How To Design A Floor Plan For Your Off-Grid Cabin

We’re going to share with you our personal story of how we designed our off-grid cabin floor plan, from the initial idea to the final result. We’ll show you the steps we took to make the entire process easier, the challenges we faced, the solutions we found, and the lessons we learned along the way.

We’ll also give you some practical and useful tips and tricks that you can apply to your own off-grid cabin floor plan project, whether you’re a beginner or an expert, whether you have a small or a large budget, whether you want a simple or a complex design.

We hope that by reading this blog post, you’ll get inspired and motivated to pursue your own off-grid dream, and that you’ll find some valuable information and guidance to help you achieve it. We also hope that you’ll enjoy our story and our photos, and that you’ll feel free to comment, share, and ask questions. We’d love to hear from you and connect with other off-grid enthusiasts.

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

We’ve always loved the idea of living closer to nature and being more self-reliant. We wanted to have a place where we could escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside. We also wanted to reduce our environmental impact and save money on utility bills.

That’s why we decided to build an off-grid cabin on a piece of land that we bought in a rural area. We wanted to create a cozy and comfortable home that would provide us with everything we need, without relying on the grid or any external services.

Designing a floor plan for an off-grid cabin is not as easy as it sounds. You have to consider many factors, such as the size and shape of your land, the orientation and location of your cabin, the climate and weather conditions, the availability and cost of materials, the legal and safety requirements, and of course, your personal taste and style.

It helps to come up with a of personal wants that you can work into the design elements of your floor plan.

Here’s the list of wants that we made up…

• Year round usability
• Hot & cold running water
• Waterless toilet (no septic field required)
• Separate master bedroom (possibly with a closet)
• Open loft with retractable stairs
• Cathedral ceiling in the living room
• Full bathroom with standard size shower
• Large front deck
• Plenty of windows
• Full kitchen with double sink and standard cupboards
• Standard size fridge

All of this came into play when deciding on the square footage and the overall floor plan.

We started with nothing more than some hand drawn sketched on a dry erase board. This allows you to easily get an idea for where to place the items from your wanted list. Some things will stay and other things will go. It’s easy to write a list of all the amenities you’d like. Its something else when you start penciling these items into your sketch-up. 

After we had a rough idea of what the cabin could look like we move to some graph paper and got a better feel for the overall dimensions and scale.

We also did some research on the best practices and tips for designing an off-grid cabin floor plan. Here are some of the things we learned and applied to our project:

• Optimize your space: Off-grid cabins are usually smaller than conventional houses, so you have to make the most of every inch of space. You can do this by using multifunctional furniture, such as a sofa bed, a foldable table, or a storage bench. You can also use vertical space, such as shelves, hooks, or racks, to store your items and free up floor space. You can also create zones or areas for different purposes, such as sleeping, cooking, dining, working, relaxing, etc.

• Maximize your natural light: Natural light is essential for an off-grid cabin, as it can reduce your need for artificial lighting and heating. You can maximize your natural light by placing your windows strategically, facing south or east, to capture the most sunlight throughout the day. You can also use skylights, glass doors, or mirrors to bring more light into your cabin. You can also use light colors and reflective materials for your walls, floors, and furniture, to make your cabin look brighter and bigger.

• Minimize your energy consumption: Energy is a precious resource for an off-grid cabin, as you have to generate it yourself, using solar panels, wind turbines, or other renewable sources. You can minimize your energy consumption by choosing energy-efficient appliances, such as LED lights, low-flow faucets, or propane stoves. You can also use insulation, ventilation, and shading to regulate the temperature of your cabin and avoid using too much heating or cooling. You can also use smart devices, such as thermostats, sensors, or timers, to control and monitor your energy usage and save money and power.

• Customize your design: One of the best things about building an off-grid cabin is that you can customize it to your liking and personality. You can choose the style, color, material, and decoration of your cabin, to make it unique and cozy. You can also add some personal touches, such as photos, paintings, plants, or books, to make it feel like home. You can also express your creativity and originality by using recycled or reclaimed materials, such as pallets, barrels, or bottles, to build or decorate your cabin.

We’re definitely one’s to go that extra mile beyond just a simple plan on paper (or a dry erase board) and so we built a scale model to give us some perspective on the floor plan, wall placement and room size..

This helps us reference exactly were inside the cabin we want things to go such as the kitchen cabinets, fridge, shower stall, water-less toilet, the fold down bed, microwave, stairs… etc.

Making a scale model isn’t something everyone will do but it can help you to understand a lot more than just the placement of items inside the home. You’ll understand why it was very helpful for us when you read our Ultimate Roof and Rafter Guide!

Our cabin mock-up was constructed of simple corrugated plastic from a couple sale signs we picked up at the local dollar store.

You can use cardboard, Bristol board, or even Lego . Whatever you have available that’ll give you an easier way to visualize your build.