A Little Revolution: Lighting for a Tiny Home

The “tiny home” movement has gone far beyond being just a trend. In a world of mass-market consumerism and an ever-growing appetite for the biggest and latest devices, the tiny home movement has moved away from that idea almost entirely and appeals to those that look for something more quaint and affordable. 

Tiny homes also benefit from being far more environmentally conscious and sustainable than traditional homes while also allowing homeowners to show their creativity with increasingly adventurous designs. As a result, the popularity of tiny homes has exploded in recent years as the style has become the go-to choice for homeowners that are happy to reduce their space if it means having a unique and sustainable design. 

But Why Go Tiny? 

The reason for the rise of the tiny home is pretty straightforward – having a massive space is no longer considered the most desirable trait of a modern home. In contrast, sustainability and aesthetics have become far more critical to modern homeowners. 

The tiny home accomplishes both of these ideas easily, allowing a massive amount of choice and style to be infused into each home that’s built, with far more options for customization being made available to buyers. 

From a sustainability perspective, tiny homes offer a much smaller carbon footprint compared to traditional homes. Their small size also means that tiny homeowners have a much easier time with flexibility, with tiny homes being far easier to move around from one location to another. This means that most tiny homes can be placed in largely unconventional spots, such as deeper within a heavily forested area or where more property can be dedicated to the local flora and fauna. Much like cabins, tiny homes allow homeowners to be more connected to nature than they ever would be when compared to a more traditional house or unit. 

Another essential aspect that makes the tiny home so popular is, of course, the price. With the startling statistic that most Millenials will probably never own a home of their own in their lifetime, many people have turned towards alternative ways of living to try and get ahead. 

As a result, tiny homes are considerably, if not comically, more accessible for the average person to own without having to resort to paying off a lengthy mortgage – assuming they get approved for a mortgage in the first place. 

Tiny Homes, Big Lights

As size is such an essential factor for the tiny home, you’d be forgiven for thinking that your lighting options would be similarly limited to smaller styles as well. 

Well, we’re pleased to let you know that that is not the case, with many tiny homes benefiting from barn-style lighting tremendously. In fact, due to the often open nature of the tiny house design, having barn-style steel lights is very much a popular choice for many fledgling tiny homeowners. 

Ceiling-Mounted

Tiny homes excel in maximizing space as much as possible. As a result, open-plan homes are incredibly popular, if not downright crucial. Ceiling lights excel in these types of homes, with large steel barn-style lighting fixtures standing head and shoulders above the competition in terms of style and ability to push as much light into a space as possible. 

Similarly, in a further attempt to maximize space, many tiny homes require deceptively high ceilings to stay attractive. Again, this is where steel farmhouse-style lights begin to shine, as they benefit massively from the extra space that’s afforded. 

Lights, such as the Carson or Rose Bowl from Steel Lighting Co, can find that great halfway point between being big enough to light an open-plan space like a tiny home without being too big themselves where they might start dominating a room. Key areas, such as the kitchen and living room of a tiny home, can benefit massively from these styles of lights. 

Similarly, the El Segundo’s much smaller profile allows it to give a tiny homeowner a tremendous amount of flexibility in design, making lighting the smaller and more creative spaces of a tiny home a breeze!

Wall-Mounted 

Of course, everything isn’t just about ceiling lights. If you’re looking for something a bit less ambient and a bit more focused, then our selection of wall-mounted lights has you covered. 

Most tiny homes are about setting up the house to be compact and task-oriented; wasted space is a big no-no. As a result, every space benefits massively from some purpose-driven lighting solutions. It’s easy to argue that this is even more important in a tiny home than it is in a regular house, as the task lighting needs to be bright enough to help see clearly, without creating a massive amount of light bleed in the process. 

If the size is an issue, then our small yet mighty Hawthorne light will do just the trick; this little number has all of the benefits of its larger counterparts while still coming in with a pretty teeny profile. This makes the Hawthorne perfect for tiny stairways and tiny nooks for beds and storage, where space is a premium, but good lighting is a must. 

Similarly, the Venice works in much the same way while being slightly larger. If you’re looking to go for more of an accent light over something strictly task-orientated, then you could do a lot worse than the Venice.

A significant part of any tiny home is the space immediately around it, and for that, you want something that’s going to make the great outdoors seem a bit brighter. For that, we have the most giant wall-mounted light we make – the Redondo. With a massive 20” diameter, the Redondo will make sure you’re as well lit outside as you are inside. It will do it with style as well as much like the other wall-mounted light we have, the Redondo has a selection of arm styles and color powder coatings to make the light your own. 

If you’d like to know more about how steel lighting can improve your tiny home, then contact our team at Steel Lighting Co.,  our friendly group of experts would be more than happy to give some advice and recommendations on what kind of steel barn light can best suit your needs.