Living in an Ultra-Modern Shipping Container Home – Built with 4 x 20ft Used Containers

Tour this shipping container home & learn how Cathi transformed her studio into a successful Airbnb! If you have a unique space you want to share with guests, learn more about how to become an Airbnb host here:* https://airbnb.vaz6fn.net/ea
*As an Airbnb partner, we earn when you create a listing and host on Airbnb

In this video, we’re touring a really unique and modern shipping container home in Kamloops, BC, and hearing from the family’s story of how and why they host their shipping container on Airbnb. Cathi and her husband Trevor downsized to this small space three years ago after their sons had left home and the couple has been living in it full-time ever since. The main house has 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room, and a full bathroom.

It’s built with 4 recycled shipping containers. There’s an additional studio space that’s connected to the main house with a breezeway and it is set up as a fully self-contained micro cabin, plus there's an awesome outdoor kitchen with a dining space and wood-fired pizza oven.

Cathi takes great pride in hosting her unique space with guests on Airbnb and has had success doing so. You can check out the beautiful Airbnb here: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/27575052

You can also follow Cathi on Instagram here:
https://www.instagram.com/blackboxcontainerhome

The shipping container house was designed and built by Honomobo and you can find out more about them here: https://www.honomobo.com/

Thanks for watching!

Mat & Danielle

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STAY IN TOUCH!
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Blog: www.exploringalternatives.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exploringalternativesblog
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exploringalternatives/

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COMMENTS
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We want our channel and our comments section to be an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome to watch and contribute. For this reason, comments that are inappropriate or hateful will be reported and/or deleted.

Please discuss and debate with respect, and report inappropriate or hateful comments directly to YouTube.

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CREDITS
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Music & Song Credits:
All music in this video was composed, performed, and recorded by Mat of Exploring Alternatives.

Editing Credits:
Mat and Danielle of Exploring Alternatives

Filming Credits:
Mat of Exploring Alternatives

Photo Credits:
Photos of the shipping container house build by Trevor Marshall

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96 comments

  • 222

    Delightful home. Kathie is charming.
    Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks.

  • Rob W

    I enjoyed the video. Two things I missed- one is overall cost, second how they are setup for water and sewer.

  • Exploring Alternatives

    Thank you for watching! You can check out the Black Box Container Studio here: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/27575052
    https://www.instagram.com/blackboxcontainerhome/
    And learn more about how to become an Airbnb host here:* https://airbnb.vaz6fn.net/ea
    *As an Airbnb partner, we earn when you create a listing and host on Airbnb

    • emeeul

      Dancing Butterfly Woman All true, but it’s surprisingly easy to do this in the USA based on even a marginal debt-to-income ratio. In our region of about 1.5 million people, banks will still finance a project like this, as unemployment is really low and incomes tend to be fairly high relative to other places in the US.

    • Lalita Thapa

      Amazing

    • Maria Fernanda Arriaga

      I’m not sure but ,if anyone else wants to learn about container home floor plans try Sovallo Container Build Fixer (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some interesting things about it and my brother in law got amazing success with it.

    • johny ubankta

      This lady seems to have a beautiful soul didn’t hear from her husband but they seem to be good parents and genuinely good people!!Nice job on the place it looks awesome!!

  • Jan Newheart

    This is so beautiful! Who would have ever thought that shipping containers could be this cool and gorgeous.

  • sydney moirangthem

    break bread together….the sweetest words heard in a very long time. very inviting

  • Jim

    The whole “containers are eco-friendly” is simply false. Creating large Windows reduces the integrity of the container and therefore it requires more steal beams and support and the internal skin which is usually insulated does not provide a good enough barrier to the elements and therefore it’s too cold in winter and too hot in summer. It’s purely for aesthetics and a wood cabin would be more eco friendly.

    • Based Dept. Supervisor

      To even say the term “eco-friendly” in this day and age is contradictory. 8 billion humans that solely rely on one highly refined, non-renewable natural resource to survive(oil) is the furthest thing from “eco-friendly” that you can get.

    • Sarah A

      @Brian Flynn Insulation doesn’t help much with a black metallic surface in the desert sun. It can only do so much. She admitted herself it would get really hot, and they will pretty much have to use the air con 24/7 on a hot summer day. Winter is a different story.

    • M Chrysogelos

      thank you! I was going to write a comment about that – esp. since they live in Canada! how do they keep it heated/cool. I love the view, but hate the thought of night when you could be seen from all over.

    • M Chrysogelos

      @Brian Flynn yes, but some of the walls have NO ‘walls’ left!!

    • M Chrysogelos

      @JulienB yes, I have heard people ordering new ones, since some places are not required to tell you what substances were shipped in them.

  • Mi Mü

    To say „we don‘t have a ton of space“ about the kitchen 😳 To me, the kitchen is huge!

    • Kelly Archer

      It’s definitely bigger than the kitchen in my apartment! 🙂

    • Hakeem Barclay

      @Christopher Johnson it’s because it’s an Airbnb/income property. Yes in all aspects, it is bigger then 704 sq but, they don’t live out the other half. Though they do have a common area outside which gives them the space they need but take away the income property side of things, Yes I would agree it’s not a tiny home.

    • McK USA

      Totally huge! Bigger than kitchens I’ve ever had by far

    • McK USA

      @M Chrysogelos rich people say minimalist to mean “not as extravagant as we can afford” so you know they have money 😅

    • Ronald McFondle

      That’s a normal middle class sized kitchen. Nothing special I’ve always had kitchens like that or larger

  • Bee75

    This is a beautifully furnished home with a comfortable layout.
    I don’t get the vibe that it has really been a home…yet. It feels like a bit of exposure for their Air BnB. You could have mentioned the cost to build, the supply of water, electricity…

  • Sparky Hart

    Wo is me. It’s so small so we have to buy less stuff.

    This is bigger than most apartments even without the studio.

  • Dock Pigmon

    This minimalist tiny home is bigger than most of the apartments I’ve had and they have more stuff than I’ve ever been able to have.

    • M Chrysogelos

      @Cristian chill pill time. no one is griping. I have said the same thing too: not very small, and not very ‘minimal’. However, it is beautiful, well-maintained and thought-out! wise to put in an air-b-n-b; am just considering doing that myself!

    • M Chrysogelos

      @bex0r okay, you are right, so I guess it is all relative. but compared to “TINY HOMES” – this is not!

    • M Chrysogelos

      @emeeul yes, and also in the US, there are real tiny homes too.

    • Royce X

      I went to the builders website…they cost more than many houses….especially here in Arizona….I think this is the model that cost $475K….smh

    • kazoosc

      you’re confusing minimalist ( a design style ) with ‘tiny house’ ( the movement )

  • Valerie A.

    Seriously, this isn’t a small space, the house is built with 4 shipping containers, i don’t consider it tiny. Nonetheless, its indeed beautiful…

    • kazoosc

      @Spazza42
      the style is minimalist
      .. not the size — though it is well below the average new US ( 2,600 sq.ft. / 241.5 sq.m. ) and Canadian ( 2,200 sq.ft. / 204.4 sq.m.) single-family house
      .. the average British single-family today is 914 sq.ft. / 85 sq.m.

    • kazoosc

      @elsa berhe
      you’ve calculated wrong. this house is built from four 20-foot containers
      .. 20 x 8 = 160 …. 160 x 4 = 640
      .. approximately 1/3 the size of the average Canadian single-family dwelling today

    • elsa berhe

      Thanks. I probably heard them wrong.
      God bless.

    • Spazza42

      @kazoosc Yeah, it’s well below the average for the US and Canada, but to the rest of the world it’s a mansion. Simple as.

    • Mary Walsh Philippus

      @Jan Klosowski I may have seen a building behind the outdoor kitchen

  • Safphron

    I’m really starting to get annoyed when the cost to build and purchase the land is not mentioned.

  • Linda Vanwey

    Love this home. But wonder why no solar panels? Would have been perfect.

    • Tommy Hammernots

      @Memphis Brewer – Well, bad news. I service Semiconductor equipment and I can tell you they already exist.

    • Memphis Brewer

      @Tommy Hammernots I own the 4th largest solar installer in the US and you’re lying. Odd that you posted about said efficiency surfacing in 10 years just a few lines up.

    • 0900McShizzle

      @GasoLINA INK! panels, batteries and good inverters that can power a whole house are expensive. People take loans to purchase and install them. It will take years before the savings you’ve made on using the grid are met. And even then you still need to buy new batteries as they have a limited lifespan. Some choose a hybrid model where they only buy panels and they sell the energy back to the grid which cancels out any bill payments

    • GasoLINA INK!

      @0900McShizzle Oh here it only cost about 5 grand which is the same as 5 iphones. I’m in Australia.

    • Muh Yanuar Firdaus

      @Tommy Hammernots solar panel couldn’t extract whole spectrum of light those make solar panel hardly achieve 50% of the energy

  • jgarno100

    Nothing takes 10 minutes to clean. I wish that were true.

  • Xena Jada

    The black and the cedar go well together.
    Her voice is so soothing.

  • Garrett Johnston

    “We don’t have a ton of space”, this place is like 4x the size of my apartment. smh.

    • Solera Gohil

      Well yeah, apartments are generally smaller than homes. Keep in mind that this is a house, not an apartment. It’s small for a house.

    • blkbeauti05

      I live in a studio in NY. I’m gonna agree with you.

    • Prince Ali

      Sucks to suck. New 40ft containers here cost 2k used ones are 1.7k. Can put two of them together with heat, a.c., utilities all for under 10k.

      Or spend 10 months in a small apartment.

  • DJ F

    Interesting how some people’s downsize would be other people’s up size.

    • Gay cha

      Way of the world. But let’s not assume these folk didn’t earn it and work hard in first place.

    • psilonautika

      I’m only seeing the wealth of LIFE that they have accumulated and the ability that they have to be able to share their experience with others. How phenomenal! I’m also seeing how others will tend to judge people by what they assume instead of applying tools to grow and enrich their own lives to be just as wealthy. Income equals outcome and these two have clearly worked hard to be able to appreciate the fruits of their labor! Truly a blessing!

    • T S

      Yep i’ve lived with my partner now in a 36m2 house for 10 years now.

    • The BooCrew !

      Took the words right out of my mouth 😂

  • Nathan Bellamy

    We love the idea of reusing shipping containers.

    Those aren’t reused shipping containers lol.

    Rich people playing eco hippy haha

    • Vulpix

      They literally said they bought the containers from a company who makes them. We don’t know where they get the containers from. My guess is they weren’t used before..

    • Nathan Bellamy

      @Prince Ali I’m a builder mate. I’ll tell you now those aren’t reused shipping containers. They are brand new. Very easy to obtain.

    • Nathan Bellamy

      @wintage those are brand new shipping containers. I own two homes mate which I built myself. Far from broke mate. How bout you? Lol

    • johnny t

      They are a contractor and music coach that still work and draw multiple incomes. Try not to criticize and learn from them, make a better life.

    • Nathan Bellamy

      @johnny t I hear you. But they aren’t really keeping true to the ethos of reused materials or tiny living.

      As for better life. I live in a brand new home I designed and built myself. I own an older home I renovated myself and now rent out. And am in the process of buying a 10 acre rural property in a most stunning spot in New Zealand surrounded by forest mountains and a river out front which we look out to. Paddocks for a few cows horses and sheep. Plenty of room for my kids to ride motorbikes fish and hunt.

      I’m doing pretty good myself mate

  • hoiy vinosa

    This is not a tiny home is a house made with containers, it’s missing the concept of tiny , but it’s a great idea for new homes . Specially now that wood has skyrocketed prices

  • John Smith

    This isn’t a tiny house, it’s nice architecture for affluent people.

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