Cooking up a design for a guy and his gal, a small-as-possible woods cabin for two, I started with a plan that has a 16×16 footprint. The sleep loft was too small for a queen bed, so I boosted the footprint two feet, and put the extra two feet in the loft.
The loft can now house a queen sized platform bed. See the pic.
If you have done sleep lofts, does this one look OK?
Replies
You forgot to show the nightsoil pot in the corner<G>
Have a 16 by 20 cabin myself, nobody likes to go down steep stairs in the middle of the night.
gene... if you can do a loft...why can't you make the whole 2d floor.. what does the loft do for you ?
it reduces privacy.. puts the bed against a wall ( so it's a bitch to make the bed )
lose the loft idea and make the bedroom full 2d floor
I thought of that, Mike, but the idea of the loft came from a pattern book of small cabins, all with lofts sort of like this one.
The loft does a few things for the overall design.
It adds visual interest to the interior space.
The bed and a small chest can be hoisted up over the railing from below, which could not happen at all up the ships-ladder stairs.
The stove and stovepipe riser can provide enough heat the upstairs for sleeping comfort, without the need for auxiliary heat up there.
The cost is less than for a full-deck floor.
I have considered a full upper, with some treatments like skylights and dormers, all which add space and features, but they all add cost, too. This couple is on a budget.
the railing will equal the floor system in cost
heating from the woodstove can be accomodated by floor grates
the additional square footage gained will allow for a more generous stairwell to facilitate furniture movement
the visual interest from below is overated ( imnsho)...
if you model this in 3d you can have them virtually inhabit the spaceMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I like the visual interests of lofts.
blueOur Skytrak is for sale. It has 500 hrs on it. We want 50k (you pay the freight) and we'll finance it. Drop me an email; it's a good buy.
Have you tried Sketchup yet, Mike? That is what I have used for this model.
I can give the clients a real nice walkthrough.
Your remarks about a full upper floor are sorta valid, but you'll put me back to square one with the design.
Right now, I have the shipsladder staircase slipped into a corner, and headroom is at code minimum. The steep back of the stairs works in the tub/shower.
If we go full upper floor, we'll want to go back to the 16x16 footprint, to shave cost. Getting a regular staircase, even a winder, inside, will eat up valuable space. We've a 14:12 roof to gain headspace in the loft, but even at that, we've got 36" kneewalls so as to maximize floor width.
Here's a Chief exercise for you! Show us a 16x16 woods cabin for two people to live in, comfortably.
sure... did you put my deposit check in the mail yet ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
sure... did you put my deposit check in the mail yet ?
Bit crabby this w/e Mike?[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
lemme see... design gene's cabin....
or play some golf... hmmmmmMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
'snot Gene's cabin. it's for a couple with little money, HahahahahahaI took a good long look at it again. I do like the open feel of a loft, but I'd probably make it two feet wider so there is room to walk on both sides of the bed. Making that up and cleaning is sure to be a PIA, and God forbid whoever gets stuck with the wrailing side should get up in the night on the wrong side of the bed, or rolls over heaving from too much to drink
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I like the look of the loft. But I would give it enough room that the bed was accesible from either side, I think that adds a lot of comfort.zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
I agree with MS - part of our house is a 16X18 log cabin (1.5 story) - the second floor has a shed dormer and is the nicest room in the house - nice closet off one side of the dormer and half bath off the other -
much better volumn utilization -
Just curious but are there any building officials where you are building this. If so how do you get approval for the stair and egress issues. I never would have been able to build that plan in NH. I really like some of those element but the inspector would never allow it, especially if that were the only sleeping area.
Tom
Douglasville, GA
I'm definitely not an expert on lofts, but they are common for small cabins and do allow a nice open feel. As Mike said, not as efficent as a full 2nd story.
The design I like the best uses a quite open stair setup that helps to keep the space opened up as much as possible. Designing with full walls makes 16'x16' even smaller.
Instead of avoiding decent stair rise/run, some comfortable stairs can be made along a back corner and the space underneith is used completely by either incorporating it into the bathroom, or with builtins. Every inch of a small structure should be used for something.
You might also take a tour of a high-end motor coach for ideas to stretch the most out of a small area. Too many cabins waste a great deal of space for uses that don't add function or looks.
Sounds like fun.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
don't forget the think ahead aboiut how you will geet the queen box springs in.
I had one where I redid an attic level that had only had single beds previously. Lady bought a queen that would not g in no way o how.
she then ordered a king because the bow would come in two hlaves and the mattress folded enough to fit in the windows.
On another one, just last week a lady had an interior designer spec a queen for a room where the stairccase twisted up in an old house.
She had to pay two men two days to remove the DH window ( whole frame, not just sashes) carry the box springs in, and reinstall the window and trim. Still needs paint, but she wasgoing to dothat anyway
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Thanks for the input. I had thought of that, and if we build it this way, the bed parts will go up over the railing, handed from below.
I have two questions. Why is there a wall blocking the view out the bay window and have you considered a spiral staircase?
I don't understand the question about the wall blocking the view out the bay. Here is what you see standing inside the "front" door, which happens to be a 6068 sliding glass door.
View Image
And as regards the spiral staircase, look closely at the view above, which I rendered using Sketchup's "X-ray" feature. You can see if you look closely how the ships-ladder section of the staircase creates the slope wall, on its backside, that's in the away-side of the 54" tub-shower. Cannot get much more efficient than that.
Where would you place the spiral?
Concerning the wall blocking the baywindow I thought the same as the pic in post one shows a solid wall in the diagram.
View Image
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin Laminate is just a picture of hardwood printed on countertop for your floor.We can imagine something that only exists in our heads, in a form that has no measurable, tangible reality, and make it actually occur in the real world. Where there was nothing, now there is something.Forrest - makin' magic every day
I beleive that wall is in the loft. It does look like a good place to put some built in drawers for clothes storage.Tom
Douglasville, GA
Fer sure. You can bet we'll recommend those kneewalls get shot through with as many drawer-holes as we can jamb in there. Storage is at a minimum in this little place.
They are concerned with budget.Built-ins are very expensive!
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I think if you ballon frame and raise that roof, you gain a lot of space for very little cost
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I think if you ballon frame and raise that roof, you gain a lot of space for very little cost
yes! - leave the ridge the same height, raise the plate to 36-42" or so and the roof pitch goes to ~6/12 - - you lose the knee-walls and you gain useful square feet - it should come out close to a wash with the savings on knee walls, rafters, sheeting, and roofing - "there's enough for everyone"
I'm still curious how you get the stair by code officials. I thought those were only allowed in secondary/storage type areas, not the main bdroom. Is there also another means of egress?Tom
Douglasville, GA
Codes are a non-issue here, just as in lots of areas across the country.
maybe a window in the gable wall at the top of the stairs
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Ooops, we'd better add a dormer with an egress window
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duh.
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin Laminate is just a picture of hardwood printed on countertop for your floor.We can imagine something that only exists in our heads, in a form that has no measurable, tangible reality, and make it actually occur in the real world. Where there was nothing, now there is something.Forrest - makin' magic every day
Maybe it is just me and the picture from sketchup....The main concern on the thread was the lack of spacing for the bed and yet you have walls surrounding it. The wall, which appears to be a half wall, at the foot of the bed is throwing me off, as it appears to have a 1' space to sneak thru to look out the bay window. Regarding the staircase, could you not place it to the right of the wood burning stove and gain more floor area upstairs? Where are they going to put their clothes or tables, chairs, etc?
from the skp file on jlc.
zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
That added FOUR feet. Space is money.