While we’ve been taking daily walks around our village, we’ve been watching a yard come to life with shipping containers! Ordinary shipping containers are being transformed into a cafe and what looks like a shop. It’s actually mesmerising now they have wood cladding on the outside so it doesn’t look like containers! I honestly didn’t know you could turn the average shipping container into a building. I’ve always thought they are for carrying cargo or hazardous materials. It’s made me think of what else you can use a shipping container for. Here are my 5 fantastic uses for a shipping container.
1. Cafes, Coffee Bars and Shops
I’m starting with cafes and shops. They are quick and easy to pop in place and then if needs be to take away to another location. A shipping container is great for a popup shop. If you fit many together you can have a shop as large as you want. For a cafe, you can have a seating area available. Specialists would be able to cut windows in the sides for you for light. For a takeaway coffee bar, they are a fantastic money-saving idea as you won’t have to rent commercial space in the high street.
2. Food Truck
A smaller shipping container on the back of a small lorry would be a great use for a permanent mobile food van or truck. You can rock up to festivals and sell from the back of your container! Alternatively, you can have a shipping container in a permanent spot and sell delicious street food from it. We have one of those in our town, they sell the yummiest burgers.
3. Garden Office and Workshop
Shipping containers make great garden offices. They can be connected up to the electricity, and windows and a door can be added. Ideal if you are short on space inside the home and are now working from home like many at the moment. Universal Containers offers a range of shipping container offices that can be customised with insulation, power, and modern finishes to create a comfortable workspace right in your garden.
4. Playhouse
You can find reasonable shipping containers for sale that you can turn into a playhouse. They are watertight so you include a TV and sofa to make it a den for older children. Or paint and decorate it for a fun playhouse for your younger children and all their toys. You could turn one sidewall into a giant chalkboard!
5. Sauna
I would love my own personal sauna. What about turning a shipping container into one? You can create your own day spa with one. Add a small patio to the outside and you are onto a winner with your own relaxing space.
There are many uses for a shipping container, let your imagination run wild! Have you got a project in mind that you would like to develop with a shipping container?