Luna Is a 'Budget-Conscious' High-End Tiny House

The tiny house philosophy has always been about living more simply in a small footprint. During the early years of the tiny house movement, there were lots of tiny houses that were self-built for very little money—often under $40,000. The movement gained steam as the idea of losing the hefty mortgage in place of financial freedom resonated with a growing swath of the public, who were increasingly disillusioned with the conventional housing market.

But the idea of the tiny house has finally hit it big in the mainstream, with 56% of Americans now saying they would consider living in one. Not everyone is going to build their own, so a dizzying array of tiny house builders have sprung up over the last decade to meet that demand. Tennessee-based New Frontier Design is one of the more well-known companies out there, having built pricier, full-featured models that distinguish themselves with unique amenities, like huge glazed garage doors that roll up and open, and dining table sets that are hidden under the floor.

Granted, all those features don't come cheap, and the company's tiny homes are known to be on the more expensive side of the spectrum. The company is now launching a "budget-conscious, high design" tiny house called Luna: It's designed by New Frontier, built by Liberation Tiny Homes, and it sports many of the company's signature design offerings, like an enormous glass wall, clever storage ideas, and lots of LED strip lighting everywhere.

Measuring 25 feet long and 256 square feet (or 23 square meters), the Luna is topped with an asymmetrical roofline and strikes an elegant architectural pose with its black metal exterior cladding.

The Luna is laid out with an open floor plan that has the entrance coming into the living room from the side of the house.

One's attention is immediately drawn to the tall windows that dominate the living room area, running almost the home's full height of 13.5 feet from floor to ceiling. That means great natural lighting, great views, and feeling less cramped in the limited amount of floor space.

The living room area is designed to be flexible, depending on what kind of furniture you put in: it could have comfy seating, a small dining table, or a television.

The kitchen occupies both sides of the middle zone of the tiny house. One side includes a waterfall-style wooden counter, open shelving, a sleek electric cooktop, oven, large farmhouse-style sink with pull-down faucet, and lots of drawers.

Hidden LED strip lighting brightens up otherwise dark corners and helps one to clearly see what is stored behind various items.

On the other side, there's more shelving, plus space for an apartment-sized refrigerator and washing machine.

There is plenty of stylish black and white cabinetry, including drawers, cubbies, and a big closet for larger clothes or other items, all custom-built to fit under the staircase, which does a half-turn to save floor space.

Upstairs, we have a sleeping loft that is spacious enough to fit a king-sized bed with room to spare. There isn't too much headroom, but the extra windows in the walls and the skylight in the roof help to give a better sense of openness and light.

There is also some storage shelving here that doubles as a privacy wall.

Back downstairs and past the kitchen, we enter into the bathroom, which has a floating wall-mounted sink vanity and round mirror, backlit with more of those LEDs. There is plenty of open shelving here too for storing towels and other things.

The shower with the glass door looks quite large and roomy and has a couple of tiled alcoves for putting one's hair care products.

Compared to other run-of-the-mill tiny homes, there are a lot of luxurious features and premium materials in the Luna that you won't see anywhere else. Of course, all that high design (even in a more budget-conscious model) comes at a price, with the Luna starting at $95,000—or about half as much as New Frontier's even more high-end tiny house models like the Escher.

Admittedly, this is a tiny house targeted at those who have higher incomes and who can afford to downsize into something a little more upscale, but it doesn't mean one can't appreciate a luxurious little gem when we see one. To find out more, visit New Frontier Design.

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