Ikea Tiny House: 10 Facts That Made Us Double Take

Living ‘off the grid’ usually involves sacrificing style and comfort for practicality, but the IKEA tiny house gives homeowners a space that is not only chic and functional but also affordable and sustainable.

But, there’s probably a few things you didn’t know about this green home and sustainable living option. In fact, at least 10 facts about the Ikea Tiny house might be very surprising.

The movement to minimize living conditions is not for everyone, but for many people, finding a way to exist with the least distractions, clutter and carbon footprint is an important goal. So, IKEA partnered with Wisconsin-based RV and tiny home builder ESCAPE and media company Vox Creative to design the 187-square-foot dwelling.

Unlike the ready-to-assemble furniture the company is known for, the IKEA tiny house comes pre-built, is constructed on a flatbed trailer, and is customized with features such as composting toilets, solar panels, and on-demand heated water supply.

If the thought of living in a tiny house tickles your fancy, this complete guide explains everything you need to know about an IKEA tiny house and 10 facts that might cause you to do a double-take.

Facts About the IKEA Tiny House

Fact #1. The IKEA tiny house is environmentally-friendly.⁵

The house comes with solar panels, which are great for the environment since they do not produce GHG emissions when operating.

The house also uses less electricity, meaning it produces less CO₂ ³. Moreover, should you choose to dismantle your IKEA tiny home, you can use the prefabs to make another tiny home or store them away for a future construction project.

This means IKEA tiny homes have minimal wastage and are kinder to the environment.

Fact #2. The IKEA tiny house comes with eco-minded features pre-installed, including solar panels, kitchen surfaces made from recycled plastic bottles, a gas-free portable cooktop, and a water-saving sink.

This means that all the materials used in the construction feature a lower emissions starting point than new materials.

Fact #3. The IKEA tiny home helps erase carbon emissions.

The IKEA tiny home is a zero net carbon home, meaning it can reduce carbon emissions by 5 to 8 tons per year, depending on where it’s located and other factors.⁴

Fact #4. The IKEA tiny house is cheaper than traditional construction.

Whether you are building the tiny house yourself or hiring professionals, the IKEA tiny house costs a fraction of the price of building a traditional home.

Secondly, the tiny house eliminates the need for a mortgage loan, leaving more money in the bank for important things like sprucing up your home.

Thirdly, a tiny house is not as spacious as a traditional home. This means you will spend less money and time cleaning, maintaining, and decorating your space.

Your power bills will also be smaller since smaller appliances use less electricity.

Fact #5. You can move your IKEA tiny house.

Do you want to reduce the amount of time you spend commuting to work?

Or maybe you want to explore another part of the country?

(Image: Weevinz¹³)

Whatever your reason, leave your suitcases where they are because you can take your tiny house wherever you go.

The moveable nature of the tiny house allows for flexibility and change.

Fact #6. The IKEA tiny house encourages you to be active.

When you live in a house with a television, computer, or Wi-Fi, you may feel obligated to stay in and watch your favorite show or browse the internet.

Living in a tiny house limits your indoor activities. This encourages you to go outside and explore other activities like exercising.¹

Fact #7. The IKEA tiny house encourages you to de-clutter your lifestyle.

When you do not have a lot of space for your belongings, you only keep the important items.

Moving to a tiny house forces you to live as a minimalist, doing away with rarely-used items and keeping only the items you use.

This is a great way to live more sustainably, but also develop a healthy mindset for the things that matter.

Fact #8. High quality, controlled construction.

The house is made in a factory, and therefore reduces the idiocryncasies of on-site construction, where inclement weather and other factors can sometimes decrease the quality.

For example, in a controlled environment, every nail, fastener and part is assembled with stringent quality control standards that are impossible to recreate in the field.

Plus, all Ikea Tiny houses meet or exceed housing quality standards before being made available for sale.⁶

Fact #9. Effortless home designing.

Even though there is limited room for design flexibility, the design process is effortless since the house has already been designed for you.

Fact #10. Building a tiny house takes less time (usually 5 to 7 weeks) than building a traditional home.

Traditional construction has a high carbon footprint, but with these sustainable homes, the process usually takes less than two months.

IKEA House Kit: Tiny House Kit IKEA

The IKEA tiny house features reusable, renewable, and recycled materials throughout the home, including interiors made from sustainably grown pine and kitchen cupboards made from recycled bottle tops.

Apart from being low impact, the IKEA tiny house is designed in a way that makes it multi-functional.

IKEA, ESCAPE, and Vox Creative used the vertical space for storage and to haul away items that are not in use.

Both the couch and queen-sized bed have built-in storage spaces underneath, and the kitchen table serves two purposes. It can collapse into a desk or be folded and stored away when you need to free up space.

(Image: Andrea Davis¹⁴)

Tiny homes have a smaller carbon footprint than traditional homes since they take up less land, need less electricity to power bulbs and appliances, and require fewer materials to construct.²

The IKEA tiny home takes it a notch higher with composting toilets, solar panels, faucets that slash water consumption by half, and light bulbs that use 85 percent less energy.

Although the IKEA tiny house is unfussy, it does not mean that it is not cozy. Designers used blond wood, neutral colors, and minimal accents to create an inviting space.

Where To Buy IKEA Tiny House

Currently, IKEA U.S. is not manufacturing or customizing tiny homes available for purchase.

However, you can buy the IKEA tiny house at ESCAPE, which currently accepts orders for their IKEA BOHO XL Model starting at $47,550.

If you cannot make a one-time payment, you can pay in installments of $331 per month.

How To Buy an IKEA Tiny Home

To buy an IKEA tiny home, you will need excellent credit. This means a credit score of 660 or better to get an unsecured loan and good credit, i.e., 580 or higher, to get a secured loan.

Saving up and buying your tiny home with cash is the cheapest option.

However, if you choose to explore other financing options, a good credit rating is required.

Tiny House for Sale: Where To Find IKEA Tiny House for Sale (USA)?

If you live in the U.S., you can find the IKEA tiny house on the ESCAPE website. If you are not willing to part with $47,550 to purchase the IKEA tiny house, you can find similar options at the Tiny House Marketplace.

(Image: TOH – Tiny Overland House¹⁵)

The Tiny House Marketplace allows you to search dozens of tiny houses for sale and rent. Best of all, it is all free!

You can also find a tiny house at Tiny House Listings. Tiny House Listings allows you to search for tiny homes for rent and sale throughout the world.

It also allows you to search tiny homes in the U.S. by city, state, or zip code.

IKEA Tiny Home Price

Currently, the only tiny home by IKEA available on the market is the IKEA BOHO XL Model.

As stated above, to get this model, you should expect to pay $47,550 or $331 in monthly installments.

Of course, there are enhanced models that are more expensive.

IKEA Tiny Home Ideas

If you are considering living in an IKEA tiny home, chances are you want to live sustainably and reduce your carbon footprint. There are endless possibilities for your tiny home. These include:

IKEA Tiny Homes on Wheels

If you plan to travel, an IKEA tiny home on wheels is a great option.

An IKEA tiny home on wheels is the perfect alternative to living in a van, and like most trailers, you can move it from one location to another.

(Image: milivigerova¹⁶)

If you are unwilling to compromise on freedom and flexibility but want the comforts of home as you travel, an IKEA tiny home on wheels is ideal.

You can move it around when you want to change the scenery or park it when you are ready to retire for the evening.

Add a Skylight

Tiny homes can look dark or feel claustrophobic if no natural light enters the home.

Adding a skylight(s) can open up a tiny house and make it feel lighter and airier.

Add Hidden Storage

If you are considering downsized living, you need as much storage as your tiny house can accommodate.

(Image: Clay Banks¹⁷)

You can add hidden storage underneath your seating, including ottomans, couches, and benches.

You can also use under-bed storage to store less frequently used appliances or items.

Add an Outdoor Shower

If you plan to park your IKEA tiny house in an area with a scenic view, you should consider taking your day-to-day activities outdoors.

An outdoor shower can free up space in the main house and make your showers more enjoyable.

Is an IKEA Tiny House $1,100?

If you want to live off-grid but do not want to spend a pretty penny, you can do so with the IKEA $1,100 tiny house.

The IKEA Foundation partnered with the United Nations Refugee Agency to create a tiny house that is reusable, transportable, and affordable.

After months of working together, they created the IKEA $1,100 tiny house, the safest and most stable of its kind.

(Image: Aysegul Yahsi¹⁸)

The tiny house is hard-walled, providing you with the security you need. It also comes with four solar panels that light up the home for four hours at night and powers small appliances during the day.

You can set up the tiny house in as little as three hours, as this process is made easier with the tools included in the packaging. Since the house is modular, you can place windows and doors where you want.

All IKEA $1,100 tiny houses are built with rigid steel frames and have fire-retardant ceiling pieces and walls that match U.S. Shelter and Housing Standards.⁷ They also come with a shade cloth that keeps the house cool during the day by reflecting harsh sun rays.

Tiny House: IKEA Prefab House for Sale

After years of research and design, IKEA has created a prefab house for sale.

There are already hundreds of thousands of people living in these $1,100, easily shippable, three-hour set-up IKEA prefab homes across the globe; however, the first inhabitants are those in dire need of secure, affordable housing.

There are 89.3 million refugees in the world, and 3.5 million of them are living in refugee shelters.⁸ So far, what the United Nations and other temporary housing situations are offering these refugees are canvas tents — the traditional tents that use poles and ropes to stand up.

The average family spends seventeen years in a refugee camp. But does a tent provide a stable environment for a family? Can a tent keep children, women, and men secure from crime? Certainly not!

To address the issue of comfort and safety, the IKEA Foundation partnered with the United Nations Refugee Agency and ESCAPE to create a prefab house that is safe, stable, reusable, transportable, and affordable.⁹

The prototype IKEA prefab home was developed to:

• Improve camp living situations
• Revolutionize camp living situations
• Last through harsh weather conditions
• Last up to three years as opposed to the six-month tent life cycle

The IKEA prefab house comes in easy-to-transport boxes. One of the boxes contains wires and pipes, which, when assembled, make up the frame of the prefab house.

Another box contains thin but durable panels, which fit onto the frame of the prefab house, becoming its walls.

The prefab house has solar panels that provide four hours of electricity at night and energy for utilities during the day. The roof of the prefab house has a shade net that reflects the sun’s rays during the day and reflects the prefab home’s heat at night, keeping the house warm.

The prefab house is durable and can withstand extreme rain, heat, cold, and fine sand. It is also modifiable: the people living in them can combine two prefab houses to make a bigger room and arrange windows and doors where they want.

So, with their prototype prefab house, IKEA shipped hundreds of houses to several needy countries and received feedback after sixteen months on how the tents performed so they could make any necessary alterations.

IKEA Better Shelter

After sending hundreds of prefab houses to needy countries and receiving feedback, IKEA fine-tuned their prototype version into what is now called the Better Shelter.

The Better Shelter can be assembled in as little as three hours by no more than four people. You do not need any additional tools to assemble the Better Shelter since all the tools needed for the job are included in the packaging.

The Better Shelter is available at $1,100. If you compare this with the tents, which cost $500 and are replaced after every six months, the savings are huge.¹⁰

IKEA Tiny House: USA States That Allow Tiny Houses

Even though most tiny houses are 225 square feet or smaller and offer a sustainable lifestyle, not all U.S. states welcome this minimalist lifestyle. So, before you consider tiny living, here are states that allow tiny houses and those that do not.

U.S. States That Allow Tiny Houses

States that are most friendly to tiny houses include:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Washington

US States That Do Not Allow Tiny Houses

States that are not open to the idea of tiny houses include:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Rhode Island
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Remember, not all of the above states openly forbid tiny houses; however, they discourage them in certain ways.

For instance, certain states require homeowners to register tiny houses on wheels as travel trailers, while others require tiny houses to meet minimum ceiling heights or have emergency exits.

The building code and zoning regulations can be limiting and make it difficult for individuals to build tiny houses, even if they legally own the land they want to build on.¹¹

IKEA Tiny House Virtual Tour

IKEA and Vox Creative have re-imagined a sustainable house to inspire customers to live more sustainably. You can explore all the brilliant techniques the duo used to save money, space, and resources in this Tiny Home Tour Video.¹²

IKEA Tiny Home Furniture

Living in an IKEA tiny house means limited room for bulky furniture, dressers, or cupboards that stick out too far. Luckily, you can count on IKEA to provide the furniture solutions you need to maximize your limited space, including:

IKEA PS 2017 Shelf Unit

The IKEA PS 2017 Shelf Unit has a simple and subtle style, making it easy to incorporate into your space. You can store everything from extra footwear to books to plants on it.

Vesken Shelf Unit

The Vesken Shelf Unit can fit in the smallest of bathrooms and has four racks to hold your toiletries, hand towels, shampoos, and conditioners.

Brimnes Bed Frame With Storage And Headboard

The Brimnes Bed Frame with Storage and Headboard has four large pull-out drawers under the bed and additional shelving on the sides of the headboard. You can store bed sheets, blankets, clothes, and shoes under the bed and lamps, books, and décor pieces on the headboard.

IKEA Tiny House Winner

IKEA’s Tiny Scavenger Hunt Contest requires participants to log on to Instagram to solve puzzles, collect clues, and learn about sustainable living. Apart from learning about sustainable living, by playing this game, one participant will win the IKEA tiny home.

Kemetic Logistics Tiny Homes

IKEA is not the only company that designs and manufactures tiny homes. Kemetic Logistics also manufactures and customizes tiny homes for eco-conscious customers who want to live sustainably and help address the climate change problem.

How Many Trees Does It Take To Build a House?

The table below shows how many trees it takes to build a house by type of home:

Over the past few years, downsized living has gained popularity among young and old buyers. To keep up with this real estate trend, IKEA has entered the itty-bitty house market with its 187 square feet pre-built unit.

The pre-built unit is eco-friendly as it comes with solar panels and a composting toilet. Its interior is made from recycled materials, while its bulbs use 85 percent less energy and its faucets slash water use by 50 percent.

Overall, the IKEA tiny house decreases carbon footprint while providing everything the eco-conscious customer needs: it truly is the bargain it seems on paper.

Frequently Asked Questions About IKEA Tiny House