RV Makeover

As soon as we bought The Defiant I knew that I would want to make lots of interior design changes. It took a lot of hard work by a lot of people, and a long time but finally I am ready to share the interior make-over of our tiny home!

 Here are a few before photos, the curtains were horrible and the darkness of the wood paneling was a little depressing. [You can click on the photos for a full screen view.]

 

I wanted to create a space that felt like a tiny studio apartment instead of an 80's model motor-home. I think we accomplished that for sure.

My wonderful husband spent weeks painting, because of rain, leaks, and having to paint the cabinets four times (we know to use primer now).

My awesome mother made custom slip covers for the dinette and swivel arm chairs that really pulled the entire space together; my lovely grandmother sewed the curtains on the back two windows by the bed.

I upholstered the sides of the dinette with a teal blue fabric and a staple gun.

For the DIY roman shades I referred to this video (click here) and used the flat sheets that matched the sheet above the cab. I think it worked out perfectly.

With the help of my little brother I spray painted all of the hardware (knobs, hinges, various hooks, speaker boxes) and the kitchen appliances.

Some of our friends gave us the perfect figurines and decorative pieces to hang up, some of which I still need to put out. We also have a large mirror to put right by the door. While there are many things on our to-do list we ultimately feel very happy and comfortable with the outcome!

We decided to put our full sized mattress, box spring, and IKEA mattress topper on the platforms from the twin sized beds that were originally there. We love having our bed in the motor home and feel very cozy in our room. I used an IKEA rug mat (that prevents rugs from moving) between the mattress and box spring which keeps them in place while driving.

The space on the twin bed platforms that our bed didn't cover make for awesome benches to put shoes on and such.

The people who owned the RV before us took the shower out and built a custom cabinet (refer to the photo above with the oval mirror), that was annoying and ugly so we ripped it out and put a wicker dresser in its place. The wicker drawers wont slide out when we are riding down the road so it works out great for now. I can see a closet there in the future!!

The bathroom was small, even for Robert, so he cut away as much of the wall as possible and used trim to finish it off so that we had more room to use the bathroom. We use the bath house for the most part but when we have to go, its nice to be able to fit in the bathroom!

There was a tiny space up under the bed that I put a vintage trunk in front of in the attempt to keep the cats out of it... but as it turns out that it is the perfect size for our two cats to run and hide in when strangers walk by with their dogs. Yes, we have scaredy cats!

The dinette folds down into what is meant to be a full sized bed for a normal person, but its too short for us. So we use it as a daybed/ couch when we want to lay around and watch movies on the laptop.  We use the big teal blue pillows I bought from IKEA to lounge around on. Again, works out great for us!

The end table between the swivel chairs also converts into a small desk, which I'm typing on at this very moment. I love that our space is transformable!

At some point I'll return with photos of how we organize all of our belongings in our tiny home but for now we are still deciding where everything should go. We ended up bringing a lot less stuff than we thought we would in the beginning. I'm surprised to say there are a few cabinets that are practically empty.

So now.. the moment you have all been waiting for.. Here are the after photos!

The cats are snoozing behind the blue trunk that holds our shoes.

View from the loft.

Watercolor painting by our good friend Anna Lewis.

When we make more changes, because I'm sure we will, I will be back with updates. For now we are thoroughly enjoying our tiny home on wheels and the freedom it brings us.

Thank you to all who helped us make this dream a reality and create a space for us that we enjoy so much!