Allison here, I finally got myself a WordPress account and a bit of free time to write! We are under a blizzard warning today in Denver. It’s been pretty humdrum so far, despite the hype, but is a great example of why we are not setting out until spring time.

So what are we doing with the RV during the winter, you ask? Nik has all sorts of ambitious re-wiring projects and such, but my big goal is to make the inside feel like home. The challenge is that it isn’t like decorating a house, really, despite all those cute boards on Pinterest. It’s like decorating a house where you have no storage and everything is subjected to an earthquake every week or so. Think about all the things you have hanging on your walls, sitting on shelves, or even houseplants. We have to be very creative in making the space feel like our own but without a lot of space to hang things, without keeping much sitting out (though I hear Museum Putty  is a lifesaver), and with the bare minimum of “stuff” in general. We are relying a lot on colors and fabrics.

We have picked this color scheme (but replace red with orange).

We are doing white or off-white for the cabinets and wood stuff, light blue for upholstery and curtains, and pops of orange.

Current state:

• Old musty carpet
• Late 80’s curtains and upholstery (Nik thinks the curtains aren’t bad. I’m booking an eye exam now.)
• Lots of wood cabinetry/trim that makes the space look smaller
• Not a lot of wall space (that won’t change, but we can make the most with what we have)
• All the fabrics and soft goods have absorbed weird smells
• No bathroom door between bathroom and kitchen/living room (!)

Goals/To-do list:

• Rip out carpet and put down laminate or something similar that is easy to clean and doesn’t collect dirt, smells, and dog hair.
• Fix sewing machine and replace curtains with something more modern. This will include the valences (eep!).
• Potentially re-upholstering the dinette cushions, but I don’t know if that is in my wheelhouse or not. I may do something like this.
•  For the (equally ugly) chair, I know we aren’t tackling that, so I’m going to steam clean it and cover it with a color-coordinating blanket.
• Paint cabinets and wood bits.
• Replace mattress and buy some color-coordinating sheets. Hopefully I can find some that are cute, fit the weird-sized “RV full” mattress, and will stand up to laundromats.
• Hang a curtain as a bathroom “door.”
• Figure out some storage solutions (I should buy stock in Command hooks and Rubbermaid bins, I think).
• Make the outside pretty, too! I want to paint a giant sun on the side.

The other big modification project is to convert the back bedroom into an office space. We haven’t settled on what this will look like exactly, but it will include a desk space of some sort (size TBD), possibly additional seating (like a daybed with extra storage underneath), and possibly other storage solutions (a dresser?).  More on that later.  The other big project is to sell or give away basically everything we own! I think more lists are in order soon…

Let me know what you think in the comments below. If you have any ideas (or if you want to help me paint in a tiny, poorly-ventilated area!) I’d love to hear them!

 

Follow-Up: Check out how it turned out in our Interior Tour!