Posted by Rebecca
Just wanted to share a couple of posts that I found. Some ideas for your very own Trailer Park Chic party. I wonder if they included boxed wine…. We have been known to harbor a box or two in our fridges and pantries at this trailer park.
The Goat: Trailer Park Chic Recipes
Oh, and another, just for fun….
Rebecca Knabe
Posted by Tanille
. . . 2 remodels in 2 years? Well, time will tell. I’ll let you in on a little secret we have been working on. But first why?
In February James’ mom passed away leaving his dad alone living on 5 acres about an hour away from us. We immediately thought “he needs to move in the park with us”, but it was too much change for him. In April he had a massive stroke and things changed. After a couple of sketchy weeks when we thought he wouldn’t make it, his stubbornness pulled him through. Now he is in rehabilitation learning to walk again, talk again, and soon eat again. And we found him a trailer. Once again, this trailer was free. How do we keep finding them??? That will be another post. But for now, check out the before pics. . .
We aren’t sure what tool was used to paint, but it wasn’t a paintbrush. Creative nonetheless.
Pepto hallway
Another creative use of color
And the master suite. Sorry for the poor quality picture, but you get the idea. It’s possible that this was done with a yellow highlighter. Also our favorite feature, the 3 blade ceiling fan. I’m not sure what happened to the other 2 blades…. Either a little person lived here, or someone was decapitated.
So remember these pictures because they are a thing of the past. We started thinking that this would be mainly cosmetic – my idea. But he disagreed. It’s going down to the studs. And here we go again.
-Tanille Leal
Posted by Tanille
About a month ago we purchased a 1982 19 foot Taurus travel trailer. And it is my new favorite thing. We just came back from a 6 day journey through Northern California to the coast and back. We found this trailer super cheap because it has a little bit of water damage and the previous owner didn’t want to deal with it. We thought, pffffft that’s not water damage!! This is no big deal. Everyone that has seen it has urged me to ‘please not re-do everything’ and I’m not. I love it just the way it is. I call it “campy”. And it’s actually in great shape, except for a few spots.
So last week we loaded it up and made some minor repairs. The confusion between what was in which trailer was comical. We had to start calling them the “house trailer” and the “camp trailer”.
And we were off. . .
We met up with our friends who had been traveling for a few days in their sweet Westfalia. It was great to catch up with old friends and live the “trailer life” by the beach.
My favorite camping wine.
A couple of things I have learned from this little trip.
1. I will never again camp at a KOA. It’s just not for us, we were the youngest people there in the oldest trailer.
2. I have a new appreciation for Westfalias. Very cool
3. I think I could possibly live in 120 square feet. . . at least temporarily. Hmmm
-Tanille
Posted by Rebecca
It is absolutely imperative, in my opinion, that in order to have a happy and healthy home, you need to share it with someone you love – family, friends, or furry folk. In my case, I share my home with Cassi. She’s my trailer mate. More of a roommate, actually because she makes sure she is always in the same room as me, and usually directly in the way. But I love her and she loves me. And she helps make my trailer a home.
I’m like my dad and have a million nick-names for the people and pets close to me. My dad rarely called me Rebecca. He usually called me Hunka-de-Munka, Maudie, Nicky and Nicky-Nock-Nocky.
I only call Cassi “Cassi” when I want her to come. Otherwise it’s:
Stinky Butt
Tinky Butt
Love Bug
Bumble Bee
Sweet Pea
Sweet Potato
Sweet Potato Princess
Casserole
Cassi-rolls
and
Toots McGee.
I also speak to her in precisely the same voice that I speak to babies. Not sure if it’s because I view Cassi as my baby, or I view children as pets.
My Cassi turned 10 this week. In September she will have been with me for 10 years. And I’m hoping to get another 10 years out of her. We’ll see….
Rebecca
Posted by Rebecca
The moment you’ve all been waiting for…. I hope you like them!
Hey, that’s me!
All ‘after’ images by the amazing Eden Thome. Check out more of her photography here.
Rebecca
Posted by Rebecca
I’m pretty sure there is no child alive who has ever uttered the words, “When I grow up I want to live in a trailer in the Nevada desert.” It’s just not done. I grew up in Canada with both my parents, in a regular house with a couple of pets. It was what I knew. But sometimes life takes unexpected paths, and you end up in a strange location with a life you had never imagined.
Of the many turns my life took in 2010, the move to the trailer was one of the big ones. I felt like such a loser to have ended up there. Funny thing was, though, I never viewed Tanille and her husband, James, that way. I was so proud of them for simplifying and making their life work. And I loved their place, and wished it was me there. However, when it really was me, I was a little horrified by my decision. In theory, a great idea, in reality, pretty hard to swallow.
I remember before I moved into the trailer, Tanille told me, “You have to be strong to do this.” I had no idea what she meant, and thought she was being completely mellow-dramatic. But after a few weeks of the trailer thing, I got it. I knew what she meant. How you had to force yourself to not cringe when you had to tell someone you lived in a trailer park. How you couldn’t (and still don’t really) understand why USPS insists on your address being Trlr 21 instead of #21. How you had to verify your mailing address several times (“yes, really, it’s Trlr 21”) to your brokerage firm before they believed you.
And I know that so many really great people live in trailers, and no disrespect to them. But I had never once, while I was growing up, been led to believe that anyone ever chose to live in a trailer. Especially an old, tiny one. It was more, where you ended up.
So one Saturday afternoon, during my hundreds of trips to Home Depot, I was schlepping around the store feeling especially sorry for myself. I was standing in the middle of one of the aisles, when it suddenly dawned on me that the distance between the merchandise shelves was precisely the width of my new home. 10 feet. A flood of emotion swept over me – I felt like a total failure. This was not what I wanted to be at 36. I had never once told myself, my mom, my teacher or my friends that when I grow up I want to be divorced twice, on the verge of bankruptcy and living in a single-wide trailer. What had gone so wrong??
And then, as I raised my head, my tear-stained cheeks burning, I noticed a large slobbering Golden Retriever dragging his owner towards me. He planted a dead stop in the aisle and released a mountain-sized steamy dump right there in the middle of the store. The reality of the moment snapped me out of my pitiful state. I smiled to myself and looked down at my Cassi, who wasn’t relieving herself. And as we walked hand in leash out of the store I thought to myself, “You know what? Things could be worse. We are going to be ok.”
Rebecca
Posted by Tanille
This is our little buddy Rowdy. He is the sweetest little 5 pounds you will ever meet. Living in a small space with pets can present challenges, but he hardly takes up any room at all.
The great thing about the park that we live in is that they do allow pets, something we cannot live without. We also have a large yard that we are able to completely fence in. Perfect for pets and perfect for parties. Even more perfect for pets who like to party. . .
For Rowdy 360 square feet of house is a mansion! He seems quite comfortable here . . .
Maybe too comfortable. . . So we added a little “Chaos”
-Tanille
Posted by Tanille
Today was a HUGE work day for me. I say that with sarcasm because even though I did accomplish a lot, I don’t have your “typical” work schedule, or typical office.
This is my kitchen island and my desk. When we downsized we also eliminated an office that we had rented in a commercial building. It was a daunting task. We had 2 large desks, several bookshelves and filing cabinets. Tons and tons of paper and office supplies.
So in the spirit of simplifying, I bought a hard drive, a very good scanner, a shredder and went to work. Now we are almost completely paperless, which fits into our current lifestyle. This was the best idea I have ever had!!! Filing was on my top 10 list of things I hate the most, and now I never have to do it. Ever.
I use a wireless printer that is tucked away on top of my refrigerator and the paper I do have to keep (like business licenses, etc.) are tucked away in a folder. One thing that I had always hated about owning our own business and running it out of our home is that you can never get away from it. That office was always calling me “There’s work to do in here. . . “. But now I break it down and silence it. We finally – after 14 years of business, own our business, rather than it owning us.
-Tanille
Posted by Rebecca
Summer is finally here, and once again this year, I intend to spend a lot of evenings doing this:
Rebecca
Posted by Rebecca
When I moved into the pink trailer last spring the little yard had an industrial looking chicken-wire fence with steel posts. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I didn’t want to spend the money on a new fence just yet. So the plan was to get some bamboo fencing to attach to the existing chicken-wire and posts, in order to get some privacy, and hold me over till next year. Brilliant, right? Inexpensive, kind of cute, keeps the dog in….
(Before, and shortly after the move.)
Kara helped me with the bamboo and a pile of zip ties one Sunday afternoon. After a few hours it was complete and didn’t look too bad. It would do the job.
(See? Bamboo.)
Tuesday morning a storm blew into town. We get a ton of wind in Reno, but this was no ordinary windy day. This was the kind of windy day that knocks branches off of hundred-year-old trees, that flips over semi trucks on the 395, that causes tumbleweeds to get out their windbreakers. I sat at work all day wondering if I would still have a trailer to come home to. It didn’t seem possible that my aluminum walls could withstand this type of force.
When I finally got home, the trailer was fine. My 1-1/2-day-old fence, however, was not. The bamboo hadn’t shredded, the zip ties hadn’t been ripped from the chicken-wire, and the wind hadn’t bent the steel posts… but it had, in fact, snapped the steel posts clean off at the base.
The plan had changed. Forget this bamboo fence stuff; I decided I would have to have someone help me build a real fence. The kind that people who live in houses have. In the meantime, I had to remove all the bamboo and prop up the chicken-wire with plastic chairs so that the dog wouldn’t wander off. Pretty classy, indeed.
I had bought some lawn furniture at Home Depot that week, and it was being delivered in a few days. It was my trailer-warming gift to myself and I had splurged a little. When the delivery guys came to drop it off I was so embarrassed. First, I lived in a trailer, and had not come to terms with it yet, and second, my yard was sporting a white trash fence made of chicken-wire and plastic chairs. They made small talk and laughed nervously at my self-deprecating trailer jokes, and as soon as they dumped off my new Martha Stewart brand set, they got the heck out of dodge. I can only imagine their conversation during the ride back to the store. I wonder what the final wager was for how long my new furniture would last behind that kind of fence in that kind of neighborhood.
Well, thankfully the lawn furniture is still there, and I now have a real-people fence, and I also have a new plan for my yard. I’m thinking a Tuscan inspired dining area with hanging lights and foliage, ready for lots of evenings of eating and drinking and lounging with the people I love. What do you think?
This is what I have in mind:
(After, for now, but the wheels for The new Plan are turning.)
Rebecca
trailerchic 