• When its wandering days are over, a shipping container can be recycled into a comfortable home.cargo ship with containers image by JoLin from Fotolia.com
  
  Contemporary interior design has given us minimalism, innovative recycling and modern architecture that literally shapes itself to the land. Stripped-down spaces don't have to be austere or uncomfortable. Experimental houses can be odd but exciting and very livable. And a box designed to travel can be set down almost anywhere to make a simple home.
  
  

Minimalist Kitchen

• Imagine your kitchen as a sleek expanse of pale, natural stone, wide-plank floorboards, a single rectangular table flanked by six Hans Wegner chairs, a big sink with a swan-like curve of faucet. No toaster, no coffeemaker, no pots and pans on or in the stove, no cupboards over the sink, no fridge covered in notes, magnets and photographs. This is a Pawson kitchen. The well-known British architect and designer is called a minimalist, but there is nothing minimal about the function of the kitchen. Floor-to-ceiling cabinets line a wall and the espresso bubbles away on its own shelf, as hidden from view as the toaster, the dishes, the mismatched mugs and the pots and pans. An interior meticulously designed to do and hold everything necessary while remaining perfectly uncluttered is a meditative space. In this type of spare but beautiful kitchen, the cooking, eating, family activities, daily homework and special projects all have room to breathe.
  
  

Modern Slant

• In the countryside outside Prague a journalist, a doctor and their family live in a sloping house on a slope with artificial turf carpeting and almost no interior walls. Most of the floors follow the slant of the outside hill. Some netting protects small children from spills off the edges of ramps. The home theater has a sharply raked floor which opens to reveal a guest room tucked underneath. Curved woven chairs hang from the ceiling and bunk beds with railings contain the kids at night. Walls of glass let in light and spectacular views. A simple dining table and chairs sit next to one window and a custom-designed metal kitchen unit runs along one wall nearby. Plain gray polished concrete walls are economical and match the stainless steel fixtures in the bathrooms and kitchen. The interior is like a playhouse, all ramps and angles and hidden storage. And no one who lives there ever forgets that they live on a hill.
  
  

Container House

• An old shipping container can become a vacation house, guest quarters, artist's studio or the wing of a multi-container home--a cost-effective bit of recycling that adapts easily to modern interior décor. A one-container house can be extended with an end window wall to let in light, views and a sense of space. The inside walls are insulated, then paneled or painted. Cork or bamboo floors are green and economical. Sliding glass doors along one wall open onto a stone or concrete paver patio that expands the living room. A single-container living room has a modern convertible sofa, table with built-in storage and deep curved reading chair. The dining area contains a foldout table with stools that slide beneath it when not in use or provide extra seating in the living room. An open kitchen unit is a self-contained cabinet. The enclosed bathroom next to the kitchen holds a shower and composting toilet. A bedroom with clerestory windows for light and privacy has vintage travel posters on the walls and a stack of old-fashioned suitcases for storage.