Eight Ways to Showcase Your Style with Carriage House Builders

Carriage homes are becoming an increasingly common sight throughout the Lower Mainland. Maybe it’s thanks to the income potential a carriage house affords, or families need to make extra room. Either way, these tiny structures tucked neatly behind the principal home pack a lot of functionality into small spaces.

But what about Design?

Carriage homes are not only purposeful, but they also provide an opportunity to feature your creativity in a way not often seen in larger homes. If a carriage house is on your wish list this year, here are eight unique ways to make it your own.

1. Mixed Materials

A carriage house is a perfect opportunity for you and your builders to get creative with exterior siding materials. From wood planks to aluminum, stucco, and masonry, you can feature the architecture of your tiny home in fun ways with the creative use of materials.

2. Maximizing Minimalism

Minimalism is having a design moment, but this design aesthetic can be particularly appealing in small spaces. Neutral colours, continuous flooring, flat panel cabinetry, and simple built-ins combine to create a functional, streamlined look without the visual clutter – perfect for maximizing smaller areas without sacrificing function.

3. Cozy Cottage Charm

A new carriage house build doesn’t mean you can’t keep up with the character and charm of the rest of your property. If stark isn’t your style, your builders can include charming cottage features like traditional mullioned windows, French doors, and clapboard siding to maintain the visual connection with the rest of your property.

4. Surprise Storage

Working with a smaller footprint means that you need to get creative with storage solutions. Your carriage house builders can help you develop innovative, functional storage solutions for every room in your home; a built-in kitchen banquette that doubles as storage, drawers that pull out from the staircase, or clever use of built-ins around the fireplace.

5. Eccentric Extras

Carriage homes often convey a sense of whimsy. Maybe it’s their small scale or the way they are tucked away from the street. You can play on this quaintness by incorporating eclectic details into your carriage house design. Carriage house builders can accommodate all sorts of custom requests, like adding skylights or cut-outs for a flood of light in unexpected places, dramatically pitched ceilings, or statement stairwells.

6. Open and Airy

When space is limited, open floor plans can make you feel like you have more square footage than you do. But achieving an open floor plan in a carriage house requires careful planning and experience crafting tiny homes, so choosing the right builders and materials is especially important. Open plans, neutral palettes, lots of light, continuous flooring, and glass accents to keep sight lines open are all tricks design pros use to make rooms feel larger than they are.

Also Read: Cottage Home Builders: Building Memories That Will Last a Lifetime

7. Indoor/ Outdoor Living

Creative use of outdoor space is another way to complement the interior of your carriage house. Bi-fold patio doors help to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor spaces. When you add in comfortable seating, a fire pit, and a pergola, you have the perfect way to take advantage of extra square footage without adding to your carriage home’s footprint.

8. Functional Furniture

When you build small, it’s time to say bye to clutter, including heavy, clunky furniture. Every piece in your carriage home should serve a purpose; even better, your furniture should be multifunctional. Consider extendable dining tables, nesting side tables, modular sofas, beds with lift-up storage, and stools that can get tucked away around the kitchen island.

Building a carriage house doesn’t mean you have to go small on style. It’s the perfect opportunity to let your creative juices flow.