When it comes to designing your own small home, it can be difficult trying to pick out what you want your new home to look like.
An even trickier part can be choosing the materials, and which ones are best for you. If you are thinking about using metal as part of your small home, then we have picked out 20 amazing small homes that use metal somewhere in their construction.
We hope these inspire you when it comes to designing your very own home, and help you decide how and where to use metal in your construction.
The Lily Pad Metal Container Home
A great way to incorporate metal materials into your small home is by building a container home.
Shipping container homes are on the rise as they are sustainable and cheap to build, so a lot of small home owners have taken to building their houses out of shipping containers as a way to save money and help the environment.
This can make your small home look incredibly modern and creative, especially with all that metal cladding on the outside.
Container Home Interior
A lot of people may be turned off from container homes because they are very small with limited space – but only if you don’t know how to efficiently floor plan.
As you can see here, the owners of this metal container home have made perfect use of the small space offered by shipping containers. They have managed to include an indoor bathroom, sleeping area, and a kitchen.
They have also continued the metal theme from the exterior to the interior through metal ladders, stools, lighting, and accessories.
Metal Cabin In The Woods
Of course, shipping container homes are not the only way for you to build a small metal home. The owners of this small home designed it to look like a traditional cabin, but instead used metal cladding for the exterior walls and roof so this home looks even more sturdy and modern.
It goes to show that you can design your home any way you want, and adding metal sheets as exterior cladding works great on any building, no matter its shape or size.
Traditional Values
Here is another traditionally styled house that has incorporated metal cladding to the exterior.
It still features the typical features of a classic American home – with the front porch, window shutters, and front columns, but is brought into the 21st century with some smooth-looking metal exterior design.
So, building your home from metal does not mean you have to compromise on old traditional features of an American house.
Get A House That Can Do Both
It looks like the owners of this small home couldn’t decide if they wanted to use wood or metal cladding for the outside of their home – and why should they pick just one?
If you are torn between using wood or metal or any other material for the exterior of your small home, then you can always choose two or three to combine together and make a small home that has a really cool and unique look.
Metal works well against wood and stone, so feel free to use either as a feature wall against the metal exterior of your home.
Metal Roofs
Metal does not have to be the main feature of your home’s exterior, but it can be used to enhance it.
he owners of this small home built their walls and porch completely out of smooth stone to make one coherent design. It is eye catching and beautiful – but when it came to the roof and beams, they chose metal.
Matching the two materials together makes a home that looks modern and elegant. Why not do something similar with your own home?
Modern Metal Dream
If you want your small home to feel contemporary and modern, then using metal in its construction materials is a great way to achieve that look.
Other materials like wood have been used for centuries to build traditional homes, but metal has surprisingly only grown in popularity the last couple of decades.
Using metal for the cladding and roofing of your home can help make it look smooth and sleek, just like what the designers of this small home have done here!
I Sense A Pattern Here
Using metal in your small home’s construction and design also allows you to use its shape to create some attractive patterns. Most sheets of cladding can come ridged in a wave design, making it look as though your house has stripes due to the shadows formed by those grooves.
This can really make your home stand out instead of just being painted one uniform block color. This metal home here has really made good use out of the metal cladding and it appears more textured and sophisticated thanks to the grooves of the metal.
The Turtle House
The designers of this small home have also used two materials to great effect – they have designed the outer exterior to be one whole shell of metal, and the interior is made from softwoods.
Not only does it look cool, it also makes the house sturdier and feel more protected – as if it has its own turtle shell to keep it safe!
Rustic Metal
If you still like the rustic aesthetic and want to merge it with metal materials, then here is a great small home built using metal cladding that still looks authentic and casual.
The designers of this small achieved this feeling by using rough wooden beams and decking rather than sanded and smoothed wood that would have turned the design in a more modern direction.
Use old and recycled materials, and you too can have a metal small home that feels lived in and real.
Make It Mobile
Homes these days are not just bound to one location – there have been a growing number of small mobile homes in recent years, so you may even want to pop some wheels on your home and take it wherever you wish.
This small mobile home has been designed using black metal cladding, making it look very modern and stylish – it’s certain to turn heads wherever it goes!
Give This House An ‘A’
Based on Scandinavian cabins, this small home has used metal beams for the support structure. Although traditional materials like wood have been used for the roof and floor, metal materials still play a huge part in turning this small house into a home.
Through the use of metal frames and accessories like the iron log burner and metal legs for the furniture, the owners of this small home certainly know how to make good use out of a little amount of metal.
Interior Features
Metal can also be used to help you utilize as much space in your small home as possible. If your small home is quite tall, you can probably squeeze in a loft space and use a metal staircase or ladder to move up and down.
Metal is probably one of the best materials to use for such features, as it is sturdier and more durable than wood.
So, if you are looking for ways to incorporate metal designs into your home, then consider using it for parts of the house you need to last a long time like staircases, shelves, or doors.
Put The Rust In Rustic
Using metal in your small home’s construction does ont mean that your home will have to look shiny and new.
The others of this small home incorporated modern elements (such as glass windows and minimalistic furniture) and old stylized metal materials to combine both old and new, modern and rustic aesthetics.
The metal here looks rusty and work, but is still smooth and sleek to compliment the modern elements of this small home. It just goes to show how versatile metal materials are when it comes to style and design.
Top Notch Security
Whoever owns this container home clearly does not want to be disturbed! The architect included a metal panelled side that can be winched up to completely cover the windows and sliding door of this metal small home – or it can be dropped down and used as a decking.
It’s an ingenious design that you perhaps may want to utilize in some way – perhaps a drop down metal panel that can be used as a bar or worktop?
Rooftop Garden
Source: Pinterest
Choosing to live in a small home does mean you have a limited amount of space to move about in, but you can always make modifications to help make as much use out of what you have got.
The owners of this container home decided to use the flat roof as a rooftop garden – meaning that if you decided to make your own metal container home, you too can utilize the roof in some way.
Why not put a bar up there, or grow plants, or make an outdoor eating area?
Go Off The Grid
Container homes are a great way to build a sustainable home using cheaper materials, so it is no surprise that a lot of people looking to live more environmentally friendly are choosing this style of house.
The owners of this small metal home even added in features like a wind turbine and solar panels so they can power their home using clean energy.
It goes to show how using metal as a material in your small home construction can really benefit the environment.
Dude, Where’s My Bus?
Source: Tiny House Listings
If people are making homes out of shipping containers, it makes you wonder just what else you can transform into a small metal home. Well, the original owner of this home decided to make one right out of a bus!
Yes – that is actually a home you are looking at. Inside there is a bedroom, kitching area, a bathroom and a living space too! It just goes to show that there are no boundaries when it comes to making your very own home.
Keeping Things Smooth
Source: Pinterest
Using metal on the exterior of your small home can really modernize it overall.
This small container home has been stylized to look like a modern miracle, with long windows and cook features like a classic metal shipping container door attached to the side like a piece of art.
Using flat and smooth sheets of metal to clad the outside of your small home will always help make it look elegant and sophisticated.
A Splash Of Color
Source: Pinterest
Another great reason to use metal materials on the exterior of your small home is because it is way easier to paint than other materials like wood or brick.
With a metal home, you can quickly paint the exterior any color your desire to bring a splash of color to your home and to your life
Conclusion
And that is it!
20 amazing small homes that are made from or use metal in their construction. There are a lot of benefits to using metal to help build and clad your home, and it’s a great way to make your home look amazing!
We hope that someone of these picks have helped inspire you with some ideas for your very own small metal home.
