Name: Matt, Sara, and Bella Janssen
Location: On the road, at time of post: Scottsdale, AZ
Size: Approx. 200 sq. ft. (32 ft x 8 ft)
Years lived in: 8 months
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We couldn't have dreamed up a more appropriate house tour to end our Small Cool month. You may remember Sara, Matt and Bella as finalists from the contest last year. We were impressed by their declaration, "Small is BETTER! Even with a 3-year old and surely more on the way, we will never go back. Small is the new big!", but even more impressed with their follow through. Way to put your money where your mouth is....check it out.
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With the lease up on their small apartment, Matt and Sara grabbed daughter Bella and hit the road. They're currently motoring across the country teaching folk about sustainable living from their fully renovated, veggie-oil powered RV. Having seen their previous digs in their contest entry, we were extremely curious and anxious to see how their style would translate from "cozy nest for three" to a mobile home for three. Surprisingly, there's not that much of a difference between the two...still cozy and colorful as before.
AT Survey:
Our Style: Thrift store funk. We love to recycle items for new uses. Color, color, and more color! Color makes me happy and energized
Inspiration: The décor of the RV is nearly identical to our previous apartment. We loved the colors that we used so much…and decided to just transfer it to the RV.
Favorite Element: The “smallness”. I love that we are in such close quarters…our family life thrives because there is no where to “get away” from each other. We are in constant conversation. It’s also great that we can see Bella no matter where she is playing...and that we are so involved in her life. I also love that we can completely open the RV up and have fresh air blowing through…or decide to eat outside whenever we want. There is nothing better than falling to sleep hearing the raindrops pitter patting on the roof…or waking up to the sun and breeze streaming in the windows.
Biggest Challenge: Designing for an RV is sometimes difficult because everything is bolted down….we decided to leave all the furniture intact because it was all in great shape. What was already there was what we had to work with. One of the most obvious challenges is how to separate the living and bedroom spaces most effectively. We ended up taking out the door that closed off the bedroom, and now just use the dividing door in the middle of the RV to create 2 rooms. It works wonderfully.
What Friends Say: “It’s so cute!” “I could totally live in one of these!”
“You guys must really like each other to be this close all the time!” “It’s so much bigger than I thought!”
Biggest Embarrassment: When you live in a home that has a portable toilet, the odors can often be embarrassing. Ya gotta love toting your poo everywhere!
Proudest DIY: The entire thing! Matt did all of the painting, installed bamboo flooring, built a new king size bed platform with storage area underneath and created a new nook where the microwave used to be. I would say that it’s much harder to paint the interior of an RV because there are so many nooks and crannies…taping it off took an entire day!
Biggest Indulgence: While we really didn’t indulge financially with the remodeling of the RV (much of the materials were generously donated by The Refuge (a green building company) in Bozeman, MT)…we are definitely not “roughing it” on the road. We have our own king sized bed, a shower and bath, full kitchen, entertainment center. We have the perfect amount of space for us right now at this point in our life.
Best Advice: “If it’s not useful, beautiful, or loved…get rid of it!”
Dream Source for Stuff: Anthropologie and Ikea
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Resources:
RV details: 1994 Fleetwood Flair, 32 feet long, 8 feet wide
GMC 6.5 liter V8 Engine
Veggie Oil Conversion: Golden Fuel Systems Custom Installation
90 gallon veggie oil tank/18 gallon diesel tank
On-board gathering and filtration system
Grease passes through a pre-filter, and three 8 micron filters before hitting the injectors
Veggie oil system rated to -20 degrees F
Roof-top solar panels provide partial solar power
Appliances: 3 burner gas stove with oven (although it doesn't get much use because we eat primarily raw foods!), 6 cubic sq. ft gas/electric fridge and freezer
Flooring: Installed bamboo flooring throughout
Beds: Modified bedroom to add our own king-sized bed (which created more storage under the bed)
Paint: Painted all cupboards and walls with AFM Safecoat paint
Thanks Matt, Sara and Bella!
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If you're interested in checking out the RV in person, look for the Janssen family in San Francisco from May 18th-20th. Check out the Live Lightly website and blog for more information.
Photos by Sara Janssen
That's absolutely amazing! I want an RV now.
view Ajax's's profile
Amazing!!!
view juliaonhamilton's profile
I love the tin tray nailed to the wall with magnetic spice jars--cool idea.
view jen_g's profile
I really dig the veggie oil conversion. The description sounds like they utilize used oil? Hell ya!
view MoJonson's profile
What fun! Looks terrific! I've definitely had those airstream fantasties...
: - )
view karyn's profile
Sweet! thanks for the post!
(And nice collection of cookbooks, all my favorites!)
view elizabet's profile
fabulous! !
view Barbara S's profile
What cool folks-- now I want to ditch city life and do something as drastically different as these lovely free spirits...
view ccs's profile
Awesome, awesome, awesome! I WISH we could do something like this!
Biggest challenge: a job...?
view lilithslair's profile
positively a breath of fresh air. how inspiring!
view rubydellson's profile
The most inspirational small space yet!!
view southern*chic's profile
Speaking as someone who's spent a lot of time in campgrounds, this is wildly, spectacularly better than the standard RV decor!
I've always been impressed by people who can get rid of all the extra stuff and full-time in a trailer/RV.
view Renee's profile
Oh, but--this has got to be the parked version only. I have visions of about half their stuff going flying...
view Renee's profile
the sink is awesome!
view peaceyall's profile
256 sq ft. Still not the smallest.
Pretty nice though
view Cally's profile
I agree with Cally. It's not that small. In fact, it's about the size of a (moderately largish) Tokyo apartment (like mine)
view Orchid64's profile
this is amazing!! you've done a great job of decorating and making the most of a small space!
view LisaK75's profile
When I started my company, I lived in an RV and traveled the country for 3 years 9 months. I had to finally come off the road to manage the growth of my business, but it was a blast. I had two pairs of shorts, and two suits, half a dozen blouses, and that's about it. Shedding things is one of many great things about motorhome living.
view Team Decor's profile
The only way in HELL I would live like that in an RV would be... with HIM.
Yowza, he can burn my oil anytime.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
lilithslair--
I am guessing the logos on the outside of their RV have something to do with how they afford to do what they are doing.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
lilithslair/p(too)-
The live lightly tour (logo on the RV) appears to be their website. However, it does give a list of sponsors:
http://www.livelightlytour.com/sponsors/
view suziegoombs's profile
suziegoombs--
Yes, I was referring not to the large Live Lightly logo but to the smaller sponsor logos towards the rear of the RV.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
I actually work for a company that builds tourbus (entertainer coach) interiors and while ours are very luxurious to accomodate the rich and famous, this one seems full of luv!
way to go and very impressive on the remodeling, RV's like tour buses are very hard to work in, nothing is on a square but you did a great job!
kudos!
view Stephvixen's profile
Thanks for posting this. My husband and I have lately been discussing the possibility of selling everything and going mobile when he retires. Last week we looked at a 5th wheel that felt as large and spacious as our 1000 ft. home. My only gripe was all the panelling (hate the stuff!) but the lively colors that Matt and Sara have chosen reminded me that I'm getting pretty darn handy with a paint brush.
I've been curious about green living in an RV - if you guys get to Bakersfield, let me know - I'd love to chat with you.
Great job!
view oceandreamer56's profile
The best thing about this is that you can choose the view from your windows...daily :-)
Bhavna
view AnIndianSummer's profile
I love the "bedroom" so cozy. And Bravo to any family that has managed to live like that for so long. When I was in high school our family of 7 lived out of our club wagon van and pop up camper traveling from MI to Yellowstone and back after my dad retired. It was fun and crazy and we ended up ditching the camper before coming home (oh the problems we had with that thing ending with giving it to a guy if he would tow it off the side of a mountain) but we always knew the end was in site. Best wishes on their travels.
view LibbyLu's profile
Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for the kind words about our home...thanks for taking the tour! :)
Renee...actually, everything stays put rather well...even all of those photos on the ledge and the food jars in the kitchen. We really don't have to put too many things away as we drive.
Regarding the comments about sponsors and how we make money...this tour is something we came up with on our own, we aren't financially linked to any other companies/people. The sponsors on the side of the bus are green companies (most of them are small and home-based) that provide products or services for us while we are on the road. For example, we have an herbalist who consults with us if we get sick...a soap maker who keeps us smelling nice, a company that provided t-shirts, a friend who donated his crazy web skills, a lip balm company who keeps our lips nice and soft, and a company who sent a big box of raw food goodies...etc. All of these companies are wonderful, eco-friendly companies that we wanted to give exposure to as we traveled. Day to day travels and expenses are totally out of our own pocket.
To make money, we are working just like anyone else. I do photography, graphic design, and raw food coaching...and Matt does construction work where it's available. We also get paid a small fee for some of the demos we do. We aren't living in luxury at all :) Our total monthly budget is less than our mortgage payment when we owned a house...sometimes we have a little extra, sometimes we wonder where the money will come from to pay the bills, but God has always come through and provides for us so wonderfully. It's a journey of faith as well...I would recommend it to everyone...every day is a glorious adventure!
view .Delight's profile
Can I just say that I am SO SICK of all the "This isn't that small! My apartment is this small or smaller!"
Come on, people, 256 sq. feet is small, particularly for a family of three. And Tokyo apartments are small.
I swear, if you posted a jail cell here, people would be like, "That's big! 100 square feet for two convicts? It's practically a McMansion!"
view fiona's profile
I know, Fiona-- I thought the same thing-- people are funny.
view ccs's profile
I've been thinking about living in a converted Geyhound bus for a while. There are several Yahoo groups composed of many people who live in RVs and converted busses quite comfortably. It seems like it would be quite liberating!
view Kenneth's profile
I LOVE THIS!!
view Sleek's profile
This is great! My husband has been wanting to live in a camper for a while and I was always hesitant. . . After seeing this, I've totally jumped on the bandwagon and can't wait! We'll move back to the States in October and will begin then. Now that I've seen this one, though, it's hard not to just copy it. Janssen family, you've done a great job!
view orrismb's profile
Biggest challenge: a job...? --- lol
view Haunted_Studio's profile