It occurred to me recently that I started this blog with the intent of sharing my home “inside and out”…but most of my posts have been outside! Now, that’s not entirely surprising, as I do spend much of my time outdoors. However, I do want to share the inside of my home with you as well. So that’s what I’m doing today!

Welcome to my home!!

Come on in and enjoy a cup of coffee with me. Time for a home tour of my 36′ Alfa Ideal 5th wheel which has been our home for the past 3 and 1/2 years. We downsized from a 1000 square foot modular home to our current 325 square foot RV.

This view of our largest slide out is what greets you as you step inside our tiny RV home. Half living room space, have dining room space. The dining table and chairs are an antique store find. The drop leaf style table works perfectly for our small space. When we are not using the table, we just fold it down and have room to turn the chairs around as extra seating for guests. During occasions where we have multiple guests for dinner (yes, that does happen in our tiny home!), we can easily pull the table out into the middle of our living room and seat 6 people quite comfortably.

You can view the video tour of our home on YouTube as well:

My little cozy up corner occupies the other half of this slide out. I love a good rocking chair, and I finally came up with the perfect “inn table” solution to house my lamp, books, computer and other personal things that I use on a daily basis. My hubby had built these sturdy wooden crates out of scrap wood for garden produce during harvest season. I just love them and have used them for so many things! They make a perfect little bookcase, with space to organize a few other items and place a lamp (and a cup of coffee!) on top.

The Office

Moving around the room to the left, we have our “office”, if you can even call it that! Home to the printer, electronics/chargers/paper clips, etc.. This is also one of the few spaces in the house that I get to decorate. With so many windows (9 BIG windows in the living area!!), there is scarcely a place to hang a picture. So our favorite beach picture found a home where the TV used to be.

I would say this is one of the less than appealing sections of the house, and we have talked of tearing these cabinets out and re-designing this corner MANY times. But it has never happened, mostly because we live here and there just isn’t room for remodeling, especially when you have clients coming into your home for music lessons on a weekly basis!

I should mention that we purchased this RV with no furnishings. All the original furniture had already been taken out. I was glad of this because I wanted to re decorate anyways! The RV style window treatments were the first to go!! I replaced them with regular curtains and bamboo window blinds.

The Cubic Mini Wood Stove

Our newest addition to our small home is this adorable wood stove from Cubic Mini Wood Stoves. We have enjoyed the cozy warmth from this stove immensely!! If only we had known about these tiny stoves sooner! Our electric bill was through the roof the two winters before we purchased this stove. This past winter, not only did we save on our electric bill, we stayed warmer and cozier too!! We are so thankful for our wood stove.

RV Style Music Studio

As you probably know, I am a private violin coach and teach private music lessons on a weekly basis. When we first toyed with the idea of moving into an RV, one of my biggest concerns was my piano. Ain’t nobody putting a full size acoustic piano in an RV!! Oh my was it ever a debate between my husband and I! Between his back trouble, our mission to downsize, and dreams of tiny home living, we had some decisions to make regarding my musical instrument situation. In the long run, we decided to go with this Yamaha Digital Piano and I have to say, I am in LOVE with it and it is the nicest piano I have ever had.

Have you ever seen an RV with a full size piano AND a wood stove!? Pretty awesome I think. When people walk into our house, one of their first comments is something like, “Oh wow! You have a piano in here!!” I think a piano adds a very “homey” feel and just really helps the atmosphere of our home. I’m so thankful I didn’t have to say goodbye to owning a piano!

Oh and, in case you were wondering, that’s Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse hanging out on the music stand of the piano. They help me teach the little musicians!
We only have room for one bookcase in our little house. But then, who really needs to own books these days anyways? When you look them up on Amazon, you can get a copy of most books for pennies! And of course there is always the community library too. These books are either for reference, or sentimental in some way.

Again, I’m glad for a small space to decorate and display. I just love the glass doors on this bookcase. Seeing as this sits right beside the piano, I keep a lot of my music books down there on the bottom shelf for accessibility.

My Favorite Kitchen

And then there is the kitchen. You know, this is the smallest kitchen I’ve ever had, but it is by far my favorite! I have space for exactly what I need and nothing more. Letting the dishes pile up is not an option. Everything is within hands reach, and everything has a specific place. I’ve never had a more practical or organized kitchen. I also love that it is right close to the living room, so I can visit with guests while I work in the kitchen to finish up dinner.

I don’t have a picture of it, but we do have two propane refrigerators in here, a pantry cupboard, and some extra storage above and below the refrigerators. I tend to have a “self sufficient” mindset and do lots of preserving and canning. I also like to stock up on certain pantry items when I find a good deal. Thanks to an extra chest freezer that we keep outside, I’ve never had to hold back on putting up food.

This picture shows a bit of my storage spaces, including an extra canning shelf that my husband had built for our previous home. I’m thankful we were able to bring it with us into the RV.

We did replace the flooring soon after moving into our 5th wheel. It used to be a laminate floor with a bit of southwestern flair. I kind of liked it! But it was old and getting chipped in multiple places.

Hubby installed this flooring as a birthday gift to me one year. I really love the grey wood look, and they are so easy to clean! We had thought about ripping out the teal carpet (I kind of hate my teal carpet!), but alas, we decided to keep a little bit of cozy carpet in part of the house. I try to ignore the carpet color, but it kind of dominates my decor options!! Nothing against teal, it’s just not very suitable as carpet.

A Bedroom for Two

Next up is the bedroom. Folks, it’s kind of hard to make a cozy haven of a bedroom when it is this cramped! This has been a bit of a frustration for me as I really value making a special place for me and my hubby to relax. But, I’ve made the most of what I have to work with.

When things are this tight, it gets messy VERY fast! I am always cleaning the bedroom, and tidying up in here, and yet it seems like it is always messy. Or shall we say, “lived in”?

This is about a cozy as it gets in here. We have room for a few special quilts and blankets, which kitty Macchiato uses as a bed, and some extra throw pillows. I’m pleased that we also found space for my cedar chest that my dad built for me as a high school graduation gift.

You can’t see it in the picture, but there is a llama engraved into the top of this chest. Inside are some of our keepsakes, and a couple more blankets.

The Practical Rooms

Looking back from the bedroom towards the living room, you see that the bathroom is between the two. Both of these doors close either direction, which is very handy.

After complaining about too many windows in the main part of the house, I find it humorous that I “added” a window to the bathroom decor. It just seemed fitting for a space that felt so cramped! Here are a couple pictures from the bathroom/laundry area.

I just love my Splendide Washer/Dryer Combo!!! We drove through a snow storm to pick this gem up during the first January we lived in the RV. What an adventure! Love having memories like that behind the things I own. Anyhow, this amazing machine works like a charm. You put the clothes in dirty and take them out clean AND dry! There are a couple down sides to it, such as TINY loads of laundry, and the frustration of not having a lint screen.

All my extra linens fit in the closet space above the washer, which would normally be very limited by a double stacking washer and dryer set.

A Wooded Front Yard

Last but not least, I had to share a few pictures from my front yard as I do consider this a big part of my home. We both spend a lot of time outside and we really enjoy our unique front yard that is much more like a small park.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! We feel very blessed to have been able to live here for the past 3 years. If you enjoyed the tour, please consider sharing this post via social media. And don’t forget to leave me a comment and let me know how you enjoyed your visit to my country home!!