The tiny house movement is growing all over the world, and people make little homes from scratch or out of existing objects. If you want a unique tiny home, you may want to consider skip bins. Here are some points to keep in mind if you decide you want to build your home in a skip bin.

1. Choose the largest skip you can find

Although the goal of a tiny home is living in a small space, you don't want to be completely cramped. To that end, choose the largest skip bin you can find, and ideally, look for one that comes with a lid so that you don't have to commission a roof from a metal fabricator. For stability, avoid skip bins on caster wheels and choose ones that need a forklift to move.

2. Use shipping container homes for inspiration

While there is not a large body of inspiration for designing little homes in skip bins, there are a lot of homes that have been designed inside shipping containers. When creating your design, look to these little homes for inspiration. They can help you decide how to set up your living space, and they also help you put into focus questions such as cutting out windows and putting in doors or just using the roof you have for entry and ventilation.  

3. Make plans to hook the skip up to amenities

As part of the Dumpster Project, a group of university students from Texas in the United States are one of the first groups of people to publicly chronicle a skip turned home. Surprisingly, they were able to connect the skip bin up to all kinds of modern amenities including air conditioning. Don't be afraid to include a generator, solar panels, water and other amenities in your design.

4. Consider a false floor

Tiny homes in skips are even smaller than many other types of tiny homes. As a result, you need to be creative about where you store things. To that end, consider putting a false floor in your skip. That gives you a space to store pipes, wires and other elements that run your little home.

5. Remember homes aren't the only option

If you love the idea of buying a skip bin and making it into something cool but are not ready to embrace small scale living, remember that a home is not the only option. You could also convert a skip into a durable playhouse for your kids, a home office or a guest cottage.