A Salvage Queen's Dream

I love to shop and lets be honest, I'm good at it. I can spot a bargain from 100kms and I very rarely pay full price for anything. I love visiting demolition yards, I love hard rubbish on the side of the road when I'm driving through Melbourne, I love scrounging through "Op Shops" and I love a weekend that involves a garage sale or two... I even love visiting the tip!

** My addiction also includes shopping centres, malls, affordable boutiques, ebay and other online stores **

I love the feeling I get when I have found a bargain, I love looking at something and thinking of a way in which I can use this bargain to create something new and often beautiful. I love old junk mixed with modern conveniences. I love the feeling I get when I unpack my car and marvel at what I have brought and how wonderful it looks in its new position! Love, Love, Love!

Whoops got a little carried away there! So anyways, when embarking on a new project I like to have a motive, something that will keep me focused and more often than not make it that much more exciting/challenging! So I am determined to use as many recycled products as possible, salvage anything I can and of course take advantage of my super shopping skills! My home will still be sleek and modern with everything ever needed, but there will be my usual touch of quirkiness thrown in there, some rustic elements and a crap load of personality!

My vision: A house created out of "Pods" which incorporates eco friendly living in a rural setting. The pods will be constructed one at a time to allow my ever changing design to evolve with me and limit any restrictions.

Themes: Modern, contemporary, rustic, natural, warm, different.

Container One: The main pod, built out of a 40ft high top container. The bathroom in the far end will contain a custom bespoke vanity unit, a composting toilet and a shower. The main walls and floor will be tiled for a modern look. A European laundry opposite will have a large amount of storage including hanging space. A sliding door will lead to the kitchen area which will have full amenities, plenty of storage under the counters as well as open shelving overhead. Smooth L shaped bench top with Breakfast bar and further open shelving. This will overlook the small living/dinning area which will house my bed until the next pod is complete. The walls will be clad in V groove timber product that will be painted a stark white to add a sense of space and dimension. The timber walls will also add a texture to the room which will distract from the living in a metal box feeling.

Container Two: The Master Suit. This will be also constructed from another 40ft Hightop container which will be perched on top of container one with an 1 meter overhang to the front. To get up to the second level a spiral staircase will climb from the lower section and it will contain a large space for a bed, plenty of storage with a walk in robe and a beautiful outlook from large windows. Again clad in the V groove panels painted in crisp white.

Container three: Children's wing. Built out of a 20ft container, I would love to create a children's retreat which would have loft style sleeping, built in desk and of course, plenty of storage! This is a more down the track dream and it not something that I will be focusing on just yet!

Additional: I would like to include a glassed in area somewhere, somehow, but we'll cross that bridge later in the project!

Salvage: Even before I had my first container delivered I have been stockpiling items that could be used. I had a great day Melbourne cup day in which I purchase a sliding door cavity for $30 (RRP $250) A huge 1mtx1mt sky light for $40 (RRP Expensive) some old silver dome shaped things which I figured would be cute as overhead lighting for $5 each, and an aluminium door frame, never used for $70 (RRP $100). Since them I have also scored a couple of other items, an antique hall table which i will use for my vanity in the bathroom for $50, just needs a sand and a bit of love to get it to the look I want, a glass vessel to accompany my vanity unit, made from recycled car windscreen, $40. A never been used, still in the box shower screen, $50 (RRP $300), a benchtops from the seconds area at Ikea, 2x $5, slight crack in the underside, Kitchen sink $20 & taps $15, again new, clearance section ikea. Framing wood, $20 for approx 21mts. And these are just the building materials in the last 3 weeks! I'll be buying some things new, you cant get around that, and I have a lot of things that I have stockpiled for future uses that will come in handy. I have all my tiles for the bathroom/showeroom area which I got for free from a family friend a couple of years a go that I have held on to, so theres another cost saved!

I can not wait to see what else I find with a couple of days off coming up soon and of course pay day tomorrow! :)

Surprises are the best form of convincing..

My poor parents. What is that girl up to this time? Yesterday she was going to spend Christmas in Canada, today she's raving on about building a house out of shipping containers??

"Dad, I just bid on a container on ebay! I'm the current high bidder!"
"You did what? We haven't even talked about this yet? Wheres it going to go? How much? Can you get out of it? This is a bigger thing than you think it will be"
"I'm up to $4,000 but it comes with heaps of stuff in it, we just need to fix it all up. I figured i'd put it out the back or something, I don't know, buy a block of land somewhere.. Dad I'm doing it, just help me"
"Stop bidding"

Luckily I lost that one, although it didn't seem all that lucky at the time. Either way I had Dad on side now, he figured I was for real and was just going to do it anyway. The next day I contacted everyone I could find on the internet to find out costs, sizes and availability. Dial-a-Box, Mick & Maureen, lovely! So sweet and encouraging that I didn't really care how much, and on suggestion I purchased a 40 foot high top container. 40ft x 8ft x 10ft. Just had to make sure dad was home for delivery, hope next weeks ok!

Mom, the supporter, the yes woman, the follow your dreams-er, thinks out side the box, very passionate & full of drive. The saving grace in this story! She would get home from work and I would make her walk the property trying to decide on a location. We would agree and suggest to dad, too hard to get too, too low, too visible, too messy, too far from the house, etc.

Enter the vacant block next door. Boarders dad's shed, has plenty of room and is currently use for storage. The issue, its not flat, its overgrown and practically unusable. Dad has a friend, long story short and I have a large flat area in which I can place my first container. Its delivered the following week and the journey begins..

Pedro on the bobcat

Flatter than perfection

The first container arrives

Vast open spaces?

The seed was planted..

A simple email sent by my always intrigued mother was received by an ever distracted and always dreaming daughter. The email included a eco site promoting "out of the box" building techniques, ideas and stories. A giant shed that used shipping containers as the internal walls to create a modern home that reignited my passion for warehouse living. Two shipping containers joined delicately with glass framed by a wooded forest. The ultimate tree house built from a protruding shipping container perched on the edge of a cliff face.

Something you should know about me before I go to far, I'm a"do-er", a dreamer, a schemer, a diy-er, a always up to something-er. Full of energy and a lack of at times logical thought. I look at something and I either know how it works or I will know how it works once I've pulled it apart. I was born with my father's brain. If it can be done I will do it, or find out how. So with one renovation under my belt and a bit of cash in the bank I concocted my next project, a home made of shipping containers.

Back to the email. I work in public service, I love a good distraction like most from doing what I'm paid for. This fascinated me. Within 2mins I had decided that I was building one. I replied to Mom and stated that this will be taking place and we'd discuss tonight. She I'm sure expected this to be forgotten before I even made it home. By the end of the day I had scale drawings, furniture lay out, building materials methods of construction and of course a budget.

My father, Jack of all trades, the schemer, the do-er, the go to man, the sounding board, and my often worst nightmare - the no man.