When you have a tiny shipping container home, you need to be smart about space. If you’re not careful about how you design the building and arrange your furniture, you could make your entire home feel cramped and cluttered.
How can you maximize space in your tiny home?
Choose the Right Container Size
Plenty of people build tiny homes out of shipping containers. They’re durable, weather-resistant and easy to adapt into a functional living space. Find out exactly how to build a shipping container home from scratch. The instructional guide could help you construct your dream home.
One thing that you should know about shipping containers is that they come in two standard sizes: 20 feet and 40 feet. If you’re worried about not having enough space in a 20 ft container, you could always opt for a 40 ft container instead. There are also “high-cube” shipping containers, which will have higher ceilings. Choosing a high-cube container could offer you more vertical space to work with.
Find Fold-Away Furniture
To maximize space, you will want to furnish your home with pieces that can be folded up and tucked away when they’re not in use. Murphy beds, desks and tables can be pushed back against the wall. Fold-out chairs and stools can be stored in a closet. Collapsible countertops can be pushed down and out of the way when you’re not cooking or washing dishes.
Use Sliding Doors
For interior doors, use options that don’t take up extra floorspace when they open and close, like sliding barn doors or accordion doors. You could also use curtains to close off areas of your tiny home and create privacy.
Install Vertical Storage
Tiny homes don’t provide the same storage options as a regular brick and mortar house. You won’t have a lot of broom closets, linen closets or clothes closets built-in into your rooms. You won’t have a basement or an attic. And you probably won’t have a garage or shed closeby.
So, you’ll have to use the space that you do have for storage: your walls and your ceilings. Utilizing this often-forgotten space will keep your floor clear and clutter-free.
These are some ways that you can increase your vertical storage space:
- Install built-in shelving during the construction process.
- After construction is complete, put-up floating shelves, angled corner shelves, rounded corner shelves and free-standing bookcases.
- Install wall hooks and hanging coat racks to organize outdoor clothes and accessories.
- Use vertical closet organizers, stacked cubbies and hanging shoe organizers to store other clothes and accessories.
- Use cabinets, wall-mounted pot racks and peg boards to store kitchen utensils.
- Use cabinets, towel racks and shower caddies to store bathroom essentials.
- Use hanging planters or plant walls to display indoor plants.
Downsize Your Belongings
If you’re going to downsize your space, you need to downsize your belongings, too. So, go through your items to see what will work in a tiny home and what will just take up extra space. If you’re having trouble paring down your belongings, you can follow the advice of professional home organizers like Marie Kondo or Shira Gill. Naturally, your space will look and feel much bigger when you’re not trying to squeeze so much stuff inside of it.
Your shipping container home should feel cozy, not cramped. Follow these tips to make sure that you have plenty of space in there.
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