Author Archives: melanie

About melanie

living a small and dreaming big in an airstream trailer.

New House Moodboard

I’m working on a video tour of our small home before we began renovating, but I forgot how much of a noob I am when it comes to video editing. Seriously, there has to be a better, easier product than iMovie. If you’ve got any apps or software that makes editing videos quick and easy I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Anywho, in the meantime, I thought it’d be fun to share some inspiration that I’m using for the new house. I won’t be using all the fixtures/furniture shown here because some of it is out of my price range, but it can be helpful to create a board with my vision to refer back to while shopping or when I just can’t see the end in sight!

I’m going for chic, minimalist, modern with an industrial twist. Is that a thing? đŸ˜‰ The links to the products are below.

  1. Matte Black Delta Faucet
  2. Barnwood for cabinets via a local dealer
  3. Metal Pendant Light
  4. Hand-knotted Persian Llama Rug
  5. Axel Leather Loveseat
  6. Marble and Iron Console
  7. Rustic Subway Tile
  8. Acapulco Chair
  9. 2 Light Wall Sconce
  10. Black Matte Penny Tile

This weekend is full of cabinet making for us. What are y’all up to?

FYI: Some of the above links are affiliate, some are not!

A Small Home: Before Pictures of Our New House

A Small Home: Before Pictures: Living Room

Living room from the front door

Ok ya’ll, so this is it. The interior before pictures. In all their glory. Since the pictures are pretty low-quality phone pictures, I must admit, the house doesn’t look that bad. But let me assure you, this was and still is one fixer-upper. Let’s point out some of the fun issues going on, shall we?! Continue reading →

Our New Home

Our New Home!First things first: we bought a small house! That hunk o’ junk in the picture above is ours!

Ok, ok, I know this might seem like it is coming out of the blue, but it’s actually been a long time coming. Let me explain: the real, honest truth is that we purchased this house months ago. But I had a full-time job outside of this blog that I was trying to protect and I couldn’t tell anyone online because the house we bought is quite far from our current Airstream home– like 4 hours away. But I can now spill the beans because I recently quit my job and fingers crossed, we’ll be moving to our new location and our new home soon. Continue reading →

Our Custom, Modern Boogie Van

Van OutsideAlright, folks, this post is a long one, but a good one, I promise. So buckle up for the ride! (Yes, that is a van pun!) Continue reading →

Camper Van Before and After Remodel

Camper Van Front Seat Before and AfterY’all. I am so excited and relieved to share this post. It’s been a long time in the making. Two years long. Which is longer than we’ve ever stretched out a project. At the beginning of freakin’ 2015 George and I purchased a beat up, 1995 Chevy G30 van. (You can see all the before pictures here.) Our tiny cars were not cutting it for all the traveling, camping and haulin’ junk that we do. Continue reading →

What Makes a House Magical (and how to infuse magic into your own home!)

The following post is written by my friend, Leah. Leah lives and works as an artist in a tiny house she built with her own hands! She has a really interesting take on the things that make a house magical and how to infuse more magic into your own home. Take it away, Leah!  Continue reading →

How to Change a Small Space (with a small budget!)

It’s the new year and I’m getting the itch to change up my space. But as usual, I don’t have a lot of extra cash lying around. So what’s a gal to do? Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, I’m going to… Continue reading →

How to Clean Old Barn Wood

How to clean barnwood

George and I have been working on a new project that I have to keep my lips zipped on, but I’ll give you a hint: it involves barn wood! We love working with barn wood because it’s cheaper than new wood, it’s recycled and it has a great look. (Side note: the best deals on barn wood are usually on good ol’ Craigslist. That’s where we purchased our wood.)

But barn wood has also been sitting out in the elements for many, many years and it may be dirty or even downright unusable. We can fix dirty, but we can’t fix termite or carpenter ant or bee damage. Always remember to check your wood for bugs! We once built a table in the winter with barn wood, then in the Spring started to hear buzzing. There were dormant carpenter bees in our table! Do’h! Continue reading →

Happy New Year!

I’m not big on resolutions, but I do like to have a guiding One Little Word for the year. The premise is simple– just pick one word to guide you through the year. I’ve found that it’s easier and more impactful than a resolution.

Last year’s word was brave. And man, oh man, there were times I had to be brave.  2016 challenged me. Mostly in ways too personal to share. I learned a lot about myself. I wrote a book! I released a pin! I gave up things that no longer served me and I made some big decisions. I was brave. My 2017 word is “leap.” And here’s why…

The Myers-Briggs personality test classifies me as an INTJ. It’s actually one of the more rare personality types and it’s even more rare for women. Being an INTJ means I’m a great researcher, but I think (and worry) too much. This year I want to take more risks. I’ve never regretted the biggest risks in my life– like living full-time in the Airstream, marrying George or adopting my beloved pup, Bambi. This year I want to leap more and worry less about the (often times imagined negative) consequences.

What are your goals for 2017? Do you have a one little word? I want to hear about it in the comments!

Do you want to make the leap to living full-time in an RV, Airstream or motor home? I wrote a guide on how to live that life, available here. It’s truly one of the best leaps I’ve ever made.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! I hope you all have a relaxing and restful end of the year. Don’t let the stress of the holidays or the stress of spending too much time with your weird family get to you.

I’m signing off for the rest of the year so I can have time to reflect on goals, things I didn’t accomplish and things I did accomplish. Speaking of things I did accomplish, I’m taking a two-ish week break from the ol’ blog, but I am still emailing out my ebook, “The Ultimate Guide to Living in an RV, Airstream or Motorhome” and I’m still mailing out pins at a reduced price in case you are interested.

Here’s wishing you and yours the best holiday break,
love,
melanie