How Do Bathrooms Work in Tiny Homes?

Tiny homes are an increasingly popular option amongst eco-conscious homeowners, and those who choose to live in these types of houses are amongst the most practical around. Storage, electricity, mobility, and water usage are all complex problems that tiny homeowners need to be able to solve, and many of those looking to make the leap into a tiny home are probably very curious if tiny homes have bathrooms.

Some tiny homes have bathrooms and some don’t. Tiny homes can be built to house all the comforts of a normal-sized house, only in a fraction of the space. In most cases, the shower and toilet sit in the back 10 feet of a tiny house. Some houses have a tiny bathroom sink, others just cut out the middleman and make the kitchen sink the main space to wash hands as well as dishes. 

Tiny homes could opt for a clear, covered shower stall or a simple shower curtain to maintain privacy. As for the bathroom itself, many tiny homeowners opt for pocket doors to separate the space from the rest of the house. If that’s not an option, another curtain should do the trick here as well. Ultimately, tiny bathrooms are always going to present some difficulties for those looking for privacy in a very intimate space. 

According to TinyHouseDesign, many of these homes use the same types of toilets and bathing equipment found in recreational vehicles (RVs). These toilets can be incinerating toilets, sawdust toilets, or composting toilets. It all depends on the type of sustainability that the homeowner is trying to be. 

Tiny house toilets do not usually come in all different sizes but they do come in many different shapes. According to Gambrick, most tiny houses are designed to have all the amenities of other modern homes, so a working toilet is going to be an essential piece of that puzzle.

If your tiny home is hooked up to a septic tank or municipal plumbing system, then you can get the same flush toilet you’d have in a regular home. Nevertheless, you would likely have to opt for a low flush toilet or some other green innovation that saves water — though we suspect that living sustainably is part of the reason you might have chosen a tiny house, to begin with. 

The other option for many tiny houses is a composting toilet. These waterless toilets use bacteria and time to break down waste. Composting toilets are usually better for those planning on moving their tiny home from place to place, but zero wasters might opt for this option regardless of whether or not they have access to plumbing systems. 

Choosing a bathroom for your tiny home will ultimately require some research and planning on your part, but like most aspects of the process, that’s part of the fun! No matter which direction you go, chances are good the bathroom in your little dream house is gonna check all the boxes, and be just what you’re looking for.