Want some ideas for storage in a tiny cabin? Here’s how we built storage for a family of four into our 100 sq. ft. bunkie.

When you have a very tiny space, good storage solutions are important. There were four of us sharing our 100 sq. ft. cabin, so every inch of available space needed to be optimized. Here were some of the ways we built storage into our very tiny cabin.
1. Storage on the Open Studs
Leaving the walls open to the studs was one of the first storage-based decisions we made. While there’s certainly a lot to be said for insulation, with four of us sleeping in there we needed to optimize space over temperature regulation. The open studs gave us places to store books, boxes of matches, decks of cards, toothbrushes, and sunscreen. Pretty much every small item is stashed away on one of the open studs.
Here’s what we did:
- Not all the studs were left open. Everywhere we would sit and lean back was cladded.
- The studs were roughly sanded (to remove any rough patches) and painted.
- We also caulked the joints to prevent thin items (our library card, bits of scrap paper) from sliding down behind the cladded areas.
2. Hooks
Originally, we had thought of putting shelving behind the door. But after using the shabin, we realized that a place to hang hats, coats, and bags was more important. So we put up an assortment of hooks on the wall behind the door. (See photo at the top of the post).
3. Shelf unit
We really wanted somewhere indoors to store our kitchen supplies. They needed to be easily accessible since all of our cooking happened outdoors. So we built a small shelving unit into the foot of one of the daybeds.
4. Shoe Storage
Shoes were a perpetual issue. We all had two to three pairs of shoes each: water shoes, sandals, and something warmer. Luckily, we also had a lot of extra plywood.
We built an outdoor step that opened up for some hidden shoe storage. However, the favorite shoe storage place was a plywood box at the foot of the other daybed.
5. Loft cubbies
After a year of using the shabin, we firmly decided not to insulate the roof. We really just couldn’t manage without the extra 3 1/2 inches of space in the loft ceiling. That meant that there was a gap between the loft and the sides of the wall. And sometimes we accidentally dropped items onto whoever was sleeping in the daybeds below. (It’s a VERY tiny loft.)
Brad used scrap wood leftover from our original building to make storage cubbies for the loft. Here’s what he did:
- Because we were unable to easily get building supplies on our remote island, we bought at least 1 extra piece of everything we needed to build our shabin. That way construction wouldn’t have to stop completely because of a miss-cut or broken board.
- The spare 2″ x 6″ board was used to create the vertical sides of the box that came right down from the edge of the loft floor.
- A strip of plywood connected the 2″ x 6″ sides with the top of the wall joists, forming the bottom of the storage cubbies.
It really was a simple design… that is perhaps best illustrated by a few photos.
6. Under daybeds storage
The bulk of our cabin storage is under the daybeds. The ability to stash copious amounts of stuff under the daybeds was one of the key features of their design.
Eventually, I would love to have custom boxes or storage underneath them. For the moment, it’s a mix of plastic storage bins, cans of paint, power tools, and whatever else we need to stash away somewhere.
So many levels of awesomeness here!