Shipping containers are an ideal way to build a new spare room for your house quickly, cheaply and effectively. You can either modify one yourself if you are into DIY or take a pre-built container “cabin” and repurpose it to your hearts content.
By taking a 20 or 40 foot container, adding access doors, windows, insulation, flooring and an electrical supply – you can have the perfect, mobile spare room and you can use it for almost anything.
We spent the afternoon trying to think up as many ideas as possible, here’s what we came up with.
15 Great Reasons to Turn a Shipping Container into a Spare Room
1. Spare Bedroom
Spare bedrooms are probably the most wanted addition to any house. Let’s face it, most people buy a house and their families grow – but their houses don’t grow with them. Teenagers get older and want their own space but still want all the home comforts.
A container can make an ideal sleep out type of spare room for the kids as they grow up and gain their independence but still want to be around for mum (and dad’s) home cooking at night. Once they are old enough to leave home, you can either turn the spare room into something else or get rid of it and use the space for a bigger garden.
2. Home Office
More and more of us are working from home – even this article was written in a home office. The perfect home office needs to be within walking distance of all the home comforts (especially the coffee pot) while being free of daily distractions, so a modified shipping container is perfect. Make sure your container is within Wi-Fi range and you are good to go, just add some storage shelving, desk, a comfortable chair and lighting.
You’ll have the perfect space to get your work done, as well as be able to access your printer, filing cabinets and office supplies as you need them. And make sure you remember to include a couch in case you have any Mad Men inspired creative moments that require a midday nap.
3. Library & Reading Room
Books are great, except when you’ve got too many of them to fit on the shelves. Why not take a shipping container and fit it out with the excellent “Billy” bookshelves from Ikea. These are favourites with book collectors the world over and joining enough of them together can give you a perfect 20 foot long wall of books. Once it’s all set up you’ll have plenty of space for your entire book collection.
Add your favourite chair and a nice rug and you’ll have the perfect library or reading room to catch up on the classics or the latest bestseller. Of course, you might also want to include a quiet space for writing, so why not include a desk and some decent lighting as well?
4. Gaming & Hobby Room
Feel like nerding out? Shipping containers are the perfect dungeon hideaway for the avid gamer. With plenty of room for gaming tables, hobby desks and storage shelves for whatever board game, card games or tabletop war games you might be into, whether it’s Magic The Gathering, Cards Against Humanity or Warhammer 40,000. You can decorate the container with movie posters, add in a foosball table, pinball or old arcade machines. Make sure to include racking or shelving for storage, and a bar fridge for those all gaming snacks!
A shipping container will keep the house free of clutter, while the gaming sessions go on all night!
5. Artists Studio
You’ll want plenty of natural light – this can be achieved with a ranch slider type door, allowing sunlight to flow into the room all day if the container is situated correctly. You’ll want to make sure that its location is free from distractions and lots of space. Containers are perfect, sized between 10 to 40 feet long, you’ll have plenty of space for all of your projects.
6. Chill Out Room
Paint the room in neutral colours, keep it clutter free and decorate it so that it is tasteful and relaxing. Allow the room to flow outside into the garden or backyard and you’ll have your very own chill out room to meditate or practise yoga in (you could even pump up the reverse air conditioning if you are into a bit of occasional hot yoga as well!)
7. Entertainment/Media/Hifi Room
TV taking up too much room in the lounge? Move it outside into your very own dedicated media room. Add some soundproofing into the insulation, run all your cables in hidden ducting in the floor and walls, and mount top of the line speakers to give perfect surround sound. Add in a couch, maybe even a projector, and you’ve go the perfect man cave to watch the rugby or the latest action movies on the big screen!
8. Music Studio
Aspiring DJ or Garage Rock Band? Move the noise out of the house with your very own music studio. Once again, pay special attention to soundproofing the room and you’ll have the perfect place to practice with the band or record the next chart topping club mix. And because it’s a shipping container you’ll be able to lock all your expensive music gear safely and securely when you’ve finished at the the end of the night.
9. Home Gym
With fatty diets and long days slaving at the desk, we should all be taking our health and fitness seriously and what better way to do it than by creating your own custom gym room? Take a modified shipping container, add in aircon to keep it at the perfect temperature, an exercycle, treadmill and some weights and you’ll have the perfect home gym.
10. Private Bar, Brewery or Suburban Speakeasy
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If you’re into home brewing, chances are you’ll want some space to let your beer creation ideas run free. A shipping container gives you plenty of space for all of your beer brewing needs from the brewing process, all the way through to storing kegs and bottles while it ferments.
Add in a bar leaner, stools a fridge and bar tending equipment and you’ll have your very own speakeasy to enjoy a cold one with your mates. Install a big screen TV for the footy and you’ll have the perfect place for the guys to hang out every Friday night.
11. Childrens Play Room/Rumpus Room
As your children get older, they are start to accumulate a lot of toys, and these take up a lot of space. So why not avoid the dreaded Lego Firewalk and build a playroom for the kids in a shipping container. Put down easy, wipe clean flooring, decorate it with blackboards and include lots of storage space. You’ll have a safe, enclosed and out of the way play area for the kids which can evolve as they grow older – and you won’t have to worry about the little ones drawing on the walls or remembering to clean up before guests come over ever again!
12. Nursery
OK, so you probably don’t want to move your baby out into a shipping container just yet. Instead, consider moving an existing room in the list above to make room for your new babies first room inside your house.
13. Wine Cellar
We’ve written about this in the past, insulated shipping containers are ideal for constructing either and above or below ground wine cellar to store your prized alcoholic possessions.
14. Garaging or Workshop
Sometimes a two car garage just isn’t enough for a growing family. Add a roller door and access ramps to the end of a shipping container and you’ll have enough space to store your car, workshop tools and more.
15. Garden or Blokes Shed
Got a big garden, a ride on lawn mower, seeds, potting mix and bunch of tools? Like to tinker about on projects? What you need is a shed. The perfect place to spend your evenings and weekends creating your projects in peace and quiet.
Sure you can get a tiny one from the local hardware big box outlet but what you need is a bigger box – a shipping container. Blend it into the garden by painting it neutral colours or building a facade from recycled wood panels.
Do you need an instant spare room?
Have one of our ideas sparked your interest in an instant, portable, spacious room on your property? Then a shipping container is the answer. Ranging from 10-40 feet in length, our containers can be modified to suit your unique requirements.
Contact the team at Gateway Container Sales & Hire to discuss exactly what you need and we’ll help you pick the perfect solution, you’ll have your brand new room in no time!
