Sell Your Crap, Pay Off Your Debt, And Do What You Love! This Makes It All Possible! There’s something strange happening around the globe… but it’s awesome! Lifestyles and needs are changing, and consequently, our houses are shrinking. The tiny house movement has blown up in the past few years, shifting the traditional North American housing models towards a more practical, finance-friendly blueprint. The movement is garnering attention from people fed up with the current consumerist/utility-based lifestyle which has placed millions of people in debt. The typical American home is around 2600 square feet, while the typical small or tiny house is around 100-400 square feet. “A tiny house is any house in which all the space is being used well,” he says. This means that if two people lived in a 300 square foot pad and could call it a tiny house, then 8 people living in a 2000 square foot house could boast the same title. Let’s face it, who wants to spend the majority of their youthful years paying off such massive debt? A tiny house can cost between $15,000 and $80,000.
The US$55,000 Port-a-bach relocatable home (in a shipping container) - Image 5 of 18 December 1, 2008 The appeal of regularly relocating where we live probably comes from our nomadic origins as a species, and over the years we’ve thrilled at the possibilities of some remarkable constructs designed to enable just that: the Icosa Pod, miniHome, Free Spirit Sphere, Nackros Villa, LoftCube, Trilobis, Kitahaus, and the relocatable sphere house. New Zealand is one of those countries where its near-to-no-one geographic location has created a hotbed of innovation through necessity and the Kiwi-produced Port-a-bach is particularly inventive because it is based around a remanufactured shipping container. As such, the NZD$100,000 (US$55,000) fold-out dwelling is not just rugged due to its natural steel exoskeleton, it’s as easy to transport internationally as it is to transport locally on a standard container truck. It has low environmental impact and can connect to local utilities or be entirely power, water and sewer independent. View all Share
Shipping Container Housing Guide 96 Sq. Foot Finnish Micro-Cabin Built Small To Forego Permits © Robin Falck The image of a secluded cabin in the woods recalls the simple, idealistic idyll of Henry David Thoreau's Walden, free of the impositions of society. This beautiful micro-cabin, built beside a lake in Finland, was constructed to go under the radar of Finnish building regulations, which require one to get a permit for anything that is larger than 96 to 128 square feet, depending on the district. Anticipating a one-year stint in the military, owner Robin Falck decided to design a cabin that wouldn't require getting tangled in bureaucratic red tape. On Tiny House Listings, he talks about his cabin, which he has dubbed "Nido" (or "bird's nest" in Italian): A couple years back in 2009 I got this idea of an cabin/small house that would be small enough to be built without the need of a permit. Winter of 2009/2010 I spent designing and planning the house. © Robin Falck
Munda Shipping Container Tiny House on May 16, 2015 This shipping container tiny house is designed and built by Munda Design and Construction. When you walk inside you’ll notice an open one level floor plan with no lofts, ladders, or staircases. The company is offering base units at 16, 20 and 24 feet. Images © Munda Learn more: You can share this shipping container tiny house with your friends and family for free using the e-mail and social media re-share buttons below.
Mobile Fold-Out Shipping Container Home In this case, the sum is more than the parts – and the building footprint tells only half of the story. Push a button and things begin to unfold, revealing not just a deck but a lofted sleeping area and other pop-out amenities all hiding in the shell of a conventional cargo shipping container. While it has evolved through various concepts and prototypes, the primary features of the Port-a-Bach cargo container home include “a fully enclosed exterior steel shell (when folded up), appointed with large internal storage cupboards and shelves / stainless steel kitchen and fittings / bathroom with open shower, sink, composting toilet. Fabric screen system gives the versatility of creating rooms within the large open living space: includes bunk beds, double bed room, dressing room, kitchen and bathroom.”
20+ Tiny Homes That Make The Most Of A Little Space | Bored Panda Small and efficient homes, whether in the city, out in the country or even on the road, are becoming more and more popular. Interior design innovations are helping more and more people realize that, sometimes, less can be more! As more people move into cities (and tiny apartments), efficient interior design has been driven by necessity, but many have been applying these clever and inspiring innovations to create comfortable and tiny homes elsewhere as well. The environmentally-minded love them for their efficiency (low heating and lighting costs). The philosophical or spiritual might appreciate them for the way they encourage us to forgo all but the most necessary worldly possessions. In some cases, like with the story of Jenna and Guillaume, these tiny houses can even be pulled across the country on wheels! Show 14 more Add Image Drag Image Select File Rules: 1) no ugly watermarks 2) no borders 3) no low quality images Ooops!
Shipping container architecture The Nomadic Museum is composed of 152 shipping containers. It was constructed to house a photography exhibit in New York City in 2005, was dismantled, and was reassembled in Santa Monica, California, USA in early 2006. Shipping container architecture is a form of architecture using steel intermodal containers (shipping containers) as structural element, because of their inherent strength, wide availability and relatively low cost. Advantages Strength and durability Shipping containers are in many ways an ideal building material. Modular All shipping containers are made to standard measurements and as such they provide modular elements that can be combined into larger structures. Transport Pre-fabricated modules can also be easily transported by ship, truck or rail, because they already conform to standard shipping sizes. Availability Used shipping containers are available across the globe. Cost Disadvantages Temperature Labour Construction site Building permits Treatment of timber floors Solvents Books
Containers of Hope / Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture Architects: Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture Location: San Jose, Costa Rica Project area: 100 sqm Project year: 2011 Photographs: Andres Garcia Lachner Gabriela Calvo and Marco Peralta dreamed of living in their fantastic property 20 minutes outside of the city of San Jose, Costa Rica; where they could be with their horses and enjoy the natural landscape. They made the very bold choice of exploring with me the possibility of creating a very inexpensive house made out of disregarded shipping containers that allowed them to be dept free and live the life they always dreamed of. It was important for me to provide them with the sunrise, the sunset, the spectacular views, and overall try and create a feeling of comfort and home. The final cost of the house (40,000USD) is lower than the cost of social housing provided for the poor in Costa Rica.
7 Prefab Eco-Houses You Can Order Today Ever since the early days of the 20th century, when Americans started buying kit bungalows and farmhouses from the Sears Roebuck catalog, the lure of instant housing has been huge. But in recent decades, “prefab” got a bad name, associated with shoddy construction, cookie-cutter design, and cheap, synthetic, environmentally questionable materials. Now it’s time to forget all that and say hello to the rapidly growing world of prefab and modular green homes, one where you can pick a LEED platinum or zero-energy house off a website and have it installed on your lot of choice in a matter of months. If this sounds appealing, you’re in good company. Market research firm Freedonia reports 15 percent growth in the prefab business, and Global Industry Analysts finds even greater momentum in China, Japan, Europe, and Latin America. RELATED: 3 Tiny Houses That Let You Live Green—and off the Grid (Photo: Blu Homes) 1. Watching a Blu Home being set up is quite something. (Photo: IdeaBox) 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Modern Shipping Container House in Venice, CA on August 20, 2015 This is a modern shipping container house in Venice, CA. It consists of three 20 foot containers designed to offer functional indoor and outdoor living space. Each container serves a purpose; the lime green container is the home office, the middle cream white container is the kitchen, and the chili red container is the bedroom and bathroom. This home has luxurious amenities throughout including skylights, custom cabinetry and even a steam room! Would you live simply in a shipping container home like this one? Images © ipme Learn more: Resources You can send this shipping container story to your friends for free using the social media and e-mail share buttons below.