Do you have a good imagination? If you do, you may be able to create some phenomenal crafts at home. Many of them can be done on the kitchen table but they can also be done on a much larger scale, as you will soon see.
In Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, a young couple took three shipping containers and created a home that is so unique and attractive, you will want to move in right away. It suits both of them and works along with her finances and they absolutely love their self-contained, solar-powered home sweet home.
Richard and Amy are expecting their first child and the delivery is only two months away. Perhaps that is another reason why having a peaceful and calm home is so important. The land where the home resides belongs to Amy’s parents but they are only taking advantage of 5 acres of the land. They didn’t want to worry about down payments, paying a long-term mortgage or any loans associated with building the house.
In addition, the young couple loves to travel and Richard’s family is in England. They often spend holidays with his family and he travels for business. It would be a waste of space and money to have a big home if they were only going to leave it vacant a few times a year. They wanted something small and manageable and they achieved their goal.
The couple had the opportunity to show off their home in an interview with Bryce Langston from Living Big In A Tiny House
“We absolutely love our home,” Amy says. “We enjoy using this space.”
When all was said and done, they spent about $102,500 USD. It included everything, such as the containers, joinery, paneling, solar system and septic tanks. Considering the fact that the house is theirs forever, it’s a phenomenal deal.
“One thing we really wanted was a quality home and also something that’s aesthetically pleasing whenever you walk through the door,” Amy explained.
Thick insulation was necessary because the steel containers would not be very comfortable on their own. When the paneling went up on the inside, the exterior was also covered with designer panels. This hid the containers and provided a weatherproof surface. Both the inside and the outside were insulated because the container was sandwiched between the panels.
They wanted to have a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms all in separate containers. There are connecting doorways that attach the containers side-by-side.
For the most part, they will not have to rely on the grid for their power because of solar energy. They use a 3.75 kW system and since two people occupy it, it meets most of their needs. They didn’t connect all of the panels because of financial constraints and they couldn’t afford all of the batteries that were needed. They hope to get back to it at some time in the future.
Each container has a floating roof so the house will be cool when the weather is hot outside. Those roofs also hold the containers solar power in place.
Outside of the home are two large storage tanks which contain about 30,000 L of rainwater. They thought 20,000 would be enough but with the dry summer, they learned their lesson and kicked it up a notch.
On the inside, wood panels cover the walls and are varnished to a fire-clay, smooth look. The joinery does not have any formaldehyde and they went with a low VOC varnish to further reduce any respiratory problems.
Every available square inch was utilized in this tiny home. The bathroom and kitchen have a nice size, and there are drawers and racks with paneling that help to maximize every bit of space available. The master bedroom has a queen size bed that is up high so drawers can be included beneath it.
All in all, the home has a very modern appeal. They didn’t want to remodel and renovate soon so they went ahead and upgraded as needed.
When you see inside of the home, you might be surprised by the dining room table. It sits six people!
“We love having friends come over and one of the requirements was at least four,” Amy said. “We were lucky to thrift our lovely dining table out local and there’s more than enough room in here to entertain six people over for dinner or lunch.“
I would say they did an excellent job.
