Elmer Jacobi
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. While creative design ideas may be abundant, figuring out the technical aspects of a DIY build can be difficult. Container home plans offer you a practical roadmap to achieve your dream. This guide will help: Recommendations on building elements like foundations, insulation, walls, roofs, and more An example budget with pricing breakdowns Plus, you can add on a book of plans for 50 container homes to get started with your dream build. Similar to picking the best tiny house on wheels floor plan, a big first step is determining your priorities and needs, before you can choose the right container home layout, and of course, size.
As you might guess, the design possibilities between 20-foot and 40-foot shipping container homes plans vary greatly. But keep in mind, that even with the overall affordability of containers, the larger the house, the more it will cost and the greater the maintenance needs will be. Though, you might even not notice it’s built from a container due to the beautiful wood panel sidings.
“Imagine waking up to the glow of the sun streaming in through your large sliding doors, looking out onto your favorite landscape. Reclaimed wood creates a cozy and homey feeling in your shipping container home, and surrounds you like a big hug. This compact 20-foot shipping container floor plan is ideal as a tiny home for one, a mother-in-law suite, or an Airbnb rental.
For optimal efficiency, I’d recommend using a Murphy bed or daybed to create more living space. The deluxe rooftop deck also creates a spacious lounge for soaking in the outdoors with room for friends.
Lego-style stacking doubles the living space of a 20-foot shipping container floor plan while minimizing a footprint on the land.
Get even more bang for your living space buck with a downstairs porch and upstairs balcony. These two-story shipping container homes plans showcase an elevated utilitarian look. With this container home layout, you can enjoy the privacy benefits of a separate bedroom.
Yet again, Pinup Houses provides another wonderful option for creating a functional, off-grid tiny home from two 20 foot containers. With the cost savings on these economical DIY container home plans, you can add solar power and rainwater catchment systems–as seen in the rendering image.
To address this, these container home floor plans include a large storage closet, ideal for solar batteries, and outdoor adventure gear.
These Pinup plans include a detailed description of everything you need to build your small shipping container home.
The Sea Eagle 68 combines three 20-foot shipping containers to create a spacious two-bedroom house. Living room space in the middle container connects everything together, as well as the wrap-around deck in the front of the home.
Of course, you can also create a completely custom design, tailored perfectly to meet your needs and desires. An excellent place to start is by creating a Pinterest dream board with design ideas.
So I encourage you to book a stay, or two, in Airbnb container home rentals, like the amazing Box Hop. Besides the initial research and planning, there are a thousand little steps needed to complete a safe build.
