Thursday, March 1, 2018

Our Cabin-On-Wheels - A Sneek Peek

I promised to show you our new cabin-on-wheels but I'm not quite ready to show you what ours looks like. I need to take some photos to share what we've done to make it our own. I always decorate and make minor changes so our trailers don't look like every other one on the lot. Until I get a few more photos to share I'll give you a tour from the manufacturer's website. We ordered some changes but the footprint of the trailer is the same.

Our new trailer is made by Outdoors RV in LaGrande, Oregon. That's on the eastern part of our state where it gets real cold in the winter. The folks in LaGrande know how to keep things comfortable and warm in the winter. These trailers are made to withstand cold temperatures and for cold weather camping. There were several models we liked but this one had all the bells and whistles on our list. Since we've had two trailers before we already knew things we wanted in another trailer. We planned all along to upgrade one more time and this is the one we absolutely love! So, please make yourself comfortable and join me for a tour.

Our trailer looks like this. Two doors - one on the back into the main living area and one into the bedroom. We have a big awning that makes outdoor living comfortable. The square door toward the lower front of the trailer is a pass-through storage area that can be accessed from either side of the trailer.
The other side of the trailer looks like this. You can see where the slide-out 'room' is. Slides sure add a lot of living space to a trailer. Some RVs have multiple slides but we are happy with this one. You can see the door on the other side of the storage pass-through.
This is our floorplan. I'll explain some things as we go along.  The 'front' door is the back door. As you can see, it leads into the main living area. The floorplan shows a television in the bedroom. It's wired for it but we've chosen not to add it to our trailer.
As we step inside you will see a panel of controls on the end of the overhead cabinet to your right. Some manufacturers put all of the controls behind a cabinet door so they aren't visible and, honestly, I wasn't thrilled to have them here but they really do make it much easier to see and control things in and out of the trailer. With the push a button we can extend the awning or pull it back in. Our last two trailers had manual hand-crank awnings. This is so simple. Press another button and the dinette slide moves out to full extension on its own. When it's time to get ready to move down the road my sweetheart asks me to 'put the slide in' and I push that button and it comes inside the trailer and stops in just the right place. When I take photos of our trailer I'll show you what that looks like when the slide is in for travel. Other controls here turn on the water pump for sinks and bathroom water use when we're not hooked up to water. We turn on our hot water tank and can check the levels of our fresh water tank and our holding tanks here. We added a solar panel to the roof and one of these controls turns it on. It's really amazing that we can stand in one spot and handle everything we need to keep things running or ready to move. I mentioned that I wasn't thrilled to have the controls right here. That seemed like a prime spot for decorating - maybe a small bulletin board or a welcome sign. Or something. But not buttons and controls! My sweetheart had an idea and it was good. His idea made sense. I'll show you what it is when I share more photos.

We chose a different color scheme for our trailer. We have brown leather and different fabric on the valances and the dinette seats. You will see the difference when I show you our trailer.
The kitchen is on the rear wall of the trailer and it wraps around on the far wall. To the right is our refrigerator. This refrigerator is bigger than what we had in our last two trailers. Next is my stove and microwave. The sink is in the corner and I love the sink covers that are made from the same material as the counter top. They provide extra work space when I need more room.

We ordered our trailer without the back-splash you see in this photo. It's made of glass, has the company logo and has a space between the wall and back-splash that would be a nightmare to keep  clean. We have some great plans for back-splash. That will be added soon. The stove has a folding glass cover that is 'up' in this photo. You can see the manufacturer's sticker on the cover. The cover helps keep the stove top clean and protected from dust when we travel on back roads that aren't paved. When it's down it also adds work space.
I love the stainless double sink and the pull-out faucet. My faucet is bronze and matches all of the faucets in the bathroom area.
The trailer slide holds the dinette that is next to the end of the kitchen cabinet. We absolutely loved this big dinette. We could seat six at the table if we were all friendly and cozy. The table is bigger than most and the window on the side is very large. We've already enjoyed some wonderful views out this window. The smaller windows on each end of the slide are a good size, too. You can see a drawer under the dinette seat. There are drawers for storage under both seats. My last trailer had cabinet doors for the storage area under the seats and I almost had to lie down on my tummy to reach things inside. I was thrilled to see two drawers in this model.
Here's another view of the dinette.  You can see the skylight that lets in a lot of light. The pleated shade is closed in this photo but we keep it open most of the time, especially at this time of year. You can see our entertainment center just around the corner from the dinette.
We have a large TV and a great stereo system with surround sound throughout the trailer. When we ordered the trailer we made a change in the cabinet area below.  You will see that when I share photos of our trailer. The straps you see in this photo are used for security when we travel. I don't leave them attached when we live in the trailer.
Our seating area is across from the dinette slide. We chose two swivel recliners in place of the sleeper sofa. The recliners are comfortable and fit our lifestyle well. You can also get a glimpse of our dinette table top. It's made to look like repurposed wood. It fits the style we've chosen for decorating the trailer. The counter under the television and the bathroom sink counter are the same.
This photo shows a feature we really wanted in another trailer - lots of storage! And we have it. the cabinets beside the sofa are incredible. The pantry is next to the sofa and the two doors to the left of the pantry are a big closet!  Three big drawers underneath and two small drawers give us a lot of space, especially when we take long trips. We were determined to have enough closet space and storage so we can live in our trailer for a few months at a time.
You can see the pantry, closet and storage area well in this photo. The hallway leads to the bathroom and bedroom on the front end of the trailer.
 The bathroom sink is at the end of the closet, just across from the door into the 'powder room'.

Across from the sink is the door into the bathroom. It is a little room with the potty and bathtub/shower. Our first trailer had a tub that was so small I could bathe in a few gallons of water - with my knees up under my chin. While I won't be able to stretch out and lounge for hours in this one, it's much bigger and deeper than the first. A skylight in the shower adds height for tall people and it brings a lot of nice light into the bathroom without sacrificing privacy. The trailer came with this shower curtain. It's not my style and I quickly made a change there. Our new curtain is so much better!
 
The bedroom is at the front of the trailer. We have a queen-size bed that came with a very comfy mattress. We can walk around the bed which is the only way to go. Nice big nightstands are something we've not had and 'shirt' closets and storage overhead are great. There is storage under the bed where we put extra supplies and things we don't use often. I'll show you that when we tour our cabin-on-wheels. This bedspread comes with the trailers but it didn't stay long in ours! We had a new quilt ready and waiting to add some color and comfort to our bedroom.
I'm glad I could give you a tour of an 'on-the-lot' trailer like ours. Soon I'll take you on a tour of our new cabin-on-wheels. You may wonder why I call our trailer our cabin-on-wheels. Two reasons. I have a blog friend who has a wonderful cabin in the mountains of eastern Oregon. One day I commented that I wished we had a cabin, too. She replied, 'Oh, but you do. Your cabin is on wheels and it can go anywhere your heart desires.' She's right - this is our cabin. Our cabin-on-wheels. We've chosen to decorate this one in vintage cabin style. You'll see what I mean soon.