Hi, I'm Ben and this is The House I Built Out of Shipping Containers. I've been interested in shipping container architecture for quite some time, but I had a really hard time finding good information about how to get building permits or how much would it cost. We did the research, we documented everything that we did. and now we're so excited to share with you what we learned. So check it out. This is episode seven, and we're going to build out the kitchen. Shipping containers are quite narrow and once you add insulation and framing, you are left with just a little bit over seven feet drywall to drywall. I thought that a galley style kitchen would be well suited for this long narrow space. And so we put all the cooking stuff on one wall and then a combination of open shelving and cabinets to create a pantry wall on the other side.
Everything in this kitchen came from Home Depot and to be honest, I was a little surprised with how many modern options they had that were perfectly suited for a smaller home like this. I made an appointment at my local Home Depot and met with the kitchen and bath teams there to come up with the design. We had some really nice features that are typically associated with high end custom homes like this waterfall edge to the countertops and check out these solid maple drawer organizers. These are from Thomasville who did all the cabinets for this project. We took our architectural drawings into our local store and from there, we were able to work out which ones of their products would fit into our design. They even provided a nice little rendering for us. From there, we confirmed the complete list of components and set a schedule for when their installers would come and do their thing.
We started installing the kitchen cabinets after the drywall was finished, but before the flooring went in. For the wall behind the cabinets, we use green board moisture resistant drywall on the lower half, just to give us a little bit of extra protection and then use regular drywall up above. We brought the cabinets in and started to lay them out, just to check the fit relative to the design. This process lets us know where we need to cut holes in the back of the cabinets to allow access to the electrical plugs and plumbing stub outs behind them. I drilled some holes and then use my jigsaw to do these cutouts. We removed the doors and face panels from the cabinets just so they wouldn't get scratched and beaten up while we were doing the rest of the installation. We screwed the two cabinets that were next to each other together so that we could position it as one piece.
No wall or floor is perfectly flat so we use shims underneath and behind the cabinets to make sure that we had a flat surface along the top and that all the front faces were in plane. We then secured the cabinets and I started working on the side panel that's going to reinforce the waterfall edge on the countertops. After double-checking the measurements I cut two pieces of three quarter inch thick furniture grade plywood, and screwed them together to make an inch and a half thick panel. I then added a strip of one by two Poplar trim to the inside edges of this panel. This will just make sure that when I slide the refrigerator in next to it there'll be some space in between the front and back edges to provide a roomier fit. I screwed on some L brackets so that it had plenty of places to securely attach it to the wall. I stayed pretty late on this night to finish this part because first thing, the next morning, the countertop guys were coming and they needed this panel in place so that they could take accurate field measurements before cutting the quartz.
The Silestone quartz countertop installation guys came and they used quarter inch thick, Luan plywood, and a hot glue gun to make a template that precisely fits over our cabinets. I love learning from trades people. They have so many repetitions of doing the same thing that they develop all these quick and efficient ways to make. In particular, they use sheers to cut the Luan strips of plywood super-fast and that's something that I just never would have thought of on my own. They took the templates with them back to their workshop so that they could accurately cut out the quartz. We got started on the open shelving, both the open shelves and the microwave have metal tracks that get installed directly to the wall. Once these are in place and nice and level snap in the shelves and microwave. If it seems like we are rushing through this project it's because we certainly were. Home Depot had scheduled a massive photo and video shoot for this project and hired a professional production company with a nonrefundable deposit to do so.
We were really under the gun to catch up on all the time loss during the permitting process. Mike from Modern Builds knew that I was under a really tight deadline to finish before the film crew came in and offered to help with the window trim. Adam used one by two Poplar to trim out the kitchen window. This kitchen is quite small and I needed some unusual lengths for the shelving on the left side of the kitchen sink. I just ordered some longer shelves and use my compound miter saw to cut them to length. The tracks are aluminum so I was also able to cut those with the compound miter saw. I just made sure to go nice and slow so that the blade wouldn't catch. The shelves are quite easy to install. You just screw in one side of the track to the shelf itself and the other piece of the track directly to the wall.
Now the shelves can just snap right in. When I cut the shelves, I saw that they were hollow inside and I decided to use this as a design feature. So for the upper shelf, I put in a Poplar plug to make a solid end, but for the lower shelf, I decided to use that hollowness to make a four inch deep shelf that would hide sponges and dish rags. All the appliances are from a brand called Higher. We selected them because they make really nice high end compact designs that are perfect for small apartments or houses like this. We selected a 24 inch wide electric range and an under counter refrigerator that had stainless steel drawers. We then put the cabinet doors back on and we're all ready for the countertop guys. And we could have gotten recommendations for installers for the cabinets from Home Depot, but I really liked this hybrid approach where I do the parts that I feel comfortable with, but things like countertops, I leave to the pros.
The countertop guys arrived on time and it sure didn't take them long to get started on the installation. I selected quartz countertops by Silestone, one and a quarter inch thick in a color called white Zeus extreme. I really liked the durability and stain resistance of quartz countertops and I typically go with a more solid looking color like this. I just find that stylistically, they tend to age a little bit better than the heavily figured options. The top piece went in nice and easy, but I had my fingers crossed because I know how hard mitered connections can be. And I was a little worried about how perfectly the side panel would fit in. They did a quick test fit, and I thought it was really cool how they use these suction cup handles to help maneuver these heavy panels around. The fit was pretty good, but there's just a couple spots that needed to be shaved down.
They took the panel outside and ground away just a little bit so that would all fit in perfectly. They knew that the side panel was a good fit and they were able to install the under mount stainless steel sink. All they had to do was put some construction adhesive on the side panel and glue it to the plywood that I had installed. They also put a special bonding cement between the pieces of quartz. Now this isn't a very DIY friendly process, but I have done DIY concrete countertops before and I'll put a link to that video in the description box below. Once this cement had cured, they're able to clean it up and polish it.
They also drilled holes in the countertop that'll be used for the kitchen faucet and for the button that will turn on the garbage disposal and made an asymmetrical backsplash out of hexagonal tile. This was a design detail that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I made a whole video just about this one DIY project. That's on the Home Made Modern YouTube channel and I'll put a link to that in the description box below. That wraps up this side of the kitchen. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. There's just enough countertop space for food prep, but it still doesn't feel like this kitchen is overwhelmingly in a small 320 square foot cabin. I'm very happy with all the design choices and product selection. Although the one thing I might do differently, if I was to build another one of these is use a smaller microwave. It just feels like it takes up too much visual space.
On to the pantry side. The easy move would have been just to do entire open shelving set inside this dry walled recess. We thought it would look a little bit nicer and more upscale if we used a combination of solid Oak shelves with some Thomasville pantry cabinets. This space is only 12 inches deep so we actually use cabinets that typically would be used as upper cabinets in a more traditional kitchen. Tony nailed in some two by four framing and then installed these four cabinets. He screwed all four of them together so that all the face frames are perfectly in plana. In this way he only has to set this one big super cabinet. Tony put some plywood down underneath, and then used shims to get everything level and square.
Typically the guys worked from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM and this space is really small. So as much as possible, I try to work outside during the day and then once they called it quits, I would pick up on interior construction. Now that the pantry cabinets were installed, I could cut two by fours to finish the framing up above them. I basically made a two by four ladder that was all screwed together and then screwed it into place. The framing on the right side came out a little bit farther than we originally intended to. I was left with the decision of cutting the shelves at an angle or letting the drywall that sticks out farther, create a consistent vertical line. This is what I ultimately chose because it just seemed like it would be a little bit easier and reduce the probability for errors.
With the framing done we now added the last few pieces of drywall and then taped and plastered all the seams. I'm using three quarter inch thick, solid Oak for all this shelving. It really took my time cutting all the horizontal shelf pieces to just the right length. I knew that the drywall on the right side probably wasn't perfectly flat. So I took individual measurements for the shelves that were at different Heights. I cut the vertical spacers for the lower shelf, slightly higher than the upper ones. This just looks better visually in my opinion and it allows you to store larger items lower to the ground. I did a test fit, just dry stacking, the vertical pieces on top of the shelves.
This way you could get really precise field measurements for cutting those top two critical spacers that will align the top of the shelves with the top of the cabinets,. We brought all the Oak boards back to make a ranch and Mike helped out with the sanding. We sanded them all to 220 grit and then finished them with simple finish by maker brand. This is a fantastic all plant based natural finish, and I use it when I really want to make wood a little bit warmer and really bring out the natural color. We used our VOB finished nailer to nail the boards into place, making sure to keep our edges properly aligned. Everything was going smoothly and we worked our way up to the middle shelves, where we have a lot of outlets. We thought that this shelf would be a good place for storing a lot of the smart home features and also recharging your phone.
But one of the plugs was on the side that had Oak paneling so Mike had to use a jigsaw to cut a hole out of the Oak. Super big shout out to Mike for helping out with this project. This is pretty typical out here at maker ranch. When somebody's got a really big project and a tight deadline, we normally all gravitate around them and see if we can help out. Be sure to check out the Modern Builds channel. They're doing some really cool stuff, including a bus renovation that's happening at the same property as the container house. We installed the rest of the Oak shelving and we're ready to start figuring out the trim. We're going to use one by two solid Oak for the trim. Mike held up a piece and measured where to cut it. And after sanding it and finishing in, I used a finish nailer to fasten it into place.
The trim acts as a picture frame and frames out all this storage so that it looks like one cohesive unit. I love that there's white empty space on both sides and above and below it. Jesse then came in with a hammer and nail set to recess a few of the nails that weren't driven all the way in. I like my interiors to be clean and modern and a little bit on the minimalist side, but a wall of all white cabinets to me is just a little bit too oppressive. I think we came up with a nice balance between the Oak open shelving and the Thomasville cabinets. We'll have links to all the products that we use on the Modern Home Project website. This touchless Moen faucet is one of my favorites. It's just really nice when you're cooking chicken or something like that, to be able to turn the water on, to wash your hands without actually touching the faucet itself.
The higher electric range is really nice. It's super easy to clean because it has a continuous glass surface on the top. I love how it reflects the hexagonal backsplash. If you wanted to save money, I would suggest subbing out the refrigerator, which is really nice, but a bit on the pricey side for a cheaper under counter option. In a small kitchen like this, though, I do recommend spending a little bit more to get high quality durable cabinets. The cost differential will be minimal because of the limited quantity and the concentration of use will be greater. That's why durability is super important. After working around the clock, we made it just in time for the scheduled photo shoot that Home Depot had and I'll put links to some of the content they created in the description box below. This was just about 11 or 12 weeks after we got the permits and everything wasn't actually finished.
But in typical professional photo shoot fashion, you just hook up some generators and make it work. Obviously we continued to work on the project after this photo shoot, but this was a big deadline slash milestone that really pushed us to make decisions a lot quicker and progress the project. In the next episode, we'll continue to focus on the interiors and show how we built out the bathrooms. If you're interested in getting the architectural plans for this project, there's a link to them in the description box below and check out our DIY furniture and home renovation channel, Home Made Modern. I know everyone's not going to have the ability to build an entire shipping container house, but on that channel, we have a whole bunch of modern DIY projects, many of which can be made with very little skill and a minimal amount of power tools. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to subscribe to this channel if you haven't already and keep those questions coming in the comment section. We're planning on doing a Q and A episode so we're collecting the questions from all the videos on this channel. All right. That's it for now. Thanks everybody. Bye.