Container homes Archives - Small Home Space

Shipping Container Home – Kitchen Designs: Small Space, Big Dreams

smallhomeadmin — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 06:42:21 +0000

When it comes to creating your dream tiny home, the kitchen often holds a special place in your heart. It’s where your family gathers, where creativity bubbles over a simmering stove, and where memories are baked into every meal.
If you’re dreaming of building a cozy, functional, and beautiful kitchen inside a shipping container, you’re not alone — and the possibilities are breathtaking.

Here are some inspiring shipping container kitchen design ideas to help you create a space that’s both practical and magical:

1. Bright and Airy Layouts

Small spaces crave light. Choose soft, neutral color palettes like creamy whites, muted greens, or warm grays for cabinets and walls.

Tip: Glass cabinet doors, large windows, and light-reflecting backsplashes (like white subway tile) make your kitchen feel double its size.

2. Smart Storage Solutions

Every square inch counts. Think pull-out pantry drawers, hanging pot racks, toe-kick drawers, and overhead shelving.

Aspirational goal: A clutter-free kitchen where everything has a home, yet feels open and calming, not crowded.

3. Luxury Touches in a Tiny Space

Tiny kitchens can still feel luxurious! High-end finishes like marble countertops (or marble-look quartz), brushed gold hardware, and a deep farmhouse sink add elegance without taking up extra space.

Dream element: Imagine a gorgeous statement faucet that feels like jewelry for your kitchen.

4. Open Shelving for Personality

Display your prettiest dishes, vintage glassware, and beloved cookbooks with open shelving.

Design idea: Warm wooden shelves against a soft tile wall create a welcoming, lived-in feel that makes your tiny container kitchen charming, not sterile.

5. Multi-Use Kitchen Islands

A compact island can transform your kitchen, offering extra prep space, storage, and even seating.

Tiny home tip: Choose an island on wheels for flexible movement, or a fold-down breakfast bar for casual dining.

6. Bold Backsplashes

Shipping container walls offer the perfect canvas for creativity. A patterned or colorful backsplash adds personality and energy to a small kitchen.

Trend alert: Terracotta tiles, Moroccan prints, or hand-painted ceramics are beautiful choices for a stylish, personal touch.

7. Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Flow

If your container home design allows, consider adding a sliding or folding window above the kitchen counter that opens to the outdoors.

Imagine: Passing fresh lemonade out to the patio or chatting with friends while you prep dinner inside. The dream of blending cozy indoor living with outdoor beauty becomes real!

8. Energy-Efficient Appliances

Today’s sleek, compact appliances make it easy to go green while saving space.

Tiny dream: Picture a gleaming induction cooktop, a slimline dishwasher, or a drawer-style refrigerator — all perfectly sized for your lifestyle.

9. Cozy and Custom Details

Personal touches bring a container kitchen to life. Hand-carved cabinet knobs, a stenciled floor, woven baskets for storage — these little things tell your story.

Inspiration: Your tiny home kitchen should feel like a hug every time you walk in.

10. A Kitchen that Reflects You

Ultimately, the best shipping container kitchen design is one that reflects your taste, your lifestyle, and your dreams.
Whether you love rustic cottage vibes, minimal modern aesthetics, or colorful boho styles — your container kitchen is your canvas to create a space that inspires you daily.

Remember:
Tiny doesn’t mean limited. Tiny means thoughtful, personal, and absolutely stunning.

Your shipping container kitchen can be a masterpiece of cozy beauty, no matter the size.

The post Shipping Container Home – Kitchen Designs: Small Space, Big Dreams appeared first on Small Home Space.

Are container homes a good investment?

smallhomeadmin — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:48:01 +0000

Container homes are a rage these days. Every social media channel is full of photographs of container homes or people talking about them.

These are the main reasons why these types of homes are a good or a bad idea.

Pros

Shipping containers look chic and create an industrial look

Shipping containers may have been recycled. This goes some way in recycling and even upcycling these containers.

Shipping container homes can be cheap to build. Due to this, they might play an important role in solving the housing crisis that confounds many cities throughout the world.

Shipping containers are small modules and fall in line with the architecture of modular homes.

Pros a shipping container home

Cons

Shipping containers may pose a health risk. A shipping container may have carried dangerous chemicals in them. Some of these chemicals might leach into the surface. Due to the extended use of the shipping container, these may not have been cleaned or removed from the container for a variety of reasons.

They can be expensive to transport inland. Usually, a new one is to be ordered as it is difficult to find a used one but in a good condition to reuse as a shipping container.

A lot of additions have to be added to make the container livable. This takes away quite a bit of height from the available height of a standard shipping container which is 8.5 feet tall. The length of these containers may vary between 40 and 20 feet long, with the width being 8 feet. Additional insulation added to the sides of these standard containers can reduce available living space after their addition.

Custom-built 9.5 feet containers are available now. However, as with anything custom-built in the real estate industry, these things can be a tad more expensive.

Shipping containers are usually altered to make adjustments to them. This means the default structure of a closed box is changed to make way for holes in windows, outlets, inlets, ventilation ducts, etc.. These holes make the structure weaker in the long run. In order to keep the overall strength of the structure, the container is reinforced with additional support. This adds to the overall cost of the system.

Steel is a good conductor of both heat and cold. That means that any sunlight or snow outside the container tends to make the inside either hot or cold. There is no real insulation which means that the exterior has to be insulated from the elements as well.

Another point to consider is that moisture may collect inside the container due to temperature differences in an insulated container. This can cause moisture to collect and drop from the ceiling leading to mold and fungal infection inside the structure. One resolution to this issue is to insulate the exterior as well. This may increase the overall cost of construction.

Cons of shipping containers

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History of Cargotecture

smallhomeadmin — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 10:43:28 +0000

Cargotecture – a form of architecture where shipping containers or intermodal freight containers, are used to create houses.

What is cargotecture

Cargo transportation has been a primary mode of transportation of goods over high seas.

The world has moved away from larger dwellings to smaller family homes. This movement has been triggered by smaller family sizes, convenience, and reduced expense. Empty containers coming into the USA go out of circulation quickly. This is because it’s cheaper to buy new containers than ship out empty containers back to their source port halfway across the world. It turned out that the most effective way to repurpose these containers is to make alternative uses of these containers, most commonly as housing units.

When it comes to size, the most common types of shipping containers are:

20 feet and 40 feet containers with 8 feet depth.

cargotecture

History of shipping container homes

The Gulf War of the 1900s saw a hitherto unconventional use of shipping containers. They were, for the first time, used as safe-houses for prisoners and as emergency shelters during an enemy attack.

The global financial crisis of 2008 saw an increase in the number of shipping containers that could potentially provide affordable housing. The tiny home revolution took off during the early 2010s and shipping container homes became really interesting to Americans, particularly the younger generation.

Since 2010, companies have begun to provide customized solutions to container homes. They provide guidance, build, and maintenance support for interested families who want to try out container homes for the first time.

cargotecture

COVID19 of 2019-20 only cemented the emergence of smaller homes away from larger communities and economies. Small sustainable farms have started to show up all over the country where container homes provide affordable homes for inhabitants.

Even though now in 2022, the tiny home revolution is ongoing, container homes are being used in a variety of ways, not only for housing. Containers have found their way into shopping complexes, parks, and community housing.

cargotecture

Future of container homes

Container homes are stable in high winds, as they weigh about 8 thousand pounds. They come in a couple of different sizes. Customized container homes come with all sorts of alterations to make them habitable; from insulation for heat, air vents, and even solar panels. There are some limitations of container homes. Nevertheless, they look more and more interesting as an alternative housing option for the new generation of homeowners.

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Pros and Cons Container homes

smallhomeadmin — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 12:25:51 +0000

Container homes are a recent addition to the trending tiny homes. They have pros and cons that must be considered before you decide if they are the right fit for you.

Let’s start with the pros.

Container homes are made from steel and are very durable. They can withstand hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. They are also versatile. You can use them for storage, an office, or a home. And since they are made from recycled materials, they are eco-friendly. Container homes are also more affordable than traditional homes.

Now let’s look at the cons.

The main con of container homes is that they have limited space. If you want a lot of space, you will need to get multiple containers. Another con is that it can be difficult to get permits for container homes. This is because they are not a traditional style of home. And finally, you will need to insulate container homes. This is because they are made from metal and can get very hot or very cold.

So those are the pros and cons of container homes. You will need to decide if the pros outweigh the cons for you. Only you can decide if container homes are right for you.

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