The journey begins!

This is the start of a new  chapter in my ever evolving  life and as  life evolves , so does my blog. It has seen many changes  in the years I have been posting. When I set out to document this new adventure I toyed with the idea of starting a  new blog that would be   just about my life in the trailer, but then I rethought  that idea as  this blog is for me too and it is about my life's  journey. So it is also about the past ,where I was and how I got to where I  am  now.
Thus this new tale is just a continuation of my life's  journey  now told   from   inside   my  tiny trailer which is  7' x 13' . A 1966 Aristocrat Low liner  travel trailer that I dug  out of the  desert over a year ago . The refurbishing   took  over  9 months . I  paid  as a worked , thus it may have gone faster if the money had flowed in at  a faster pace but all in all  I was very happy  with the process and over joyed at the support I received. You all know who you are and I give a BIG THANKS to each one of you!!
My goal was to add  all the latest amenities I could squeeze into the space plus my studio AND my Etsy supply shop goodies .  I managed to do all of this and the pictures will show you how  this was  accomplished.
 As time goes on I  will be posting how too's and  helpful  hints if  any of you set out to  redo I trailer of your own. My tale  will unfold as I live  an artist  life  in a  tiny space on wheels. Below are some  images  of the trailer when I first brought it home and how it looks today. I have been  in it  one month . Please  enjoy the tour !

Scooty's , Dixie's and my space. ( Dixie  is taking a nap  on the bed). 

Old dining area.

New  dining, studio space  and Etsy store supplies . 

 This space holds ALL my art  supplies and a small  printer too. The white box on the ceiling is a 1100 BTU AC/heat pump.

Close up of my  tool box and Etsy sale items in cubby drawers. 

Everything is labeled and marked for easy locating .

The cubby drawers  are mounted  on a solid  wood panel. They cover  the front  and back  windows too. The trailer had many windows, but for full time  living it felt a bit like a fish bowl so I did not mind covering  several  up.  

Even in doing this I still have 7 windows,  a sky light, and the front door with a screen door .

Future post will show my solution for the wood  panels viewed from the outside. 

The trailer holds over 500  Etsy items and extras are stored in the back of my pick up truck. 

Light over my shoulder while I work . I picked high end small scale  1" faux  wood blinds for the windows . I did not want an RV look as I wanted to use as many 'homey ' items  as I could to give the trailer a real feeling of a home. I did use Sunbrella fabric for the cushions as I did not want fading and  I knew the material would  hold up to heavy use and my doggies . Note the doggie door I added to the door.

 The old Kitchen . I LOVED the robins  egg blue appliances, 

however  they were not safe and  added a lot of weight .

 The  new appliances weigh much less and are  safer.

New Kitchen, Another weight splurge was the style stone counters and the river pebble back splash .  Once again the trailer is my home and so  in order to feel like a home, I found certain splurges necessary  as to NOT  feel as if I was 'camping out'. 

Under the 3 burner gas  range is a back up propane heater hidden behind a tin door . 

New two way  refrigerator . 

It works on both propane and electric and keeps things  icy cold. 

 It even keeps ice cream frozen solid!

 I was able to  customize the front  panel so I used old punched tin  cupboard panels . 

Old closet door (now home to my  new wet bath ).

New closet door, now door to wet bath and  also creates  room to display art work,

plus  the side wall  holds spices  for  cooking and more Etsy  supplies .

New wet  bath .  A splurge on weight was the river pebble floor mounted  on a custom made  steel shower pan.  This gives the tiny bath a real  solid feel for its size.  The walls where done  in  new galvanized tin panels that I  aged with muriatic  acid  then coated  with a vinegar solution to make them  rust.  The wet bath is  a ' step up ,then  sit down ' as it is only 4 feet in height.  It  has a window and  I added a sky light which makes it feel roomer  and adds head room  from beyond the 4' . I am only 5'3" so it works very well. It  was mandatory to have a real  flushing  toilet and  a hot shower. The toilet has a real ceramic bowl and  flushes to a black water holding tank under the bed,  then  it leads  out to a sewer  dump outlet.  The showers hot water is provided by an on demand small hot water heater that is mounted to the  front of the trailer and directly connects to the dual  propane tanks.  Extra special thanks to Terri !!!!

Wet bath door  detail an  old victorian door handle .  God IS in the details. 

Old Bed nook.

New bed nook. I  cut down the full size bed and made it an  extra wide twin so that I had more room for the wet bath . It has windows at either end so you do not feel confined .  The step up to the bed also serves as a sitting  area when you add a cushion and pillows. A great place for coffee or to relax and watch a movie on the computer.  I belong  to Net flicks so I  always have a movie or TV series to watch in the evenings. Along  the bed side is also a small book case for evening reading. 

My private  RV hook up rental space  allows me to have my own internet service.

You can see I divided  the bed space  from the kitchen space  by using   a hand made pot rack .I  made this from an old dresser mirror  frame. It keeps the pots  from taking up room in the cupboard too.

                                                                    Old floors .

New Bamboo   floors ,very hard and durable . The entire trailer had vapor barriers and extra insulation added when the outside was  resealed   and wood rot  replaced .All new plumbing and a 50 amp service was added too. This I hired done  as I wanted to be sure it was safe. 

 The floor has the highest quality  underlayment I could buy. 

The entrance way is another place to display art .  Having room for art work was another 'must' as it would NEVER feel like home without art and books. 

Art work is hung and also  glued  in place with E6000. 

Red velvet cup cake and coffee in bed . More Etsy supplies in storage cubby drawers . The bed space is extra wide to make room . Clothes  are stored above the bed and a  clothes hook on the   left wall  at  the foot end  of the  bed nook holds about 6 hang — ups. 

Thanks for stopping by-  XO Julie

  

1966 aristocrat low liner travel trailer