Your mission

Design and build the perfect tiny dream home for a young couple with a baby and a dog.


The details

It's a tiny home (and a big dog)so you have to be really creative with your design.


dwell.com image of modern tiny home

The inspiration

Tiny homes are space saving, sustainable, transportable and fun to design!


Presented by:

Marci Klein, MD

Dean, 3DuxUniversity

The Story

Young Designers:

You just graduated from architecture school and this is  your very first job. A young family of three with a baby and a dog want you to design their tiny dream home. In this exercise, you will have the opportunity to create the perfect living space for them.  Your job is to imagine, design, build and decorate the perfect tiny home for this young family. 


Advanced designers:

 You just graduated from architecture school and this is your very first job. A young family of three with a baby and a dog want you to design their tiny dream home. In this exercise, you will have the opportunity to create the perfect living space for them. Your job is to imagine, design, build and decorate the perfect tiny home for this young family. But wait, there are some rules. The AREA of this home will be only 150 square feet  (shape is up to you) and may only be 12 feet tall. Your challenge is to add everything this family would need in that space to live (notice, it’s a dream home because seriously, they must be dreaming!!!)   In this exercise, 150 sq. feet is the “footprint”. You can, however,  make use of the vertical space (create a loft or even a roof patio). The ceiling height allow is 12 feet. Keep in mind that many adults are more than 6 feet tall  so a full second story is quite possibly going to lead to lots of concussions. 

suggested materials

• assorted 3DuxDesign Connectors (or tape)

• 3DuxDesign cardboard forms (or cut up cardboard box)

• 16 x 16 inch board or paper for floorpan 

• Ruler (36 inch ideal) 

• Pencils 

• scissors 

• scrap cardboard pieces for interior design 

• crayons 

• Pipe cleaners, 

• straws 

• craft paper 

• any other recycled materials of interest

suggested guidelines

Young designers :

•  Start with research.  There is a lot of information out there about tiny homes (and RVs); they have some interesting ideas.

•  Make a  list of all the items you will place in the home. This list can be in words, drawing or even a collage. 

•  Brainstorm your own creative space-saving solutions.  Think about multifunctional furniture and spaces. 

•  Start building! With 3DuxDesign connectors, you can assess and refine your design as you go.

•  Decorate your home

•  Present your project. Use photography, writing, words, video - the choice is up to you! 



More advanced designers

• Start with research. There is a lot of information out there about tiny homes (and RVs); they have some interesting ideas. 

• Make a list of all the items you will place in the home. This list can be in words, drawing or even a collage. 

• Brainstorm your own creative space-saving solutions. Think about multifunctional furniture and spaces and vertical space,

• Using paper or cardboard sheet and a ruler, draw a grid with a 1” to 1’ ratio,  for the floor plan (suggest 15 x 15 inches) 

• In pencil, draw the perimeter of your house. Make sure the area is 150 square feet

• Pencil in and walls, windows, doors, to create the footprint

• cut out paper shapes with a 1":1" ratio for any furniture and  appliances 

•assess and refine your layout 

•.Build it out with cardboard, connectors and other materials

• Decorate 

• Present your project. Use photography, writing, words, video - the choice is up to you! 

To make your project shine,  check out  our tutorials) 

how to submit

email submissions@3duxdesign.com

1. must include at least 5 square photos*  including photos of sketches, brainstorming list, WIP, final project 

2. written description or drawings

3. video presentation with link to youtube or vimeo content- (signed release)

 * any photo with child needs signed release

5. share your post on Facebook and/or instagram with tags @3duxdesign and @billionboxproject @3duxuniversity  

featured results


Addison, age 8 created an accurately scaled and beautifully detail-oriented design. She made use of vertical space with a bedroom loftand a rooftop terrace. She included all of the necessities for living including spaces for sleeping, eating, food prep and bathing. She added a windmill for a sustainable energy source and plants for both decoration and for their health benefits. This space had a footprint of only 125 square feet of ground space but the living area was actually 175 square feet given the loft and roof garden. Way to go Addison!

Connor, age 7 decided to focus  on minimizing our carbon footprint and sustainable housing options


Sam, age 6 felt that the entire space should be one giant garage because his family likes to travel a lot.

Sarah, age 8 wanted to be certain that Fluffy the Dog had a place to sleep, eat and drink. 

more results

These folks were studying Mondrian and though it would be nice to incorporate the elements of his art into this mid century modern ranch with a green roof. They even added a space for Lil' Pup.

These 2nd graders did a terrific job keeping the floor plan under the 150 square foot rule. Their engineering (and balancing) skills were stellar!  The 3DuxDesign team members are now disputing over who gets the penthouse room.