this week we're back in Auckland visiting Brenda Kelly who's managed to
transform a 20-foot shipping container into an incredible off-grid tiny home
hey hey hey Brenda how's it going okay this is absolutely spectacular thank you
beautiful place yeah I suddenly love it container homes are something I've been
passionate about since was a little girl actually I didn't realize how young it
started to us going through mold journals and back when I was even 13 I
was scribbling little diagrams of containers and how to make the most of
the space with different furniture and layout options and it's just gone from
passion to a hobby and I ventured aside of you know one I just do this so how
big is a shipping container shipping containers a 20-foot container so it's
roughly six meters long by about two and a half meters wide Wow and the interior
bit that I've got here is about four meters long so it comes to just under 10
square meters Wow okay that's incredible because I mean
when you think of somebody doing a 20-foot shipping container build the
last thing that you would expect is that they only use four meters Eric yes what
I wanted to do is keep it under 10 square meters cuz that's the council
requirement for not requiring building consent right great solution yeah
was it tough to build in that amount of space it wasn't actually and there's a
lot of planning that goes into it there I fed it absolutely everything I need
and I'm really stoked with the results so it's been great
okay let's have a look inside okay come on in oh my goodness oh this is
beautifully done thank you when I saw how big the space was from the outside I
would have never guessed it would be this spacious inside yeah I think using
white a lot helps certainly give it that feel and given I've got a mezzanine
floor as well it's some given it a bit more the high roof and especially the
window view we just come and you just hit with that beautiful view I think
really adds to it as well and I think what you've done by actually elevating
the living area I love the sleeping area as well as really clever because that's
just given it a whole place a real feeling of greater spaciousness yeah
kind of look up to it and in front of you it's slightly so it's a bit of oh do
I put the living area at the top which is traditionally what you're doing a
tiny house but I didn't want to sort of be hit with it
floor level of eye level I wanted to be able to come in and see the view and
have that feeling of spaciousness so you have put the bedroom down below sure and
unfortunately I'm young enough that getting on my knees is not an issue so
through it really well I'm really happy I did make that call and how high is it
in here in total it's a high Q container so it's roughly 2.9 and given off that
installation the ceiling down it's probably about 2.7 at the moment right
okay and when it divides up into those two separate compartments over there
what are we looking at there the bottom ones roughly one meter and high Tommy I
want to make sure I could still sit up in bed and read a book and things like
that so just the right amount of headroom and then this is roughly I
think one point six five so you won't be able to stand up I can't no but I'm but
when you think about it when you need a living room you're not really standing
anywhere yes ma'am so it hasn't been a problem at all we just got a home in
better not hit the first time and then you know you learn oh I've got a lovely
great big sofa space here as well I mean had to be lovely for lounging out all
this and it's great actually this some doubles as a beard as well gift so votes
also I am BB this comes up and then I've got my library and linen cupboard in the
faring there as well it pops up in this storage underneath
so everybody furniture and he has got sort of built-in storage of some Sun
Description to make the most of the space and the kitchen is gorgeous again
you've managed to pack a whole lot into a very small amount of space haven't you
yeah absolutely I think but the height still helps you can have sort of thought
height covers and you've also got storage up top
sure and but yes everything I need the fridge is just a perfect size for me
I've got my drawers my pantry my cut three everything's got at space and yeah
it's great and the office space here as well yes I went from home two days a
week so it was important I had my own sort of dedicated desk and this just
fits perfectly into the space and the only non 12-volt appliances I have I've
got a little can inverter that I use this 150 watts and you just plug it in
all these places pop around the face or all 12 volts so cigarette lighter or USB
right so I can add my cellphone run my printer for example or run off
this charging my camera batteries in my drawer battery about the only things on
e 240 volts for and the those fine so let's check out the the
lounge okay yeah see this is a really really lovely space isn't okay and what
an incredible view you have out here well lately yeah it's my favorite seat
in the house you've got right there just looking out over there Bush I can
imagine why and so the 12-volt TV up there as well
yes travel TV with built-in DVD player right and it's fun eh you've got a DVD
of of a fireplace so you know in winter would I have friends around come on and
I've got the fire off so system is quite good yeah but there's an aquarium up
there I know there's an Aquarian up there right now
yes cats favorite program I'm here so um let's check out the sleeping area okay
yeah come on in this base is so cozy yeah it's just the right height I can
sit up and be in and read a book and whatnot and not hit my head I can make
the bed quite comfortably yeah that's yeah it's perfect height really
absolutely and the lighting here as well yes we've got strip lighting along the
wall and we've also got little individual lights for reading by as well
fantastic and you've got your wardrobe all along the back wall there as well I
do yes I've got a couple of shelving units and with a rail in between for
hanging storage so okay did it go on it oh wow see this is actually a really
lovely space yeah awesome I do like to be able to have a shower and wash my
hair without putting my hands all gone for a 900 white shower and studio
traditional 7:50 right and it said as a good space is enough room to change and
things like that which is great absolutely and I really like what you've
done here with the the clear light roofing as well it's bright lights and
heats of natural light natural warmth it's great - you feel like you know
you're you're in the middle of the brush when you're showering a little
Kingfisher that sits on the clothesline and watches me yeah absolutely that real
outdoors bringing outdoors and that's um yeah I love it
this is a utilities cover as well as additional storage right and so
obviously we've got our hot water heating unit at the top it's got all my
camping gear and tools and stuff and right down the bottom here
a little draws we've got my two six volt batteries right along with my 12 volt
pump and accumulator tank under fear my fuses and things they're all tucked away
in this cupboard and so the solar control units here as well it is yes so
at the moment even though it's slightly overcast I can tell that we're drawing
in close to one in right and that one out going out at the moment
as well so I've got some lights on so overall I've drawn in 964 empowers and
used 8:05 so as you can see my little picture there there's a battery with a
smiley face as long as he's happy I'm happy
sounds good to me and you put it on concrete blocks I have yes this is a
like just a tire that's been filled with concrete that's great yes so given it's
just a temporary dwelling and in also the beauty of containers you actually
only need to support the four corners because they're designed obviously to to
have that structural integrity and support there so concrete blocks is all
I really needed and this this containers off grid as well isn't it it is so can
you tell me about some of the off-grid features that have been built into it I
shall carry yes I've got two 12-volt Metro to six volt batteries connected in
series to give me 12 volt everything is wired up twelve volt there aren't many
appliances these days that you can't get 12 volts so I've just done it that way
it means I can do all the wiring myself as well you don't need an electrician
sure I've got two one 35 watt solar panels on the roof right and they
basically just charged the batteries and yeah it's give me everything I need and
what about what about rainwater collection well if you want to come
around the other side I can show you what I do there let's go so at the
moment I'm just collecting rainwater from the roof of the shed which is only
about two square meters right and goes into the guttering as you can see notice
I've got a hedgehog data system and how that works is it basically this like a
cylinder inside the down pipe in the rainwater comes around the outside of
the down pipe fills up goes through this lovely 2p into the two tanks I have set
up right about to 220 liter tanks connected to each other
rain goes into the first one is water seeks its own level they both fall at
the same rate and once they fill up the water comes back up here comes make up
the drain flow and then comes down the inner tube and out through the storm
water which I'll connect up I haven't had to do that yet right so you've got
four hundred and forty liters of water to work with treat
how are you getting on with that it's been fine I mean I've been here three
weeks we have had a fair bit of rain but right I mean it's just showering washing
that you're really using water for sure damn I haven't come close to running out
so fantastic do you have a way of monitoring how much you've got inside
the task very very young high tech solution tech solution very effective
all right I like to always undo and pour more and
if I have to do so and if it hasn't come to that yet it's been fine so I've got
kind of an undercover entranceway right and it also has my utilities cupboard
which is storing my batteries and my water pump as well as a whole lot of my
tramping gear and things like that and but the plan is also that these
container doors they still open right the way up right so once the weather
gets better I do my landscaping I'll have a nice little patio out here and
then those doors can open the indoor outdoor flow and so tell me a little bit
about the the build process did you do a lot of the build yourself I did in the
India contracted out the sourcing and fitting out off the container and my
source the windows and the doors a lot of things he can hand to try and say
well costs but I gave it to professionals to install and yielding a
welder isn't one of my strong points and that yeah I saw some of the materials
myself and then when it came to doing the painting and the installation and
assembly and everything in between me and my dad we've there yeah I managed to
cut it out and so the big question what was the budget the budget was around 30
grand yeah and I've come in I haven't added up
the final tally but I think I probably around 30 35 grand I think for what you
have accomplished here that's a really really good price yeah yeah I'm
definitely happy with it I mean a lot of labor obviously didn't go in today so
that costing was it they don't have being another 20 grand
vadym now it's been a labor of love and I've loved every minute of legend yeah
really happy with the result well thank you so much for showing us around you're
here with a full house it's been a real pleasure and I think you've created
something here that you can really be proud of thank you really appreciate it
thank you Cheers creating a comfortable living space and
10 square metres as an incredibly big design challenge and I think Brenda has
done a fantastic job and really making it into a reality it's really obvious
how much thought and design has gone into each and every aspect of the house
and that means she's managed to create something that's going to be a
comfortable home for me he is to come