Skip to main content

5 smart products for tiny spaces

Whether you’re building out your tiny home, hitting the road and starting the van life, or you just live in a modest apartment, you need to make the most out of the limited space you’ve got. Let’s find some of the smart essentials that can do double- or triple-duty around your home, cutting down on the need for extraneous gadgets.

1. Skip the stove with an all-in-one cooker

Instant Pot has gained massive popularity in the world of pressure cookers for good reason. It’s able to cook a wide range of dishes thanks to robust configuration options. In addition to using the appliance as a standard pressure cooker, you can steam, sautée, make yogurt, use it as a sous vide, or for canning. The latest model includes Wi-Fi and a smartphone app, so you can peruse recipes and remotely monitor as needed. With some clever meal planning, the Instant Pot can replace your need for a stove.

Recommended Videos

2. Save some space in the bathroom

You can save water and space by putting a sink on top of your toilet tank. These kinds of sinks let your sink water fill your toilet with gravity, and get used for flushing. Grey water usage like this can help reduce water waste, which can be an issue in homes with limited freshwater supply. Who needs their toilet water to be potable anyway?

3. Add a cutting board to your kitchen sink

The kitchen sink takes up a fairly large footprint, so why not cover it up with a cutting board when it’s not in use? This can provide valuable extra real estate when doing meal prep. With the right cutout, you can move food scraps into the sink or hold a strainer. We found this one that could do the trick, but you’d want to measure your sink beforehand to make sure the cutting board would span across your sink.

4. Sub out the TV for a projector

The slimmer a TV is, the more expensive it gets. Not only that, it permanently occupies space on your wall, which could be better put to use with more shelves. Make your big screen portable with a projector. This lets you enjoy your shows with however much room you have available. It can be especially helpful for watching movies on the ceiling, which would normally be unused space. A projector can just as easily be used with your phone, tablet, or PC. The AAXA P7 Pico Mini Projector is our favorite portable projector and should be flexible enough to place wherever you need to store it.

5. Combine your washer and dryer

You’ll still need to do laundry, so roll with a combo washer and dryer to save on space. Finding one that is also compact and energy-efficient is important. If you can get a model with smartphone connectivity, you’re really covering all the bases. This GE model has a capacity of 2.4 cubic feet, and at 23 by 25 inches, it has a very small footprint. It’s ventless, which makes for painless installation, and has a range of temperature and spin speed settings to handle even your most delicate items.

Whatever shape it takes, having a tiny home can save you money and lower the amount of power you need to stay heated or cooled. Hopefully, this handful of solutions help make that limited space a little more comfortable.

Simon Sage
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Simon Sage is a green tech contributor at Digital Trends. He looks at all sorts of devices that can help reduce emissions…
Tesla Powerwall is the best solar, home backup, and EV charging companion
Tesla Powerwall 3 installed on outside of home

Solar power, and having solar panels on your home, is a fantastic way to conserve energy and cut down on power bills, especially if you live somewhere sunny like Florida or California. There's just one glaring issue. When the grid goes down you still lose power because of how it's connected. Your solar panels cannot generate enough energy or keep it stored to keep your power on. So, essentially, your power setup doesn't offer much benefit there, unless you get a home power backup system. More specifically, something like a Tesla Powerwall is a compact home battery that stores energy generated from the grid. That energy is then used as a backup when traditional grid power is unavailable.

To make it even more clear, with a Tesla Powerwall, the power stays on even during a major blackout or outage. It's whole-home backup, too, which means you can power your lights, appliances, electronics, you name it. If you've ever had to throw away an entire refrigerator's worth of spoiled food because of a multi-day outage -- like I have -- you'll certainly appreciate the option to keep your appliances running. But that's not all it can do. The Tesla Powerwall is an excellent companion for Tesla EV owners, creating an entire smart ecosystem of power. Let's explore.

Read more
Air fryer or cordless vacuum, you choose: Two deep Black Friday discounts worth shopping
Levoit LVAC-200 cordless vacuum in use with pet nearby

Going down probably as two of the most random, unique contenders for smart home and Black Friday deals in a mashup together, we have the COSORI TurboBlaze Air Fryer and LEVOIT LVAC-200 Cordless Vacuum. One will cook your food fast and crispy the other will clean your home fast and effectively. Why not, right? You could even throw some food into the air fryer and get to cleaning while it heats up with the vacuum. Okay, maybe it really is an excellent combo. Nevertheless, these Black Friday discounts will have you a little more excited than normal, let's take a closer look.

 
COSORI TurboBlaze Air Fryer -- now $88, was $120 26% off

Read more
Best home security camera deals: Ring, Arlo, Blink and more on sale
These are the best security camera deals available right now
Prime Day 2022 security camera deals graphic.

If you're the sort of person who worries about the physical safety of their home or live in a rough area, then having home security cameras can help give you much more peace of mind. The great thing is that in the past decade or so, security cameras have come a long way, and nowadays, you can get things like wireless security cameras that let you access them remotely from wherever you are through an application. Of course, that does mean that there is a huge selection out there, which is why we've collected some of our favorite security camera deals below, although if you're in the Amazon ecosystem, it might be worth checking out these Ring camera deals.
Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Security Camera -- $27 $50 45% off

While this is ostensibly made for your garage, there's no reason the Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage can't work for other uses as well, especially if you don't need the highest quality of recording. It has an HD camera, which isn't a ton, but it does have an impressive 130-degree field of view. The MyQ also connects through dual-band Wi-Fi for a better connection, and it even has two-way communication, which is impressive for something at this price bracket.

Read more