If you're building a tiny home with a loft, you will need someway to access the loft. Ladders are a great option to consider, but if you don't like the idea of climbing a ladder each night, there are other options. Check out these ideas:

1. Tansu steps

Also called tansu chests, tansu steps are basically a large chest of drawers shaped like a staircase. You place this step-shaped chest against the wall so that the top of it is flush with the opening of your loft, and viola, you have stairs as well as a stylish accent piece and somewhere to store your clothing, pots and pans, books or whatever you like.

2. Alternating steps 

Alternating steps have been found in ships for centuries, but these steps can also work well for small living spaces such as tiny homes. Although these staircases are called ladders when they are in ships, they don't necessarily have to look like a traditional ladder.

Instead, these staircases can look like a set of overlapping angular boxes or a unique, steep attic staircase. Regardless of the exact design chosen, however, these staircases have one thing in common. The steps don't extend over the entire width of the staircase as traditional steps do. Instead, each step is only half the width of the staircase, and each level alternates which step is available. So the first step just covers the right side of the staircase, while the second step just has enough room to accommodate your left foot, followed by right foot, left foot and so on. This alternating pattern allows the stairs to be steeper and more narrow than they otherwise would be, making them an ideal space saving option.

3. Sparse spiral

While a traditional spiral staircase can work in a tiny home, a sparse spiral takes up even less space. To imagine a sparse spiral staircase, visualise a pole in the middle of your tiny house. Then, imagine a few small steps, shaped like lily pads or even squares, extending from the pole. You only need a few of these steps to climb up to the loft of your tiny house, and they don't take up a lot of room.

4. Steps hinged to the wall

If you like, you can even have steps that fold up into the wall. For the simplest design, imagine a series of boards attached to the wall of your tiny house with hinges. When you pull the boards down, they look like a staircase. However, when you don't want the staircase in the way, you simply fold up the board so that it is resting flushing with the wall. You may need a little clip to hold the top of the board in place on the wall until you are ready to use the boards as a staircase again.

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