Making Our Cabin-On-Wheels Ours

A few weeks ago I gave you a sneak peek at our new cabin-on-wheels. (Click here if you want to see what I shared.) I promised to show you changes we made and how we've begun to decorate it and make it feel like home. Life keeps moving along and we've had a lot going on, including some trips away in our cabin-on-wheels. So, finally, I slowed my pace and took some photos to show you what we've done. I took photos a on a gorgeous day last week. It was sunny and bright - and difficult to get the best photos because of the extra light and glare. But, inspite of that, you can get an idea of how we live when we're on the road. There are more things to do but this is a start. As with any home I think there will always be something to change or rearrange or organize. When I asked my sweetheart what kind of decor he would like in our new trailer he said, 'hunting cabin'. I suggested we do a more vintage cabin feel and not so much hunting. He liked that idea so you will see how we've added the cabin feel to make this our cabin-on-wheels.

Here's the way the kitchen looked straight from the dealer. I shared that we ordered it without the black, glass back-splash. Soon we will add our own back-splash - and it will be worth waiting for!

This is my kitchen with a few things added.

We eat a lot of fresh fruit so we always love to have a bowl of fruit on the counter. I found this colander at the Goodwill and knew it would be perfect. It holds our fruit but it also adds a pop of color to my kitchen area.

We bought this spice rack at World Market and my sweetheart attached it firmly to the side of the kitchen cabinet. It's so secure that it travels just like this without a problem. I need to add more spices and one of these days I will get matching bottles with cute labels. I decided not to use glass spice bottles because of the weight so I have my eye on some cute plastic containers that I can dress up with my own labels.

It's always nice to have an assortment of handy kitchen tools available. I needed something fairly lightweight to hold my kitchen utensils. When I found this cute grater planter at Hobby Lobby I knew it was just right. I have plans to replace a few of these utensils with some that have more color. I always love to brighten a spot with color when I can.

I had a plain stainless steel teakettle on the stove in our cabin-on-wheels. It was practical but it wasn't anything exciting. One day my sweetheart and I were walking through Walmart when he spied this Pioneer Woman teakettle and decided it was just what I (and my little kitchen) needed. I love it!  Do you see the daffodils on it?

This sign above the microwave is another Hobby Lobby find.

And I found this cute magnet at The Dollar Tree as I walked through the store one day. It's a cute addition to my range hood. The directions say: 'Mix well and serve with love'. Tips: 'One cup full of hugs. One teaspoon of kisses'.

I always wanted a small lamp on the dining table and I found this on sale at a local store. I knew it would be perfect and it adds a bit more light. It's perfect for soft light in the evening. The cabin piece was a gift to my sweetheart from our daughter.

This is the way the dinette and entertainment center looked in the basic model. Since we ordered our cabin-on-wheels we chose some options that we haven't regretted at all.

This was something special that we dreamed of having and it was an add-on option we chose. A fireplace! It's electric so we can heat our cabin-on-wheels without using propane when we're plugged into power. We can have the 'fire' on without heat for ambiance, or we can have the 'fire' on with heat to keep us toasty warm. I couldn't avoid reflections on this very sunny day but you can get the idea.

On our first trip with our new cabin-on-wheels my little dog, Joey, pulled his doggie bed over in front of the 'fire' and decided that space belonged to him!

The fireplace has a little 'mantel' so my sweetheart and I decided to decorate it a bit. I added two little battery-operated candle lanterns (a yard sale find!) and my sweetheart chose this sweet little sign on a recent trip to Hobby Lobby. I'm still thinking about ways to hide the cords. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

He also found a holder for the remotes (for the television, stereo system and fireplace).

There isn't a lot of wall space in the living area of our new cabin-on-wheels so I had to be a bit creative. I found these two burlap and metal pieces on the clearance table of a local store so I added them to the cabinet doors above the television.

This sofa was what came with the basic model of our cabin-on-wheels.

My sweetheart and I decided to add the 'recliner' option and we are sure glad we did. These chairs are pure comfort and we feel right at home when we enjoy time here.

On the wall beside the recliners (to the left in this photo) is a sign my sweetheart found at Hobby Lobby. We thought it would be perfect here. And it is. It's a good reminder to relax and enjoy our 'cabin'.

I showed you this control panel that is on the end of the upper cabinet just inside the main door. I wasn't thrilled to see it there with all the buttons and switches and monitors in plain sight. I had hoped it would be a place I could decorate with something welcoming. But it wasn't so I had to be flexible. In each of our other two trailers my sweetheart has wanted a hat rack - a place where he could hang his hats. That wasn't the best idea in my opinion but when he and I talked about how visible this control panel is he made a suggestion and I jumped on it right away. He added two Command brand hooks above everything and - viola- instant hat rack! He's happy and so am I. And it's easy to access the switches when we need them.

I showed you the little bathroom area with the ugly shower curtain that came with the trailer.

The shower curtain was one of the first things I changed. I bought it long before we brought our cabin-on-wheels home.

We changed the shower curtain rod, too. We bought an Extend-A-Rod that's made for RVs. The rod has two 'elbow' joints (where I added arrows) so it can flex. It goes in and out of the way when the shower isn't being used. It makes the little bathroom feel a tiny bit bigger and it lets more light into the room through the skylight. (We also added a tension shower rod across the top of the shower so we can hang things to dry. It's great for wet coats when we come in from the rain!)

When we're ready to take a shower we move it out and we instantly have more elbow room while in the shower. It's been wonderful!

This model didn't have any cabinet or storage area for bath towels in the little bathroom so I decided to get creative. I found the perfect wire and rustic wood box at an outlet store. My sweetheart screwed it securely into the wall and I rolled the bath towels and it works great. I'm looking for a flat metal sign of some kind to add below - something that we won't hit our heads or backs on when we use the potty!

As I shared in the sneak peek before, the bathroom sink is in the hallway across from the bathroom door. You can see it in the photo beside the old shower curtain in the photo above. There is a lot of space in the medicine cabinet but someone didn't space the shelves to allow tall bottles to stand. So we thought about it for awhile and decided to add something to the side wall. This little rustic metal box from Hobby Lobby is perfect! It's handy and things travel in it without falling out. And I still have unused decorating space above it.

Our bedroom really reflects the vintage-y cabin look we wanted. Every new RV comes with a bedspread and most people I know quickly replace it with something else.  I spent a lot of time looking for what we wanted and I finally found it - in the children's department at Target! I was really surprised to find a queen-size quilt in the children's department. Notice the throw pillow that my sweetheart found on a clearance table at a local store. We had decided that we would only add one throw pillow on our bed because there's not much space to put them when we go to bed at night. I knew he really wanted this pillow and it adds to a bit of 'hunting' to our bedroom.

We have big nightstands on each side of the bed. That's something most RV's don't have and we were thrilled to have these. I found this cute little battery-operated lantern in the Christmas clearance aisle at Walmart. It has a timer and it makes a great little night light for evenings when we might go in and out of the bedroom. I wish there had been another one for the other nightstand.

I have a bit of decorating on the bedroom walls but there's more to come. We found this cute sign and it didn't take long to decide to hang it on my sweetheart's side of the bed.

My sweetheart found a vintage-style poster on canvas on a clearance aisle of a local store.

We both loved it immediately and knew it had to go on the biggest wall of the bedroom. It hangs at the foot of the bed and I plan to hang some of my own photos around it. 

There was one 'prime' decorating spot that I had plans for in the bedroom. When we did the walk-through on the day we got our new trailer I was surprised that this spot had been claimed for something I hadn't expected. But it is necessary. We added a solar panel to the roof of our cabin-on-wheels. It recharges the batteries that run the power we use when we're not plugged into land power.

So, I lost the decorating spot between the cabinet doors above our bed. The solar panel controller needs to go inside near panel that's on the roof above the bed. While I lost a decorating spot, it's OK. I'm getting used to it and I'll appreciate it when we are camping off-grid.

I enjoy having lights that add to the cozy feel in the evening. A girlfriend gave me some battery-operated lights that I added at the top of the slide-out dinette. We enjoy having them on when we spend an evening 'at home' when we're on the road.

And the fireplace and little candle lanterns on the mantel add just the right mood for those evenings in.

There are more projects and things to add to the decor planned but - like in any home - things take time. I'll share more when things begin to happen.

The Church - Then and Now

A few months ago I shared my childhood home here and here. My childhood home was the parsonage we lived in when my father was a minister in Central Oregon. I promised to show you the church where he was the minister. My childhood home has been completely restored and is now a wonderful vacation rental home. The church next door has also been completely restored and is also a vacation rental that would be a great place for us to have a reunion with our children and eight grandchildren.

Here is a photo taken by my mother when we lived there. You can see a bit of the parsonage where we lived on the left side of the photo.

Here was the church in winter. My dad was shoveling snow.

 And here I am peeking out the front doors of the church.

The church and the parsonage are on the National Register of Historic Places. The church was built in 1923 - the same year my parents were born. The church was historically called 'The Alliance Tabernacle'. The church is reported to be the first wooden church structure built entirely by volunteers from the congregation west of the Mississippi River. The National Register says it was a modest example of a Craftsman style church with a combination of clapboard and shingle side, one-over-one double hung windows and a small entry vestibule centered on the main facade and the roof boasted a monitor style central window down the ridge of the building. I remember all of those details so well.

Here's what it looks like today after the restoration.

It's beautiful! And there's the yellow home where I lived. There was a lot of life lived in these two buildings.

Come inside with me. When you step inside through the double front doors you enter the old 'vestibule' where I spent time before and after services as we visited with friends. That circular staircase wasn't there back in the day. The doorway on the left went into the old church nursery. There was a door on the right that led to the stairway to upstairs.

As you walked through the vestibule you walked right into the sanctuary. Oh, the memories of hours and hours spent here. These are the original floors - the same floors I walked on way back then. The upstairs has been opened up but it was closed and there were classrooms up there.  There was no hallway where the stairs are on the back wall. That was a wall at the back of the platform. There was a door on the left that went into my father's study. Rows of rather rustic wooden pews were on both sides of a central aisle.

This photo must have been taken from where the old platform was. You can see that a nice kitchen has been added for anyone who rents The Church.

A nice seating area is across from the kitchen.

Through the doorway on the right was the 'Sunday School office'. That's where the attendance records were kept and where the offerings from Sunday School and church services were counted. There were supplies and all kinds of interesting things in there. It always intrigued me when I was a kid.

The ceiling in the center of the sanctuary was at the bottom of the black beams. The rooms upstairs were a fun place for a kid to go for class. Somehow it always felt like a magical place to me. The walls of each classroom were between the sets of windows and we had to walk through one room to get to the next. There was no hallway.

The master bedroom seems to be through the door to the right - where the old Sunday School office used to be.

There was no bathroom in the church back in those days but a nice master bathroom has been added.

It's a nice addition to this corner of the building.

There is another bedroom. . .

And another bathroom on the downstairs level.

They have created a nice loft area at each end. Here's one end. . .

And the other one. The loft areas can also provide sleeping areas if needed. I'd like to spend time up here just daydreaming.

Outside, the building has been beautifully restored and some outside areas have been added. When I lived here this side of the building was a dirt hillside with bushes along the side of the building. I spent a lot of time playing in the dirt here and pretending every sort of thing a kid can imagine. There was a basement that could only be accessed from a little stairwell at the front of the church. Now it can be entered from this side. I can't wait to have a tour some day so I can see what they've done with the basement.

An outside seating area has been added on the hillside. It looks like an inviting place to spend some time.

There is another outside area with a firepit in the back of the church. This area was all dirt when I lived here. There was a flat area right behind the building and then the dirt hillside went up toward the next street above the church and the parsonage.

I was so happy to see that the church was still there and I could hardly believe how beautiful it is now. I have more memories than there is time to share - times I treasure and some times that were hard. There was magic and fun and reality and friends and family and memories to last a lifetime! Oh how I wish my mom and dad could see it now. They would be thrilled and they would have incredible memories to share, too. Someday when I am in that part of Oregon I hope to take a tour of the church and my childhood home, the parsonage. I'm sure I can tell the owners tales they have not heard before and history that's not written down.

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.