Kitchen and bathroom in a container home: layouts for a 2.35 m width

Inside, a container is about 2.35 m (7 ft 8 in) wide, and after insulation and lining the room gets narrower still. That is plenty for a bedroom, but a kitchen and a bathroom need careful planning. The good news: the long, narrow shape works well if you follow a few simple rules.

Kitchen: one wall does the work

The classic container kitchen is a single run of cabinets along one long wall. Standard base cabinets are about 600 mm deep. With 600 mm taken by the counter and a little lost to the wall build-up, the remaining walkway is comfortable for one or two people.

• Keep a clear walkway. Aim for at least 900 mm between the counter and anything opposite.
• Sink, cooktop, fridge. Put the sink between the cooktop and the fridge, with free counter space on both sides of the cooktop.
• Two-wall galley? Possible only when two containers are joined side by side and the shared wall is opened.
• Ventilation. A range hood ducted outside removes moisture as well as smell — important in a steel box, see condensation.

Bathroom: across the end of the box

The neatest place for a bathroom is across one end of the container, using the full width. A depth of around 1.6–1.8 m gives room for a shower, a toilet and a basin. The door then opens from the main room, and the rest of the box stays one open space.

• Shower. 800 × 800 mm is a comfortable minimum; a walk-in shower with a glass screen feels bigger.
• Toilet. Leave free space in front of the bowl, not just room for the bowl itself.
• Basin. A shallow wall-hung basin saves floor space.

Keep wet rooms together

Place the kitchen and bathroom close to each other, ideally back to back across a partition. Short pipes mean fewer joints, fewer leaks and a simpler connection to the outside. Read more in plumbing and electrical basics.

Small details that matter

• Waterproof the bathroom floor and the lower part of the walls before tiling.
• Install an extractor fan in the bathroom.
• Use sliding or pocket doors where a swinging door would block the walkway.
• Plan sockets and lights before the lining goes on.

Try it in the UnedPod configurator: draw partitions on the 2D plan, add a door, place kitchen and bathroom furniture from the catalogue and check the clash list for blocked passages. More layout ideas are in container home layouts.