Small House Floor Plan Examples
These small house floor plan examples are three compact homes, from a 39.0 m² (420 sq ft) studio to a 75.7 m² (814 sq ft) one-bedroom. Each splits its floor differently between rooms and the space to get between them, and the notes say what each gains and gives up.
What changes in a small plan
In a small home every square meter of hallway is a square meter taken from a room, and every door needs space to swing. The three examples below make different trade-offs: one room for everything, one open room plus a bedroom, or separate rooms off a short hallway.
They are drawn as apartments but work as single-level small houses, cottages or garden annexes.
One room for living and sleeping
Studio
3 rooms · 39.0 m² (420 sq ft) · outer size 6.00 × 6.50 m (19′ 8″ × 21′ 4″)
How the studio saves space
No hallway at all
The front door opens into the kitchenette, and the main room is 6.00 × 4.50 m (19′ 8″ × 14′ 9″).
One strip for water
The kitchenette and the shower room share a wall along the back, so all the plumbing is in one place.
Zones instead of rooms
A rug and a sofa mark the living area; the bed and wardrobe sit in the opposite corner.
What it gives up
The bed is in view of anyone on the sofa, and there is no table for meals.
An open room and a separate bedroom
Apartment
3 rooms · 52.5 m² (565 sq ft) · outer size 10.50 × 5.00 m (34′ 5″ × 16′ 5″)
Why the open-plan layout feels bigger
One large room
Kitchen, dining and lounge share 35.0 m² (377 sq ft), which reads as larger than three small rooms would.
Doors from the living space
The bedroom and the bathroom open directly off the main room, so no floor goes to a corridor.
A real bedroom
Unlike the studio, the bed is behind a door, which matters for guests or shift work.
What it gives up
The front door opens straight into the living space, and cooking smells reach the sofa.
Separate rooms off a short hallway
1 Bedroom
5 rooms · 75.7 m² (814 sq ft) · outer size 7.80 × 9.70 m (25′ 7″ × 31′ 10″)
The trade-off of a hallway
What the hallway costs
The hallway takes 9.4 m² (101 sq ft) of the 75.7 m² (814 sq ft).
What it buys
Every room can be reached without walking through another, and the bedroom is away from the living room.
When to choose it
For two people with different hours, privacy is usually worth the extra floor.
Common ways to make a small plan work
Keep wet rooms together
Put the kitchen and the bathroom against the same wall where you can.
Use openings instead of doors
Between day rooms, an opening saves the floor a door swing needs.
Light from two sides
A room with windows on two walls feels larger; place windows with the window tool (N).
Check furniture early
Test real furniture sizes before deciding on room sizes.
Frequently asked questions
How small can a one-bedroom home be?
That depends on the rules where you build or rent; many places set minimum room or dwelling sizes. Check your local requirements, then use these examples to test your own layout.
Can I shrink one of these examples?
Yes. Open it, select the outer walls and type shorter lengths; the rooms and their areas update as you go.
Which of the three gives the most living space?
The open-plan one-bedroom: its living-kitchen is 35.0 m² (377 sq ft), larger than the studio's main room (27.0 m² (291 sq ft)) even though it also has a separate bedroom.
Can a studio work for two people?
It can, but it depends on routines more than size: with one room there is nowhere to be apart. If you keep different hours, the one-bedroom layouts with a door to the bedroom are easier to live with.
Are these small house plans or apartments?
They are drawn as single-level flats, but nothing ties them to a building type. The same rooms work as a cottage, a garden annex or a small single-story house.