Despite several controversial issues with using shipping containers as homes, there are still many people who are interested in converting the ubiquitous metal structures into their own tiny house. My Home In a Box is a blog dedicated to shipping containers and how they can be used as the basis for a small or tiny home. With its various photos, videos, information on exterior and interior design, the blog is a great reference.
The blog covers building with both 20 foot and 40 foot containers, information on insulation, alternative energy, heating and cooling and interior and exterior ideas. The owner of the blog, Dean, has also designed his own conceptual off-grid shipping container home with a composting toilet, a living room with a hidden bed, water storage, a solar panel and wind turbine and a hot water heater on the roof. The design also has a two drawbridge sides that become decks, an aquaponics system and the ability to store up to 6 months worth of food.
Dean has also designed a shipping container model kit that can be used for envisioning your own shipping container home with the correct size proportions. The kit contains two 20 foot shipping container models which are scaled down to 20 cm long (10 cm = 2 feet) and one 40 foot container which is 40 cm long. The kit also includes a blueprint plan so you can design the interior layout of your container house. The kits cost between $19.99 and $34.99.
Photos courtesy of My Home in a Box