Welcome back! Get updates for FREE by Email or RSS feed, or find great small appliances for your small home.

I love a little humor in design, so the name of this sofa sleeper caught my eye right after the design did.

One Night Stand, by Blu Dot, available at Design Public is a modern take on the traditional sleeper sofa that would work in any tiny house or even a studio as the one and only bed/couch combo. You simply move the back cushions and fold out the sleeper. Unlike most sleeper sofas it’s not bulky at all. The clean modern lines and fabric will work for a family or active single person/couple.

Planning to build a tiny house without a basement and probably no garage means I really don’t want to waste space for a water heater. Of course we also want to try to cut utility costs, while still making sure we have enough hot water for an entire family. While Europe has been using tankless water heaters for decades, the U.S. is just beginning to catch onto the idea.

The Stiebel Eltron DHC-E 30 Tankless Electric Water Heater comes with electronic water temperature control, uses less energy saving you up to 20% on your utility bill, takes up very little space, and is even seismic proof so there is no preventive construction needed for seismic codes. You can read more about this particular model after the jump:

» Read the rest of the entry..

I’m hungry, so let’s talk kitchens! I’m not the cook in the family, but I definitely have final say on what is included in the kitchen since I clean it, it’s a rule. There are so many cool things I can’t wait to show you, but unfortunately you can’t include all of them in one kitchen, so I think it’s important to start with an overall kitchen design and then fit everything into it. (Or start with one way cool appliance and build your kitchen around that, but I digress.)

This compact kitchen from TM Italia (Warning, site plays pseudo porn music!) keeps the lines clean, has a lot of storage which is important when building a tiny house for a family, and I love that it has a built in breakfast bar, because I’ve been toying with the idea of not having a dining table at all, just a built in. I love the curves, especially the end cabinet, I think it could work even with a doorway right there. The open cubes would be great for displaying beautiful dishes or a glass bottle collection, or cookbooks if that’s your thing.

Lighting plays a bigger role in how we feel in our homes than we think. Just think about the last time you walked into a bathroom and wanted to scream, hmm, hopefully that’s not just me! Natural lighting, incandescent lighting, up lighting, down lighting, spotlights, the options are endless and the effects can be breathtaking.

The Beam Bed from Lago is inspired by the suns rays with a lighting system that illuminates the space between the boards. I love the lighting affect on the room, and wonder if a dimmer and remote is included. The way the boards are packaged also make it easy for installation in a tiny house with narrow stairways or loft access.

Much like in a kitchen where the upper cabinets offer storage space without sacrificing counter space, creating a more open feeling, you can suspend cabinets in other areas of the home to create storage without losing floor space.

These suspended cabinets from e15 are gorgeous and functional. This particular combination is made from the Shahnaz with 2 doors and Mahnaz with two drawers. Since each piece is the same size you can combine them in any number of configurations to match your room size and storage needs. The design really draws your eyes underneath, making the room seem larger even though you are introducing something that takes up space. Perfect for a tiny house!