Outfitting, Part 7: The Final Touches
As we spent months downsizing, I made the joke several times that we would be the first RVers to over-downsize and end up with room to spare. Turns out that wasn't too far from reality. We got rid of a ton of stuff, and do in fact have room to spare if there is more we want to bring into the rig. However, a big part of minimalistic living is the letting go for emotional purposes - feeling decluttered mentally, for ease of living. It's not about stuffing as much as possible into every corner of space. It's about making a small space functional, so as to not add more stress to an already stressful lifestyle change. For us, that means giving every item its own place, using storage solutions, and trying to make everyday items most accessible.
It's still a work-in-progress, but so far the organizational aspect seems to be working. No matter what, daily life will get in the way and things will end up out-of-place, but the idea isn't to be perfect and pristine. It's to ensure efficiency as we establish a new routine in our new lifestyle - and have a seamless packing up process on travel days.
We weren't sure how this would work at first. Once we got everything out of our house, we were overwhelmed by how many boxes and bins we had, filled with stuff we thought would fit in the RV. This is only half of it, as the other half spent a few days taking up space in my parents' garage:
But, the storage solutions really worked their magic. When we ordered the trailer, we opted for extra upper cabinets and a fold-down countertop. I bought containers that were a perfect fit for the cabinets. We added extra storage space with our workstation, as well as a modular, space-saving loveseat that has storage under every cushion and ottoman.
After 3 grueling days of moving in, we had officially proven to ourselves that we can live tiny! And in a really super cute home, I might add.
We're not super anal about organization, but a few baskets and labels can go a long way...as can some little decorative touches.
Lastly, I've mentioned before that we got rid of our TV. We're not huge TV-watchers to begin with, but I do have a couple of tricks up my sleeve. The first option is to use my computer monitor. I have a desktop computer with a large monitor because a big part of my job involves video and audio editing. It's not shown in the photos, but we now have it set up on the workstation, and the monitor swivels so we can stream shows and moves and watch from the couch. However, the fun solution is our home theater, which I set up in our house about a year ago and always intended to move it into the RV.
The curtains that cover our patio/ramp door serve many purposes:
- Insulation
- Décor
- A projector screen
This is why we have a white curtain behind our floral curtains. For now, we have our projector ready to go on a tripod. We connect a speaker and fire stick, and we're ready for movie night!
The really cool part is, on nice nights we could even use the backside of the curtain and watch movies from the patio. We also have an actual projector screen if we ever want to set it up on the side of the RV under the awning.
Ideally, at some point we will mount our projector, possibly where our TV hookups are, but for now, it's a fun little mode of entertainment.
Though the vast majority of our renos/mods took place in the living area, we do have a lot to say about the bedroom - mainly the mods we made to help increase the comfort of the RV mattress. I will cover that in the next post. And as for the one remaining mod that's to be done in the bathroom? It'll happen eventually. We need to rest sometimes.