The Livingroom is just about finished

We are almost there....woo hoo...Tom finished up putting down the floor in the livingroom.  He's put the pot-bellied stove in place and there are just a few more things to do.  The guys will be caulking the kitchen, putting the baseboards up in the livingroom and Ronnie will be building the computer desk (the guys came up with this wonderful idea when I was having problems finding desks I liked that would fit into the space we had for them) in the room next to the livingroom. We plan on being in the containers by the end of the week.  I'm not saying I will have everything in there by the end of the week, I'm too old to be moving that fast, pardon my pun.  But it will be livable. Our wiener dog has already moved in, check out the picture of the pot-bellied stove.  You'll notice there is a sleeping bag/bed next to it. That belongs to Gator, our dashie, he moved in last week. I had a heck of a time getting him to come back up to the RV in the evenings, he evidently was quite comfortable in the containers.

 When we first decided to build with shipping containers, our reasoning was two-fold, a inexpensive customized house and one that would be energy efficient.  Which is why we've bermed the outside of the containers, Tom will continue to build up dirt on the outside of the containers.  Tom strengthened the container wall which will carry the most load, the rear wall, by welding steel beams to the container. I'd looked around the Internet for guidance on building a home with containers, needless to say, there was not much in the way of actually building  a shipping container home, as far as materials and how-tos go. This is when I decided to write this blog of our journey of creating a home out of a shipping container. As we've built our home, some of our original ideas for the place have changed. Some of this was due to need/wants and some due to the fact that we had to adjust our theories based on what was physically feasible to do with a shipping container. For instance, we did add an air conditioner, which we had not planned on doing until this summer, when temperatures here in eastern OK got up around 105 plus degrees. We were also going to put a breakfast bar into the kitchen beneath the window, but the space would not allow for it. Had we added a fourth container, we would have been able to have the bar. Tom had to talk me into 3 containers as it was, I didn't want to have to clean that big of a place, as I said in the beginning, I'm old and getting older. I wanted something manageable in my twilight years. We also originally had planned to have the roof covered with dirt, however, containers have their strength on the four corners, not all over, so this idea was scrapped and we put a regular tin roof on top, pitched so that the heavy snow and or ice wouldn't put extra weight on the container. All of that being said, I've decided to keep the blog going for a bit.  I will keep you abreast how living in a tin can compares to what we thought it would be like living in a container. I will let you know over the coming year how stable the temperatures are within the place and if we run into any problems that need attention.

This is the before the floor went in shot. I was still staining a few things. I decided on a darker stain to break up all that white.










This is where the TV will be hanging. Below are two shelves to hold the cable box and whatever else I need for the TV.

 In this shot the floor has been laid, ain't it purdy? And the door on the right leads to the computer area and bedroom.

 You'll notice Gator's sleeping bag next to the stove. He will sleep in it no matter what the temperature. He has three different kinds of sleeping bags. This is because if I have to wash one or something happens to one, we won't have to listen to him whine and cry until he can get back into it.

Here is the other side of the livingroom. The stove just needs the pipe going out. One of the great things about this particular stove is that if the electricity goes out due to an ice storm or something, I can cook on it and keep warm all at the same time.

This is going to be the computer desk. I will be able to fit the desktop PC and the laptop on it. The men thought this up for me after I was measuring the area to see what kinds of desks would fit. I will eventually have a shelf above the desk for speakers and computer stuff.












P. S. If anyone out there is deciding they might like to do this also, don't hesitate to contact us and ask questions....I'm also thinking since he has so much experience now, I might hire out the hubby for a few extra $$....:)