Shipping Container Cabin Update

A post I wrote about shipping container homes (which you can find here) in May of last year gets lots and lots of hits every day - like often up to seven times as many hits as the next most popular post.  That's a lot of interest in shipping container homes!  I'm not surprised at the interest in shipping container homes, though, because they are just so inspiring.  I would love to get my hands on a couple of shipping containers and do a little creating myself.  Of course, that isn't going to happen anytime soon (although you notice I'm not ruling it out for the future) so I have to satisfy my interest by keeping up on other people's container homes. 

I contacted the owner of this wonderful cabin that I showed in my original post to see if he would mind me using more of his photos in a blog post.  Well not only was Steve (see how I'm on a first name basis with him now) pleased to let me use his photos, but he took a bunch more for me as well.  It turns out Steve is married to a Speech-Language Pathologist so you can see why he would be so charming - it goes with the territory.  

Last fall Steve and his wife painted the exterior a warm beige colour (good choice Steve's wife) and have been working away completing the interior.  I'm excited to welcome you inside Steve's little cabin in the woods.  I have uploaded both labeled and unlabeled floor plans so you can have an idea what direction the pictures are taken.

This is the view from the front door looking over to the right to the sofa (a pull-out bed) and chair in the sitting area.  You can also see the bedroom through the doorway on the left.  The ceiling shows the corrugated grooves from the shipping containers.

I love the simple white kitchen - white kitchens are always my favourite!

Behind the curtain is the bathroom/utility/storage room.

A nice little wood stove is tucked into the corner to keep things warm.

I understand the desk is going to have a half-wall built behind it to separate the front entrance from the living room.

And finally, looking out the windows to the forest.

... and the forest. 

I've been studying these photos and peppering Steve with questions about the details of his cabin so I thought I would share what I have learned.


Steven's main concerns were to keep the costs down and to make the cabin easy to maintain.   He chose to build using shipping containers because of security issues.  When he leaves his cabin, he simply closes and locks the doors at the end of each of the three containers.  There are no other windows or doors so it pretty much morphs from sweet little cabin to Fort Knox.


The cabin is off-the-grid so is powered primarily by solar panels.  The microwave oven that you can see in some of the kitchen pictures will soon be going as it is run on the generator that is being used while the construction is going on.  He has installed a two-burner stove and may purchase an oven that cooks on the stovetop and is very popular with the boating community.  He was unable to find a refrigerator that would work on the solar panels so he is using a small Coleman cooler that runs on a battery and is kept in the storage room and he may upgrade down the road.  For more kitchen details read this post.

Steven is in the process of looking into restoring an old well that is on the property.  Even if the water is not drinkable, it will be very useful for washing up etc.  There are plans to install a water system with a storage tank in the bathroom/storage room and build a homemade shower in there as well.  The problem with most water systems is dealing with them in the winter so Steve is looking to install an indoor water system that can be used in the winter with minimal fuss.  At the present time he brings in water to use for drinking and cooking and they have an outhouse.  You can see in the photo below the temporary water system he has in the kitchen using a vintage water cooler. 

I think this little cabin is great - it's kind of like the Boxcar children meet IKEA (did you ever read that story?  Kate and I both read it when she was young and loved it).   You can read more details and see the progress pictures on Steve's blog, Tin Can Cabin.  


This is definitely a cabin I'll be keeping my eyes on to see how it develops and changes as Steve and his wife use it.