Jumping fully into the world of tiny houses can be daunting even for people who are seriously thinking about living in one. After all, questions abound: Will it be too small? How much do they cost, and where can you park them? Where do you put all your stuff? Are there any legalities involved with them?
It can be dizzying to wrap your head around such concerns, so it makes sense to try the tiny lifestyle out before plunging in headfirst. Thankfully, there are plenty of tiny house rentals out there to choose from, whether you are looking for one located right in the city, or perhaps a bit further afield, like this Scandinavian-inspired tiny house rental that is located near Berlin, Ohio, about an hour and a half from either Columbus or Cleveland and right in the heart of America’s largest Amish community.
Designed by hosts Kevin and Liz of Tiny Stays Berlin and built by Greenwood Tiny Homes, there are some interesting design ideas in this lovely gem of a tiny house. We get a tour of the appropriately named Scandi tiny house via YouTuber and tiny house enthusiast Levi Kelly:
The compact exterior of the Scandi features stylish black metal siding, along with some wooden accents. There’s an expansive deck and a privacy fence, which allows guests to lounge comfortably outdoors.
As we come inside, we enter into the living room area, which has a convertible sofa bed. The sofa is placed right under a tall window, making it a cozy spot to read a book, or to watch a movie on the big television screen mounted across the space.
Moving further into the house, we come into the kitchen and dining area. The kitchen is small but has most of the basics: a sink with a pull-down spray faucet, a counter to prepare food on. There are lots of pots, pans, and utensils stored away in the black-tinted cabinetry underneath the counter, which is equipped with simple but elegant leather handles. The open shelving and lack of overhead cabinets help to contribute to a sense of openness to the space.
In the corner shelves tucked at the end of the counter, there is a microwave and a hot plate that visitors can plug in if they want to cook, as well as some board games for rainy days.
Past the kitchen counter, there is an apartment-sized refrigerator for storing food. And rather than being placed in a spot where it looks out of place, the refrigerator here is well-integrated into the overall layout here and is placed on top of a built-in storage cabinet so that it ends up being at a height where one doesn’t have to bend down too much to retrieve items. Thinking about ergonomic movement is key in any kitchen, including tiny ones.
Across from the kitchen counter, there is a dining counter and two tall chairs, looking out of a large picture window. Part of the dining counter gracefully curves in to make way for accessing the stairs.
The bathroom is located right below the sleeping loft, and it’s quite sizable for a tiny house. There is a corner shower, a toilet, a sink, and vanity, as well as a combination washer and dryer for guests.
Going up the short flight of stairs, we come into the sleeping loft, which is tucked underneath a skylight. The loft has been designed in a way so that there is a long stepwell of sorts, which allows occupants to stand up fully beside the bed.
There are a couple of smart design elements here that one doesn’t see often with tiny house sleeping lofts. First, there is an elegant safety rail here that folds down to let you get into bed, and it then latches back up to prevent you from falling out of bed in the middle of the night.
Next, there is this fold-down step that’s integrated into the base of the bed, which gives you an extra handy step to get into bed.
Best of all, there is this mini-sauna that’s steps away from the Scandi, rounding out the whole experience.
There’s a lot of clever little ideas in this tiny house that would make any small space more livable. If you want to try it out, you can visit Tiny Stays Berlin and Airbnb.
