My top two concerns when contemplaing this lifestyle were: “How in the world can I fit everything I need, especially everything I need for all my cooking and baking, which I love?” and “How can I make an RV look and feel like home?”
First let me address that making everything fit is an issue. How do you make it all fit? Well, you don’t! We have been paring down for months and are down to only the things that we actually need in addition to some things that we just really wanted to keep. Which is still a lot of stuff, more than I thought we could take. I have learned through this process that if you really put in the effort up front to mindfully organize and utilize every inch of your space, that you too can easily fit everything you need into a tiny home; Be it a 5th wheel like us, or any RV, sailboat, or even a tiny sticks and bricks home.
I am going to use this post to show some of what I’ve done to organize our space for two reasons. First and foremost, to show my friends and family how I actually was able to fit everything the three of us need to live comfortably into our new tiny house. Secondly, to share ideas with others who may be dreaming of hitting the road, or the high seas, or those who have already done so but are running out of space!
Finally, I will share a couple of the ways I’ve decorated our new home as well. Although that will be a continual work in process as Greg and I didn’t want to use too much of the same decorations we used in our old s&b house in our new one. We want to decorate with new and meaningful items we find in our travels. That said, I want it to look homey in the meantime!
Organization comes first, and since cooking is my first love (after God, Greg, the kids, the grandkids… uh… you get the picture), let’s start in the kitchen. I am not going to post everything, only some key areas where I utilized various organization tools to add space. I must point out that everywhere throughout my entire 5th wheel, on every bottom shelf surface and on every shelf I’ve added, in addition to in between platters, stoneware, and dishes, I have used Sure Grip shelf liner. Everywhere. I got it (tons of it!) at Big Lots for $5 for a big roll. I have literally used over 5 rolls of the stuff as I figure better safe than sorry. Did I mention that I used it everywhere? I feel like it’s been a crucial part of making sure items do not slide around during transport.
You get the idea when it comes to the kitchen. I have a lot more to share, our homeschool storage, the bathroom, our master bedroom (which is my hubby’s office), and our closets, but this blog post is getting too long and I am getting too pooped to post! I will post more organizational pictures within the next day or two, pinky swear.
I can’t totally sign off though without leaving you with a few pictures of how my decorating is coming together so far. As I said, this will be a continual work in process.
That’s all for now. I’ll do a “Part 2” within the next day or two… or three.
Happy Trails & Sunny Sails!