French Tiny House L'Odyssée Has a Different Take on the Living Room

Small spaces may not seem like much to work with at first, but creativity can actually shine more when there are constraints, as opposed to having too much latitude. Tiny homes and small apartments are great examples of how limitations can become an advantage, as we've seen with the various 'transformer' spaces or interesting space-saving solutions that people have come up with that are quite inspiring and translatable to our own spaces.

Based out of Nantes, France, tiny house building company Baluchon presents another variation on the tiny house theme. Founded by designer Laëtitia, who was inspired by her dream to build her own tiny home and moved out of Paris back to her hometown of Nantes to realize her passion for something different, the company now has carpenter Charles and eco-construction expert Vincent teaming up together to build small homes like the lovely Odyssée.

© Baluchon

© Baluchon

© Baluchon

In particular, the 217-square-foot Odyssée features an intriguing layout for the sitting area that we haven't seen before. Rather than being tucked under a secondary loft, it sits elevated at the other end from the entrance, lit with a great, triangular window that cross-ventilates with another triangular window on the opposite side of the home. The sitting area is raised above a small crawlspace-sized room, which might be fine for temporary occupation as a guest bed or a playroom for a small child. There is a small, operable window here for ventilation.

© Baluchon

© Baluchon

The kitchen area is admittedly small, split up into two parts, one counter with a sink and another with the stove. There's a small pull-out table for dining here that can be tucked away to make more space when not needed.

© Baluchon

© Baluchon

The sleeping loft above can fit a big bed, and can be reached via a ladder that can be hooked onto the wall when not in use. The bathroom is your standard tiny house set-up, with a composting toilet.

© Baluchon

© Baluchon

There's a sheltered porch outside that feels like an improvement over other layouts we've previously seen, which doesn't take up much space, yet allowing you to hang your feet off, or if you choose to put an auxiliary deck, would add more exterior square footage.

© Baluchon

We are certainly intrigued; the layout feels clean and spacious, and that sitting area does seem like a real, separate living room rather than an afterthought, probably this tiny home's main strength. The Odyssée is priced in the tiny house mid-range at USD $49,800, but does come fully furnished, using high-quality woods like red cedar, Douglas fir, oak, ash and spruce. Not only does the company build tiny homes, they are also giving open houses of their built projects locally; find out more over at Baluchon.