I started this post a few days ago, and I keep coming back and then leaving it again. It is 105 blistering degrees outside. I live in a tin can with a single air conditioner that shuts off a dozen plus times a day in this heat. Yesterday hit 109. I believe it is easy to understand the concentration is a bit difficult right now.
We looked at trailers with two air conditioners. but they all were 50 amp electric and by getting one that is 30 amp, we save $300 a month in lot rent. Since this is our twelfth month, we have saved $3600 off of rent alone. Great savings, except when it is 105 boiling bubbling take your breath away degrees outside!
In these same twelve months, we have been fighting with spotty at best internet. My twitter feed has gone deathly quiet because I can no longer do much other than retweet other people's posts. When I do have internet, it only lasts for 21 days and then we have to move again. And BAM! The signal is gone!
But, no, this post is not about heat or internet! It is about another REMODEL!
After months of should we or shouldn't we, we decided to completely remove our dining table setup from the booth area. We eased into it very slowly. First, we took the table down and set the table top on a couple of plastic orange crates beneath the back slide window.
The windows on the side of the slide were one of the biggest selling points of this trailer for me. I love light! The opposite wall of this same room also slides out, making this main living space extra wide. With both slides out, we have room for stand alone book shelves. These shelves give this space a real 'home' rather than camper feel to the area.
Back to the remodel. Husband then put our one piece of real furniture, a chair that a I simply love, in front of his new faux desk.
I refused, and still refuse, to take out the benches of the booth because we use it for too much storage. Tools, sewing machines, holiday decor, even flour, sugar and chocolate chips are stored beneath those benches.
For several months, the husband has had to bungle his feet up and down and round the big metal doollie bobs on the floor that held the table posts. We left them there just in case we decided to put the table back up. Wishy washy is the correct way to describe my decision making abilities.
The chair had to come out. The table put back in sleep,bed position. Boxes and clutter and every except the kitchen sink had to be moved. Even that is really true, because the sinks have to be set up for the glass bowls and candles and plants to be set safely inside of them for the move. Not a great setup.
So finally, after ten months, we decided enough was enough. After finishing the fold up table, we turned three tables we had to move every time into one that folds up to the wall. Yes, the craft supplies still have to be moved, but they always had to move. With the tables out of the way, they go right onto the sofa and back into the table after the move.
To solve the random clutter that basically just sat on the benches constantly, we went out to Target and bought the giant wicker baskets pictured above. One big trunk sized one and two that are half as wide as the big one. Each has a lid, so we got about 50% more storage. Yeah!!!
I tried to find the baskets we purchased on the Target website, but they are no longer listed. Time for fall items. Sorry.
All the blankets and pillows that have been sitting on the benches are now tucked neatly away. We also we able to put everything we were storing inside of the orange crates inside the baskets, as well. This is a big deal, because that left an open orange crate for socks.|Another problem solved!
We finally unscrewed the metal rings from the floor, giving husband room for his feet, finally. I know, he is so spoiled. 😉
He got a nice piece of wood to make a desktop, which he stained and vanished in the sane colors that we used for the folding table across the room. He also stained and varnished the wood on top of the bench seats that are no longer covered with cushions.
Wanting the ability to use the table area as a bed if we get company, we took the rings off the bottom of the table, too. This allows the table top to slip easily behind the sofa. The bench cushions are now underneath the thin mattress in Natalie's room, giving her a softer bed. This also keeps all the pieces for the kitchenette bed available to use, should the need arise.
Yes, this was one of the simplest remodels we have done to this trailer, but in time saved in moving, it is a lifesaver. Everything, except the computer, stays right where it is. The computer is simply moved off of the desk surface, down onto the chair. Between this simple upgrade and the much more complicated folding table we built, we are saving between two and three hours taking down and setting back up on moving day.
With his office up and running, in the very top photo, you can see the husband working to convert my printer over to sublimation printing. Notice, his teeny tiny RV office doesn't just have room for his computer and one printer. There are two printers set up in his office space.
Two years ago, the husband have me a Cricut (setup in my fancy folding table) for Christmas. Just before Christmas, actually. I was able to make names for our stockings and a couple dozen mini stockings for Natalie to give to her friends, and that was about it.
Last year, after a year of learning how to use the Cricut machine, I made things. Many things for family and friends for the Holidays.
This year I decided to try something a bit different. Sublimation printing and cut and print with the Cricut. The above 'Avi is ONE' shirt is the very first attempt we tried with this new type of ink and printing after converting the printer. We still have quite a bit of learning to do, but I think it turned out cute.
Everything pictured above was made inside our little Home Sweet Rolling Home.
This is how we do #fulltimeRVliving. Even when it IS 105 degrees!
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