Guest houses can be a good way to bring visitors to your home while giving them their own space. Here is a design that can be built in your back yard.
A guest house is an extension to an existing house that can accommodate short term paying and non-paying guests. The amenities in a guest house is similar to a hotel room that include bed(s), living area, refreshment area, minimal storage, and a bathroom.
Check out this design of a guest house using a 20 foot shipping container. And, look at what options you have to select in your own guest house. Let’s take a look at all the elements of a typical guest house.
Bedroom / Living Room
A shipping container is not very wide. So, a large king size bed cannot fit inside a 20 footer and still have enough room to walk around it. But, a queen size bed that is pushed against one wall can give floor space on the side and at the foot of the bed. This still makes it a little difficult pull the sheets over the bed though.
The design shows a murphy bed being used. This will give the visitor a queen size bed when it is folded out. When the bed is folded back into its wall casing, it leaves floor space for a small TV sitting or living room.
The Murphy Bed that I used in this design can be found at the product review page here.
Another way to have a multi-functional bedroom / living space is to use a sleeper sofa.
The advantage of using a sleeper sofa is that the same piece of furniture can be used to sleep on as a bed. Later, folded into itself and the sofa can serve as a seating for a living space.
There are Murphy Beds that have sofa’s attached to them. I have that in my product review page here.
But, the sleeper sofas are not as comfortable as a murphy bed because the mattress is very thin and not very supporting.
Too much use of a sleeper sofa will result in having a flatten mattress. The user will start to complain about the metal frame that supports the mattress poking into their back.
When using a murphy bed, the seating has to be added to the space after the bed is folded up. This design shows two folding chairs used as the seating with colorful pillows on the folding chairs to give it a splash of color, scale, and comfort.
A small rug can be placed on the floor to better define the space as a living room with the murphy bed folded away.
A large flat screen TV is placed on the wall opposite of the bed. This can be seen when the bed is in use and when the space is being used as a living room.
The folding chairs can be stowed away on hooks at the head board of the bead. Or, they can be slipped under the table with the coffee maker.
There is a sliding glass door at the end of the shipping container that will open the living room out to the small wooden deck outside.
To give the guest privacy, vertical blinds are installed at the sliding glass door. They can be drawn to full open the glass doors. They can also be twisted in a closed position to shut out all natural light while giving the guest privacy.
Refreshment Area
While a full kitchen is not necessary for a guest room, it is nice to provide the guests with a way to have a fresh cup of coffee or tea when they first start their day.
A table has been placed under a window that will give the guest some natural light. On this table are various amenities that they might enjoy during their morning. These amenities can include a coffee maker, a tea pot, creamer, pastry dish, and various knives, forks, and spoons.
Not shown on the drawing, but would be nice to have, is a microwave and a small refrigerator.
A medium size animal printed rug was placed on the floor near the front door. This is to give the visitor a focal point to draw themselves towards when first entering the guest house. You can choose any other type of rug that would complement the style and feel you want the guest house to have.
Minimal Storage
As mentioned before, space under the refreshment area can also be a place to store the folding chairs that are not needed when the murphy bed is being used.
There can also be hooks installed on the wall near the front door to hang coats and hats. Shelves can be mounted on the wall and/or a cube that opens up at the top could be placed in this area to store scarfs and gloves.
Here is a product review page of a cube that is perfect for a coffee table for this guest house.
Bathroom
There is a full bathroom with a water closet (toilet), lavatory, more cabinets storage, walk-in shower, and a place to hang the towels.
The floor continues to be the same wooden floor as the rest of the guest house. But, it has a rug in front of the lavatory and a teak slatted walk off mat outside of the shower.
You might want to place a marble threshold at the doorway from the living room to the bathroom. Then, have a tiled floor in the bathroom.
The room can be ventilated with the operative window that matches the window in the refreshment area.
The walls are glazed ceramic tile. This will make the walls easier to clean. Tile also gives a fresh and light look to the room..
The shower is against the corner wall with two walls of glass. Using glass helps keep the shower from looking as if it takes up too much space in the bathroom.
If you place plumbing fixtures against the exterior walls, you will want to build a thicker wall. Inside this thicker wall will have the insulation that is in all other exterior walls. It will also need the extra thickness to conceal the piping for the plumbing fixtures. Having the continuous insulation along the exterior walls will prevent the piping from freezing during cold seasons.
Outdoor Deck
The guests are not confined to only the indoor spaces. They can use the wooded deck to enjoy more space outdoors.
The size of this deck is pending upon how much space you have available and the budget of your construction project. Larger decks will cost more and will probably have more amenities placed upon them. These amenities could include a BBQ grille, outdoor fire pit, more furniture, and various coverings like a pergola.
The front door and the sliding glass door allows the visitor to travel between the indoor and outdoor spaces.
Seating can be placed on the deck so the visitor can spend time is comfort outside. This design has a free standing swinging chair to do just that.
Other ideas for seating could be two lounge chairs. As mentioned above, the deck could be expanded to have an outdoor living room set of furniture like a sofa, coffee table, and chairs. See a similar layout at the she shed article at this link She Shed.
Other items of interest can be placed on the deck like potted plants as seen on this design sketches. Other ideas could be a water feature along the wall, or a BBQ grille. See what was done at the man cave design at this link Man Cave.
This guest house can be used as a source of income by renting out the guest house. Some use Airbnb to help them find visitors who will pay to stay at your guest house.
Depending on the market and location, some 20 ft shipping container guest houses are renting for $80 (see guest house in Waco, TX) to over $200 (see guest house in Saugerties, NY) per night with a two night minimum.
Imagine what the income would be if you stacked several 20 foot shipping container guest houses in a cluster. I explored that in another blog at shipping container hotel.
