Houzz Tour: A ‘Love Shack’ Built for a 20th Wedding Anniversary
A nice bathroom was a priority in this tiny home in New York. Plywood feature walls and colorful cement tile add style
Layout. The exterior of the tiny home features the home’s name — “The Loveshack” — over the sliding front doors. This photo provides a good visual of the home’s layout. You enter the home and step directly into the kitchen. To the right is the living room and to the left, the master bedroom. Behind the kitchen is the bathroom. The windows on the upper level mark the two sleeping lofts, which are above the master bedroom and the living room.
Exterior. The siding on the front and sides of the home is cedar clapboard. Standing-seam steel roofing panels were used on both the roof and the back of the home, shown in the previous photo.
Back siding and roof: 1½-inch SSR series in acrylic-coated Galvalume, Fabral; windows: Integrity line by Marvin
Exterior. The siding on the front and sides of the home is cedar clapboard. Standing-seam steel roofing panels were used on both the roof and the back of the home, shown in the previous photo.
Back siding and roof: 1½-inch SSR series in acrylic-coated Galvalume, Fabral; windows: Integrity line by Marvin
Floor plan
Kitchen. This space is what you step into from the front door. The kitchen contains cabinets, a two-burner cooktop, an undercounter refrigerator and a kitchen sink. The walls of the space are plywood, chosen for their contemporary look and low cost.
The upper and lower cabinet doors are Shaker style and the drawers are slab, or flat panel. The countertop is a simple maple butcher block. The wall and floor material is cement tile found by the homeowner.
Sleeping lofts. Stainless steel bars serve as ladders on both sides of the room and lead to the two sleeping lofts. Each loft houses a twin mattress but could fit a queen.
Tile: Patchwork, Pacific collection, Cement Tile Shop; cabinetry hardware: satin nickel by Cosmas; see more bar pulls in nickel
The upper and lower cabinet doors are Shaker style and the drawers are slab, or flat panel. The countertop is a simple maple butcher block. The wall and floor material is cement tile found by the homeowner.
Sleeping lofts. Stainless steel bars serve as ladders on both sides of the room and lead to the two sleeping lofts. Each loft houses a twin mattress but could fit a queen.
Tile: Patchwork, Pacific collection, Cement Tile Shop; cabinetry hardware: satin nickel by Cosmas; see more bar pulls in nickel
Living room. The living room contains a sofa as well as a two-person dining table that can expand to seat four (not shown in this photo).
The accent wall was one of the homeowner’s requests. “She had an idea or vision for a Mondrian-style accent wall,” Taylor says, referring to artist Piet Mondrian. Taylor designed the wall and constructed it from different plywood veneers. “Each color is a different species and it has different stains to try and amplify that,” he says.
Sofa: West Elm; carpet tiles: Upcycle in Blue Jay, Flor
The accent wall was one of the homeowner’s requests. “She had an idea or vision for a Mondrian-style accent wall,” Taylor says, referring to artist Piet Mondrian. Taylor designed the wall and constructed it from different plywood veneers. “Each color is a different species and it has different stains to try and amplify that,” he says.
Sofa: West Elm; carpet tiles: Upcycle in Blue Jay, Flor
Bedroom. The bedroom also features an accent wall, again a homeowner request. “She had an idea of a chevron wall, and then I came up with the design for it and we worked with the same plywood species and colors” as in the living room, Taylor says. “We tried to coordinate it to have the least amount of waste between the two accent walls.” Taylor designed the wall so the bed would sit beneath the upward ‘V’ of the chevron.
The tiny home overlooks Thurso Bay, with both the bedroom and living room looking out toward Canada.
Sconces: P3 swing-arm wall lamp by Alecia Wesner for George Kovacs; ceiling fan: Concept II flush 44-inch ceiling fan in brushed nickel, Minka-Aire; quilt: Pottery Barn; find more blue quilts and bedspreads
The tiny home overlooks Thurso Bay, with both the bedroom and living room looking out toward Canada.
Sconces: P3 swing-arm wall lamp by Alecia Wesner for George Kovacs; ceiling fan: Concept II flush 44-inch ceiling fan in brushed nickel, Minka-Aire; quilt: Pottery Barn; find more blue quilts and bedspreads
Bathroom. Before building the tiny home, the family had no proper bathroom on the property. “She was adamant about making this into a nice space,” Taylor says.
The 27-square-foot bathroom is behind the kitchen, with access to it from the living room. The homeowner wanted the room fully tiled and liked the idea of subway tile. Taylor suggested running it in a vertical direction to make the space feel taller. A sliding glass door also helped the space feel bigger by allowing you to see all the way to the tiled back wall. The shower wall has accent tiles that the homeowner got in Mexico; the tiles celebrate the Day of the Dead.
The floor is covered in pebble tile, which comes on a mesh and then gets grouted. The wall not shown in this photo has a window that looks out onto the forest; you can see it reflected in the mirror.
Sink faucet: Purist, Kohler; toilet: Reve comfort height one-piece, Kohler; vanity and mirror: Modern Bathware
The 27-square-foot bathroom is behind the kitchen, with access to it from the living room. The homeowner wanted the room fully tiled and liked the idea of subway tile. Taylor suggested running it in a vertical direction to make the space feel taller. A sliding glass door also helped the space feel bigger by allowing you to see all the way to the tiled back wall. The shower wall has accent tiles that the homeowner got in Mexico; the tiles celebrate the Day of the Dead.
The floor is covered in pebble tile, which comes on a mesh and then gets grouted. The wall not shown in this photo has a window that looks out onto the forest; you can see it reflected in the mirror.
Sink faucet: Purist, Kohler; toilet: Reve comfort height one-piece, Kohler; vanity and mirror: Modern Bathware
“Thankfully, the surprise was well-received by her husband and the kids,” Taylor says.
This summer, the husband will be up here for the full summer season and other family members will spend a good amount of time here as well.
This summer, the husband will be up here for the full summer season and other family members will spend a good amount of time here as well.
Your turn: Do you live in — or vacation in — a tiny home? If so, please share your sharpest photos in the Comments below! We’d love to see your projects and hear about your experiences.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with one child in college and the other in high school
Location: Thousand Islands area, northern New York
Size: 328 square feet (30.5 square meters)
Designer: Jonathan Taylor of Taylored Architecture
The owners of this tiny home on Grindstone Island in the St. Lawrence River in New York had wanted to build a vacation home on their property but found the cost higher than they’d hoped. They set aside the idea for a few years and then the wife secretly came back to architect Jonathan Taylor and commissioned a tiny home as a surprise gift to her husband for the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary. Taylor scrambled to get the design and build done in about 3½ months.
The result is a 328-square-foot vacation home that sleeps four, with room for both the couple and their two children. (A houseboat and a rundown cabin on the property can accommodate additional overnight guests.)