check for this if you have overnight guests coming.

Also check for sheets, pillows, and pillow cases!

You can get decently nice blankets at dollar stores. Given that we have five dogs, we get new blankets about once a year, so we buy them cheap. But we still really like them!

11. Clean Out Your Fridge

Cleaning out your fridge should be something you are already doing regularly. However, if you will be cooking for other people it is a must!

We have a small fridge in our current house and I am even surprised sometimes at the amount of room I get when I throw out a few old things. This will be extremely helpful when you are buying food for more people.

12. Use Paper Plates

This is similar to checking for towels and blankets. My husband and I only keep the dishes we need in our tiny house now. If a couple of people come over we wouldn’t have enough plates and utensils.

It is a good idea to pick up some paper plates and utensils if you will not have enough dishes for everyone.

Related Questions

How do you cook for guests in a tiny house? If you are cooking for guests in a tiny house, it is always a great idea to have a cook out. Your house may be tiny, but you will have space outside. You can also cook some easy one pot meals or food you put together yourself, like tacos.

Can you let your guests sleep in your bed? Letting your guests sleep in your bed is entirely up to you and your guests. It is not uncommon for older parents to sleep in their children’s bed if there is not a better option for them. If you do not have an extra bed and your guests do not want to sleep on the couch, you can always offer them your bed.

This article has been reviewed in accordance with our editorial policy.

Many people have wondered how to live in a tiny house especially when the holidays come around. My husband and I have been living tiny for four years now and I want to take some time to share with others what it is like.

So, how do you have holidays in a tiny house? There are a few ways to have holidays in a tiny house. Many people go over to other people’s houses or you can rent a room for any get togethers. Many tiny homes have room for several people to come over as well. But there are some other great ideas tiny housers use.

Living tiny has given us a different outlook on life. Many things that people worry about, we tend to find, that they are usually quite simple. Living tiny is all about getting rid of the waste in your life so you have more room for the important things, including holidays.

How to Spend Time with Family in a Tiny House

When deciding to live tiny many people are concerned about all of the little things, like what about spending time with family on the holidays. These things that seem like such a big deal now, usually end up working out.

When we first moved into a tiny house we had people over often. We had some neighbors that would come over and hang out frequently. We never had a problem with people coming over.

Our living room was large enough to hold guests. However, through out most of our lives we rarely have people over. I think for the most part people who chose to go tiny are not the type of people who like to have large parties.

Living in a tiny house attracts a certain type of people and these things tend to not be an issue for us. However, there are some option when it comes to spending time with family on the holidays.

First of all, of course, you can always go over to someone else’s house. Many people either go over to their parents’ or children’s’ house for holidays. When I was growing up we always went over to whoever had the best suited house.

This may seem trivial but a lot of times you don’t even have people over at your house. Another great option is to rent a room at a near by hotel. I know people who do this, who do not live in a tiny house.

This allows for a lot of people to gather in the same place without having to worry about cleaning or deciding on who will host it. This is a common way many people have large gatherings.

If you want people over at your house there are still options. Many tiny houses have large living rooms that can accommodate more than those who live there.

Of course this is only a concern if it is a cold holiday. Around Christmas or Thanksgiving you can still have several people come over to your tiny house. But, you will not likely be able to have a lot of people over.

However, on warmer holidays like Fourth of July and Labor Day, you can have a lot more people over. One of the features of a tiny house is being able to spend more time outside.

Since living tiny we have been able to take our home on trips and overall spend a lot more time enjoying nature. There is plenty of room outside of your home for people to come over for cook outs or bonfires.

When we got married we had a lot of family come over to our tiny house. At the time we were living in a container home and it was 280 square feet. But there were no problems because we all sat outside around a fire.

Living tiny has so many benefits. You may not be able to through big parties of have lots of family over on Christmas, once a year. But you have everyday to enjoy all of the other positives.

How to Decorate a Tiny House for the Holidays

Decorating for holidays in a tiny house can be lots of fun. You get to use less and decorate more. For crafty people, it can be lots of fun to design specific decorations to fit your house.

For those of you who are less crafty than you can always find a lot of great ideas online. Using wall decoration is easy and space efficient in a tiny house.

A common question I get is where to put a Christmas tree. Every year we put up a small Christmas tree and I even store the same one throughout the year so I do not have to keep buying one.

It can actually be quite easy to find a place for a small tree. We usually put it on top of some storage or in the living room, depending on the space we have.

Going tiny is about making room for what is important to you and getting rid of everything that gets in the way of that. For me decorating is not a big deal, except for every year around Christmas.

We are currently living in 112 square feet and we don’t have a lot of stuff. But I have things that are important to me, like a Christmas tree. Keep what really matters to you and you will be able to find room for it.

How to Set Up the Details for Holidays in a Tiny House

There are certain parts of holidays that can be more difficult in a small space. For example, hiding presents, Easter egg hunts, and of course the food.

Of course, one of the biggest things I promote is spending time outside. You can do Easter egg hunts or Fourth of July parties in your backyard and have a lot more room.

Another thing I recommend is using your vehicle. My husband and I have our own separate vehicles and whenever I need to hide any presents I just leave them in my trunk. You have the extra space, why not use it?

Dealing with holiday food can be a little harder. You need to consider where to store it, how to make enough, and where to keep it afterwards. Let’s dive into this a little more.

How to Make Food for the Holidays

Food is a big part of all holidays. Whether it’s Cookouts for Fourth of July, Thanksgiving dinner, or literally any other celebration. Food always brings people together.

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind when preparing your dishes:

Preparing

• Clean out your fridge. A week or two before you know you will be cooking a lot, eat everything out of your fridge. I only buy food if I need something additional to use up what I already have. This is a good idea to do every few weeks anyway, to keep food from going bad. But planning in advance to eat everything you have, without buying more, will give you lots of space for all of the cooking.
• Plan your cooking times. If you know you will have multiple dinners around the same time then you may not want to buy everything at once. It can be harder to store food in your fridge for several big dinners at one time.
• Make a list! This may seem obvious but having a list and sticking to it will avoid buying unnecessary things that you don’t have room for anyway.

Cooking

• Buy the food as close to when you need it as possible. If you buy what you need right before you start cooking then you do not need to worry about where to keep it at all. I love doing this because I am much more excited about cooking when I just bought it.
• Plan dishes with food you already have or that you will use a lot. It is always so frustrating to have a beautiful dish that requires several ingredients you only use once. They will usually end up sitting in your fridge until they go bad. I like to look up other recipes that have these ingredients and plan those meals for the next week.

Storing

• Send leftovers with other people. In our family get togethers, we all take home a little bit of everything. This way we all have complete meals at home we can eat and we don’t get tired of just eating one thing for days.
• Pack lunches with your leftovers. We always put together meals and then eat those for lunches and dinners. Plus, at this point we have already eaten most of the food in our fridge so we have plenty of room.

Even though these steps may seem simple they go a long way in a tiny house. In general, those who live in a tiny house should practice planning out their food but especially for big get togethers.

Traveling in Your Tiny House for the Holidays

This is a big section, so I will try to cover the basics.

Traveling in your tiny house is one of the best parts of going tiny, but also takes some work. You cannot just hookup your trailer and drive away anytime.

However, in our first tiny house it usually only took us 20 minutes to be ready to drive off. It really depends on how long you have been living at that location.

One of the joys of a THOW, is the ability to move. You may live a few hours away from your family, but for a week you can live in their backyard. This can really make living tiny a fun adventure.

Personally, we love living in the middle of nowhere and getting to move and travel a lot. This is such a freedom that tiny living has afforded us. But we can always pick up and move our house.

Having the ability to take your house on vacation is one of the best feelings. You will think to your self, “Oh man, I wish I brought… Oh wait! I brought everything!”

You no longer need to pack or worry about what to bring. You just secure your house and take everything with you. If you’re tired and can’t make it as far as you thought, you can just pull over and stop for the night.

You can always stop and use the bathroom anywhere, stop and cook dinner anywhere, change your clothes anytime, the possibilities are endless. It really is the little things that you will love.

Here are the things you need to do before driving away:

• Check your tires and lug nuts. This is very important! If you do not do this you may have a wheel snap while towing it (Yes, I have seen this happen). This is standard for pulling any trailer.
• Be sure your tanks are all sealed. You may need to empty your water tank, but at least be sure it is sealed properly and ready for transport.
• Take everything off the counters and make sure it is all locked down. Don’t forget the microwave! Honestly, most things you can just set on the floor so they do not fall off. But you need to be sure that all of your cabinets are secured as well as anything that could slide, like a wood stove or even hanging lights.
• Make sure everything on the outside is secured. Check your solar panels and any outside fixtures that will stay on the outside during transport. We take our exhausts and chimneys off and store them inside during transport.
• Check lights and breaks. Always make sure these are working properly before moving your home.

Related Questions

Which cities have tiny house hotels? There are lots of places you can rent out a tiny house for the night or the week. You can find hotels on Airbnb. But currently there are houses in Draper, UT, Chattanooga, TN, Jackson Hole, WY, Leavenworth, WA, and more.

What are the best ways to have people over at your tiny house? The best way to have people come over when you live in a tiny house is by having outdoor events. Having an evening fire or a cookout leaves plenty of room for everyone.

How do you hide presents in a tiny house? Hiding presents is a fun part of many holidays, especially Christmas, but can be challenging if you live tiny. One of the best ways is by keeping them in your trunk until you are alone to wrap.

This article has been reviewed in accordance with our editorial policy.

Since tiny houses have taken off in popularity, many people have lots of questions about how they are set up and run. Let’s dig more into powering your tiny house.

So, how do tiny houses get power? Most tiny houses hook up to a power source through a 30 or 50 amp RV inlet. Many tiny houses are off-grid and those ones typically use solar for their power. There are some other options, but it is not a good idea to use a generator full time for a tiny house.

My husband and I have been living off-grid in our tiny houses for years now. We have had another building to hook up to, ran off of solar, used a wind turbine, and a generator. We have mostly been living off-grid and have had lots of experience with different types of power.

How do Tiny Houses Get Power

Tiny houses are wired up like a normal house. Everything is wired into the breaker box by following codes. It is not a wiring nightmare like most RVs. Also, RVs run off a 12 volt system, like what is in your car. RVs mostly use a 12 volt system, but they do use some 120 VAC as well.

A tiny houses, even ones on wheels, typically use a 120 or 240 VAC system. That means that they use AC power instead of DC, and will function like a normal house. A lot of tiny houses are just plugged directly into a power source, like another building or the grid.

Tiny houses that are off-grid must use an alternative source of power. There are several options here. The most common is solar power. You can use other forms, like a wind turbine, but these are typically less effective and have more maintenance requirements.

I have seen a lot of people write about using a generator for powering your tiny house. I am pretty sure that none of them live in a tiny house. There are several reasons why using a generator in a tiny house, as your only source of power, is not a good idea.

RVs have a small battery back up and many people who travel with an RV will use a generator. Tiny houses are not built the same way, and you will not have a battery bank if you do not have solar in your house.

Tiny houses are built more like homes. They are not as efficient with their power so you can run standard appliances, and live like you would in a normal house. Using a generator would not be ideal and would be costly with fuel. I will talk more about generator usage with tiny houses later in this article.

RV Inlet for Power

I was doing some scavenging around online to see what people were saying about powering tiny houses and I was shocked. One tiny house blog literally said to use an extension cord to plug into a power source. Do not use an extension cord!

You need to use a RV extension cord. There is a big difference. Even though that blog showed a picture of an RV extension cord plugged into the home, they did not specify. You can burn down you house with a standard extension cord.

Granted, if you are not using very much power it will likely be fine. But if you turn on too much at one time it will not be able to hold all of the amperage and will either flip the breaker it is connected to or burn up the cord.

A RV 30 or 50 amp cord is built to hold more amperage and will be safe running your house. If you are using 240 VAC then you need a 50 amp RV cord. The only acceptable way to use an extension cord is if you are gathering power from a generator.

Generators have their own barkers and will flip if the cord cannot hold the power. Thus you will not burn up the cord or your house. However, you cannot use a generator while you are using any heavy loads, it will just keep flipping the breaker.

The most common form of power for a tiny house is to plug into a power source. Either another building or house, or at an RV park. However, all tiny houses, even off-grid ones, have the option to plug into this type of power.

We have lived off-grid for several years now and have used all forms of power. It can be nice to just plug into another house and not worry about power usage or how your batteries are doing.

If you have the right solar set up you can feed back into the grid when you plug in as well. In our first house we had a every expensive inverter charger that allowed us to feed back into the grid. This is not common on most of them though.

We were moving states and stayed in my in-laws back yard for a couple months. They are truck drivers and are rarely home. While we were there and plugged into their house, their electricity bill was $20. As soon as we moved it shot up to $140!

Solar Powered Tiny Houses

Solar power is the most common off-grid method for tiny houses, and most other off-grid homes. They require the least amount of maintenance and last for a long time. Solar power is relatively cost efficient if you buy the right stuff.

Take a look at what we recommend buying for a small and large solar system, here.

Ever solar system will need lithium or deep cycle AGM batteries, a charge controller, an inverter charger, appropriate size fuses and breakers, combinder box, and solar panels. Which items to buy can be trickier and we lay that out in our recommended products.

Solar is the most reliable source of off-grid power. Even on cloudy days you still get power! That is why everyone goes with solar. You can find some cheaper sources of power like using a wind turbine, but if it is not windy for a couple of days you will have no power.

Maintenance:

Solar panels usually come with around a 25 year warranty. and require little maintenance. They will need to be readjusted for peak sun hours throughout the seasons. Other than that you will just need to clean the dust off every now and then and clean off any snow.

Battery Bank:

Your battery bank is a little different. Regardless of what off-grid system you use, you will need a battery bank. You batteries do not last as long as the panels and need to be taken care of for them to last.

If you completely drain your batteries you can permanently ruin them, if they are led acid. Batteries work the same with their lifespan whether they are in your phone, car, or powering your house.

As they age you will get less power out of them. When the Nissan Leaf first came out they could go 100 miles on a charge, after several years that will decrease and they will not go as far. Same goes for your phone, the older it gets the quicker it dies.

There are two main types of batteries, led acid or lithium. Led acid are cheaper up front but they do not last as long. They are only meant to have 500-1,000 cycles at 50% DoD, meaning only using 50% of the battery’s charge.

Lithium batteries are supposed to go 1,000-5,000 cycles with a 80% DoD. So they last longer and you can use more of the battery. A cycle is when the battery is charged up all the way and then used down. This is supposed to equate to a day, but not always.

If you do not have enough batteries to run all of your power than you may go through multiple cycles in a day and will likely ruin them very quickly. If you barely use your battery bank, they will last twice as long.

Wind Turbine

Another option is a wind turbine. This is great for additional power, but I would not recommend it for your only source of power. If it is not windy for a couple of days you will not have any power.

Wind turbines are cheaper than solar panels but they require more maintenance and will likely not last as long. There is constant motion in a wind turbine and that causes stress and leads to faster deterioration of any components.

Wind turbines work differently than collecting solar power. When there is excess solar power it dissipates, however when you have excess wind power it has to have somewhere to go. Wind power can over charge your batteries.

This is why all wind power requires a load dump option. This usually comes in the form of heat. If you install a load dump in your house it can be supplemental heat in the winter, but it will be very unwelcome in the summer.

Another option is to have a load dump that heats your water. This can be a bonus in the winter or a negative in the summer. The option is up to you, but having wind power is more complicated than solar power.

Also, if you have a hybrid system you can get a hybrid charge controller, but they are usually for small systems only. Typically you will need to buy two charge controls, one for your solar and one for your wind turbine.

Generator

I have seen several people write about running your tiny house off of a generator. I have never seen anyone do this, and I doubt that anyone who lives in a tiny house actually recommends this.

A tiny house without a solar system will not have batteries. That means that you have to run your generator 24/7 and you cannot let it turn off for too long or everything in your fridge will melt.

Most generators are loud and would have to be filled at least once a day with fuel. It would be extremely hard to live full time off of a generator. We did it once, when we first went tiny because we could not get our solar hooked up.

It was awful. I had to go out in the middle of the night and start the generator or fuel it almost everyday. We had solar, it was just not set up yet. We ended up ruining our fridge because it kept cutting off and on again.

We then got our solar set up and only used the generator for back up. When we first went tiny we did not know that much about solar and our batter bank was too small. We had to use the generator a lot.

I always recommend having a generator as a back up anyway. You may get an intense snow and not be able to clean your panels or get too many cloudy days and then you will need it. But living off of it would be way too difficult.

Keep in mind that a tiny house is meant to be lived in full time, it is supposed to be a home. When traveling or staying in something temporarily than you can get away with a lot more. But living in a tiny house should be like living in a home.

My guess is that if you are living uncomfortably, constantly fueling a generator, driving your house to dump you black water, not having hot water because you didn’t know you were out of propane, you will not stay living in a tiny house.

And then it will just have been a waste. We went through many difficult times living tiny, but we still love it. Although, we are not like most people. We lived in a tent for two months while my husband built us our second tiny house.

But now I get to help others understand how to live tiny. If you read my posts and follow my advise, from someone who has been living tiny for four years now, you will not regret it.

Related Questions

How do tiny houses get water? Most tiny houses hook up to an external water source, like another house or in a RV park. But lots of tiny houses have holding tanks for fresh water as well. You can haul water to your house or pull your house to fill it up.

Can solar panels power a tiny house? Solar panels can power a tiny house but you will also need a battery bank for nights and cloudy days. In order to calculate how many panels you need you will need to calculate your power usage.