Low-Cost Tiny House Interior Design Ideas

The tiny house movement has taken off in recent years, and the tiny house interior design ideas on Instagram can feel endless. But just because tiny house interiors have endless options doesn’t mean all the ideas are good ones.

So which tiny house interior design ideas will help you maximize space while offering creative storage solutions? And how can you make the most of a minimalist lifestyle even while working with a small budget?

Just keep reading because I’m about to shower you with tiny home furniture, storage, and interior design ideas to furnish your little home while you save money! 

Are you wondering what makes me qualified to help you style the interior of your tiny house on wheels? I’m glad you asked because you don’t want to entrust your tiny living interior design decisions to just anyone.

Fortunately, I am a tiny home owner myself, so I know a thing or two about creating a beautiful, tiny living space even within the constraints of a low square footage floor plan. And while you will apply your unique style to the interior of your own tiny home, I hope my ideas will serve as an example of what is possible.

The basics of tiny home interior design.

Before you tackle the bedroom, bathroom, living room, laundry room, or even your tiny kitchen, you’ll want to be aware of a couple of tiny home interior design basics.

The first thing you should know is that you will notice and experience the things you own 10x more in a tiny house than in a traditional house. Tiny houses simply have more saturation per square foot.

The second tiny house detail you should be aware of is that most tiny houses quickly develop a clutter problem if you don’t choose your furniture wisely and create dedicated spaces to store clutter. You want your tiny house interior to feel like a tree house dream instead of a minimal space nightmare, but tiny homes can quickly become the latter if you aren’t careful!

Let’s talk tiny homes and color.

The main living space in my tiny home is super bright. This is thanks to white wood walls, large windows, and the natural light that streams in through the skylights. It’s so bright that I often forget I live in a small space!

White walls and the natural light brought in by sliding doors or big windows have long been staples of tiny house interior design. But just because you are working with a smaller space floor plan doesn’t mean your family can’t enjoy some color. In fact, color can be a great alternative to decor items because it can create style without taking up space.

And if you apply it right (like to a dedicated space on a wall), it can even give the illusion of more space!

So before you buy a new bed for your bedroom, remodel your tiny bathroom, or spend a gazillion dollars adding trinkets to your tiny house living room, consider adding a coat of paint to your tiny home interior! It just may create the style you were looking for at a fraction of the cost. And all while saving space!

Did you know that paint isn’t the only way to add a pop of color to tiny homes?

It’s not. In fact, if you have a tiny bit of patience and want to spend even less money while you save space, you can do what I did and cover pieces of your tiny house interior with fancy contact paper.

I used a vinyl wrap like this Black Faux Leather Vinyl Wrap by VVIVID to cover my stairs, and it’s held up well for almost two years! 

Don’t limit yourself to the stairs, though! Contact paper comes in many colors and patterns (even marble and wood grain!) and can be used to style many small spaces around the house. Case in point: my counter space needs a refresh, so my next tiny house interior design project will be to apply this Waterproof Marble Patterned Kitchen Sticker by SHEIN over the butcher block I accidentally ruined with my enthusiastic cooking. Whoops. Let’s move on.

Lighting is everything in a tiny home.

If you want a tiny house interior design tip that will dramatically shift the style of your tiny home living room, bedroom, or even bathroom, look no further than lighting. 

Lighting comes in many forms, and everything from windows to a fire pit matter, but for now, let’s focus on interior house lighting.

There are so many ways to light the interior of a tiny house living space, but in my tiny home, I focus on lighting that sets the mood for one reason.

Mood lighting is an inexpensive way to add instant luxury to your tiny living space.

Mood lighting is anything that makes a space feel warm, romantic, and cozy. And what do we want our tiny houses to feel like if not those things?!

I know people who use strings of fairy lights or candles, but my personal favorite way to add mood lighting to tiny homes is with a salt lamp. 

Salt lamps come in different colors (orange, pink, black, and white), but I favor the white ones. They also come in a range of prices, but I took the liberty of finding you the most beautiful and least expensive one out there. This Himalayan Glow White Salt Crystal Lamp I found on Amazon has a wood base and comes with a dimmer switch, so you can set the proper tiny house mood.

My tiny house needed three salt lamps. Don’t judge me; I made more room by getting rid of a few things! And once you see what a salt lamp does to a tiny house interior, you’ll buy multiples for your tiny home too!

Alright, now that we’ve discussed color and lighting options for your tiny home, it’s time to move on to textiles. 

Tiny house textiles will transform every room in your tiny living space.

Textiles are so important when it comes to creating luxurious interior living spaces. And think about it, textiles are literally in every room of a tiny house!

In the bathroom, you would likely put a hand towel on the bathroom sink; in the bedroom, you would have linens on the bed; in the living area, you would likely have blankets and pillows; in the dining room, you might have cloth napkins (because, tiny house sustainability!), and in any given space you might have a rug on the floor!

Remember what I said about people experiencing things 10x more intensely in tiny homes? It’s true, so I’d like to remind you all to shop carefully when choosing textiles for your tiny homes.

Tiny houses (and the people who live in them!) benefit from high-quality, durable, and beautiful textiles. And furnishing your tiny house interior with ethically made and sustainably sourced textiles is a great way to embody the tiny house lifestyle.

I have changed out the textiles in my tiny home several times since I bought my tiny house on wheels two years ago. And it’s because towels, napkins, and blankets are just one of the most effective ways to play around with the style of my home.

So whether the pieces were going on the loft beds in the bedroom, on the floor in the living room, or in my tiny bathroom, I wanted to get them just right. (While designing on a budget, of course!)

Are you curious about my favorite pieces? I thought you might be. Let me save you some time and share my very favorite high-quality, low-cost tiny house design ideas.

For a tiny house floor, there is nothing better than this 2’x3′ Sylviidae Striped Woven Accent Rug by Opalhouse (TM) that I found at Target. It cost me exactly twenty dollars, it doesn’t show dirt, and it’s super durable. #TinyHouseTripleWin

The rug in my tiny house hallway might have worked out on the first try, but finding the right towels for my tiny home bathroom was much more difficult. 

I don’t have a lot of storage space in my bathroom (or my sleeping space, for that matter!), so it was important that I bought towels that would fit in the built-in storage bins mounted on my tiny home’s bathroom wall.

So when space is limited, what’s a tiny house dweller with a love of style to do? Well, I decided to take tiny living to the limit last week and took a big risk: I bought Turkish-style bath towels. Yes, from Turkey.

These PASHA Turkish Towels are changing my tiny house life.

Hear me out. In a tiny house bathroom, I don’t have enough space for bulky bath towels. And if you live in a tiny house with a combo unit washer/dryer, such towels will be the death of you because they will never dry. Luckily, Turkish towels are the solution to both tiny home problems.

And now tiny houses everywhere can experience the joy of them for the low, low price of $30 per towel. Oh, and they are ethically made- how tiny-house-lifestyle is that?! 

I love the style of the PASHA towels so much that I am considering adding one of their blankets to the bed in my bedroom. Question for you: how many Turkish-style accents can one add to the interior of a tiny house living space before one is forced to buy a second tiny house on wheels? Asking for a friend.

Tiny house interior furnishings to style your tiny home!

There is an art to choosing art for your tiny house interior. Since space is limited and style is of the utmost importance, you will want to think through these purchases carefully. If it helps, here is my best advice.

Choose tiny house furnishings that offer both beauty and function.

We are often taught that beauty is frivolous, but may I politely suggest we throw that one out the window? The tiny home movement is all about deeply enjoying life. So why not fill your tiny home with things you find beautiful?! 

Beauty also serves a secondary function in a tiny house: if you like looking at something, it means you can store it in plain sight. 

This nice Oil & Vinegar Set From Crate and Barrel is a great example. It’s functional, but it’s also beautiful, so you probably won’t mind if it lives on your tiny house dining room table. It’s such a simple thing, but when the things we use become art, your tiny house lifestyle will soar to the next level.

I could go on about tiny house furnishings that offer both beauty and function, but since I know you have a tiny house interior of your own to design, I’ll limit myself to discussing the tiny house living room. Specifically, pillows.

Tiny house couches can be expensive, but if you want to decorate on a budget, there is no better low-cost tiny house interior design hack than to use pillows to bring new life to the furniture in your tiny house.

And do you want to know a tiny house storage secret? 

If you get pillows with zippers, you can take out the fluff and use the interior of the pillows for off-season clothing storage. Right?! That one blew my mind too.

Throw pillows come at all price points and levels of quality, but personally, I can get enough of these Throw Pillows by society6. The color and print options are endless, the larger sizes can be used for storage, and they will add flair to the interior of your tiny house like nothing else!

Whew! Are you all psyched up to play tiny house interior decorator ?! Me too. Fortunately, the things on this list will help us both get the style we desire while staying on budget. Tiny houses are about peace of mind, after all.

That’s it for today, but thanks for joining me here on The Wayward Home blog! And if you love tiny house interior design as much as I do, be sure to subscribe, so you can receive all future tiny house interior design tips right in your inbox!

See you next time!

Buying Guide

Black Faux Leather Vinyl Wrap by VVIVID

Waterproof Marble Patterned Kitchen Sticker by SHEIN

Himalayan Glow White Salt Crystal Lamp

2’x3′ Sylviidae Striped Woven Accent Rug by Opalhouse (TM)

PASHA Turkish Towels

Oil & Vinegar Set From Crate and Barrel

Throw Pillows by society6