Spacious RV CONVERTED into Gorgeous TINY HOME
Ashley Cutrone and her family of five decided to make the unconventional choice of living full time in a renovated RV. They decided to buy land and needed somewhere to live while they were building a house, so they bought an RV and renovated it. They saw this RV and it had three bunk beds in the back, which was the feature that sold them. It was a perfect fit. They renovated the whole thing in three weeks, and they did it on a budget too. The whole renovation including all the furniture cost them less than $3,000. They decided to redesign the interior because they wanted it to feel like home.
Ashley saw it as an opportunity to try new things and add personal features like the fun backsplash in the kitchen. They found a lot of freedom in the process and got creative with where they found things. They had so much fun that they are now renovating an Airstream that they’re working on and they’re hoping to have it done in the next month or so which they plan on selling.
One of the things that they loved the most inside of their RV is their coffee station. There was a piece of furniture that they actually ripped out and got super lucky with. They didn't even measure it when they bought it, but they put it together and just happened to fit perfectly. Not far from it they have their kitchen and in the kitchen they really wanted to do real tile. They knew they were staying stationary, so they didn’t have to worry too much about weight. This meant that they could have a little more fun with the design, so they put cement tiles inside of the kitchen and then also did a little subway tile just to mix it up.
They also re-faced all the cabinets inside just to really update it to a more modern look. They ripped off the original countertop and replaced it with a desktop that they bought. They ended up cutting it and configuring it to make it work. They ended up putting it on a diagonal and recutting a new corner piece out of an area of the desktop that was being cut out for the sink. In their kitchen they have four drawers which doesn’t sound like a lot, but they haven’t needed more than that.. They feel like they don't waste as much food by limiting the amount they’re able to store at a time. They have a smaller fridge and they have a smaller pantry, and because of that they’re able to keep better track of the food they have on hand which leads to less waste and an overall smaller grocery bill.
When they saw the RV they hadn't really looked at a lot, but they saw the triple bunks and were immediately sold. They knew that it was a feature that wasn’t super common in most RVs, so for them it was a sign that this RV was the one for them. Each of their kids has a bunk and then they all have a bin at the end of their bed for clothes and a few stuffed animals. Their older son has an additional shoebox of Legos and that's pretty much it on toys and extras. They have another little closet space to hold all of their coloring books and arts and crafts.
At the back of the RV is their bathroom. They only did a slight renovation there, they updated the tile, painted to make it feel brighter, and updated the cabinet faces and that's pretty much it. They left the shower as is, which they might update eventually, but it wasn't really a huge priority for them. There were originally storage cabinets in the slide out, but they felt like they didn't really need the storage space and they wanted it to feel bigger and more open, so they ripped all of it out, and updated all the lighting throughout. There was also a fairly large table built in that took up a lot of space, so they removed that and were able to find a really affordable table to replace it with.
Their master suite at the front of the RV was like a dark dungeon before. It was so dark and brown and kind of scary, so they ended up painting it white which made a huge difference. There was a window over the headboard of the bed so they just hung a shower curtain to cover it. She and her husband each have their own side for storage. They also have doors that can close and separate the bedroom from the rest of the space. One of the spots they actually did not renovate is underneath the bed. It came on hydraulics, so it easily lifts up and allows them to store a lot of stuff underneath it.
Ashley’s best advice for downsizing or making a big change like this is to adopt the mentality that less is more. You don't need everything. You don't need salad tongs, you can use two forks. Little things like that seem so tiny, but when you add all those little things up it just creates more clutter. And then the biggest thing is that you have to have grace for yourself and one another. As a family living in a smaller space, you're gonna step on each other's toes, you're gonna get in each other's way, and that will occasionally be quite frustrating. At the end of the day, you just have to be okay and take a deep breath. You just have to have grace and you can't be so hard on yourself.
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