apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I can't imagine what I'd do to make it homey - especially as I'd probably have lost all my worldly goods. It's tragic to me that people are still living in these trailers after all this time.

I think this post is in extremely poor taste for several reasons, but especially given the serious health problems(respitory illness and cancer) that are associated with the formaldehyde in these trailers.

You might have well said, "we know how awful it is to be a transient living in a carboard box, but if you had to live in one, how would you make it more homey?"

I'm sure that the post was well intended, but in my opinion it just demonstrates thoughtlessness.

unfortunately, i agree with kimg924. i think the part that gets me is the "if you can afford it, have your own made" part. honestly i can't say why it is bothering me, but something in this post sits with me wrong. i am sure it wasn't meant that way.

3rd that notion.....

Are you fucking kidding me?

Wow...

How utterly fucking tasteless.

huh. I didn't take it as offensive at all. Lots of people live in very tiny trailers. I used to live in a park where I had a palace (an ugly boxy 32' trailer from the late 1960's) compared to a lot of other residents'. There were even 2 people (non couple) sharing 12' trailers, sometimes. The different ways people made the best of it, and made them homey, were fascinating and inspirational.

though i was unsettled by this post, i do like the idea of making such a small space homey. i think having a home that is a "home" and a safe and happy place regardless of situation is very important. it is sad that many of these trailers just aren't safe.

Uh, what exactly is "tasteless" about this post? It's about something that's REAL. Yeah, it's not good or pretty or a healthy way of life for a family of 4, but it's REAL. There are people who are living in FEMA trailers. And it fucking sucks. They don't have the ability or means to build their own trailer like some very fortunate people have done, and they have to make due with what they have.
The only thing "tasteless" about this post is FEMA's half-assed attempt to rectify a shitty situation, but it's certainly better than doing NOTHING.

I think the gross flaunting of conspicuous consumption, so greatly adored by many readers of this site, is far more offensive.

And living in a trailer is very, very different from being a "transient in a cardboard box". Most people around the world would be delighted by these homes. Electricity? Hot running water? Air conditioning? Flush toilets? I think it's great of AT to remind us of how much we have to be grateful for. It really sucks for these families to be squished into tiny homes and to have lost most of their possessions, and yet they're still better off than most of the world.

First off - There's nothing tasteless about this post IMHO, but it certainly is thoughtless...

...if folks who lived in these things cared enough to make them "Homey", they'd have moved on with their lives by now - perhaps even to another town.

Yeah, I'm sorry there was a hurricane and they lost their homes - and I'm sorry about the way the idiots in Washington DC reacted...
...but there's no excuse for waiting 3 years for someone else to bail you out.

Thanks for all the comments. This post was never meant to be glib -- just a way to urge people to think about what they'd do if their circumstances (and living spaces) changed so dramatically.

Personally, it made me think about how I might try to make the best of a terrible situation. For you, maybe not so much.

And I debated including the Dwell link, but it seemed like one person's unusual alternative, so it seemed worthwhile to share.

P.S. Bepsf, these photos aren't necessarily recent and the people who live in these spaces aren't necessarily still there.

I sent them all the link to this post...maybe they'll comment on where they're at now and how they were able to adjust to the temporary space.

I didn't see this as exactly tasteless, but I do see it as reaching a bit for content. However, it's less of a reach then reproducing Ikea catalog pages. :-p

That being said, these spaces are bigger than many Tokyo apartments, though generally 4-8 people aren't crammed into them.

These really aren't bad, just narrow. If these were squarish rather than tunnel-like, they'd probably be more comfortable (but less portable). The feeling that you're in a camper probably never goes away.

"...if folks who lived in these things cared enough to make them "Homey", they'd have moved on with their lives by now - perhaps even to another town.

Yeah, I'm sorry there was a hurricane and they lost their homes - and I'm sorry about the way the idiots in Washington DC reacted...

...but there's no excuse for waiting 3 years for someone else to bail you out..."

bepsf

Spoken like the truly clueless.

The top photo is the trailer I lived in for 17 months. I finally got a trailer 5 months after Katrina. I lost my home, my business, many of my friends and nearly bankrupted myself trying to service my home patients. I lived with a sister in Alabama and drove to the Coast everyday for those 5 months to care for those elderly home bound who were my responsibility.

Now for a tad of education. That trailer was located in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Despite the often repeated mantra of the media, Katrina DID NOT hit New Orleans. She made land fall in Pass Christina, MS; where I lived prior to the storm.

No one 'bailed me out'. You have confused the mess in New Orleans with the area actually hit by the storm.....

.........and the storm isn't 'over' yet. Come for a visit, then offer an opinion.

At the Red Cross (where I work) we emphasize the value of comfort and caring for emotional wellbeing during and after disaster. This could definitely include sprucing up your surroundings so that you feel more at home.

I know that FEMA trailers are a sensitive topic, and I respect the writer's intent to offer thought to the subject of how to make them (or whatever post-disaster housing you can afford) more aesthetically comfortable.

Great job Brownie!
Great job Bushie!
Let's carry on the proud tradition by electing John Magoo!!!

bepsf, I'd like to see how long it would take you to pick up the pieces if you lost everything.

I am a bad person, because my first thought was that it looks like my apartment when I first moved in..

i agree with hdtex.... you think how bush handled this mess was bad... mcpain's just another clueless wealthy person.

Bepsf, you're apparently forgetting that many insurance companies are refusing to pay for homes destroyed by Katrina, citing water rather than wind damage. At least one court decision has (reluctantly) supported them, even though the ultimate destroyer of the home (water vs. wind) can't be proven.

I can't speak for you, but if my home (which is insured for replacement/rebuilding value, which far exceeds my mortgage) was destroyed and I wasn't compensated, I'd have a hell of a time getting my life back together. Not to mention losing my job, family, pets, etc.

Lise, I appreciate your bringing us this article and agree with RobinP's perspective. Also, what does it say about this country that this craziness is still going on three years later?

bepsf, you are WAY out of line. WAY THE HELL out of line.

Educate yourself about what the insurance companies and construction companies have been doing to people before you start blaming the victim. Educate yourself about what it costs to rebuild your entire life in the wake of the biggest natural disaster to hit the US in living memory, in the wake of PTSD, economic disaster, depression, and deaths of family and friends. Imagine, let's say, that you were a renter and lost everything you own AND your livelihood, and don't even have the means to pack up and move elsewhere, because your car was flooded. Your glibness and contempt are astounding.

Let me ask you this: do you think New Yorkers should've left Lower Manhattan instead of fighting to rebuild it? Should San Franciscans just get up and move next time an earthquake knocks the city over? Hell no.

Your lack of compassion is absolutely reprehensible.

Run Bep, she's got a knife!!!

I'm not sure where I stand on these trailers, however something else did catch my attention that I do have an opinion on. And I haven't read everyone's posts, so if this has already been mentioned I apologize for being repetitive.

Is that a WalMart advertisement on this page?! WalMart represents everything opposite of what I thought Apartment Therapy stood for. I am truly disappointed. Shame shame.

I do not find the post tasteless, I actually find it as a welcoming and much needed trip to introspection/meditation, life took me to a place where I had to live in a place almost as small (And no microwave), and since then I have tried to live as frugal as possible - allowing myself to some luxuries but also having a life that can be packed - for the most part - in a big suitcase and a backpack and it's worked out just fine., because it is a lesson in how much we get attached to things and how much we think we need to occupy huge spaces, when in reality, well, we are human and we are cliches and home is where the heart is and not where the delicious Eames lounge chair is, no matter where and no matter what.

Yes, the health concerns with the trailers are worrisome...but at least they have running water, flush toilets etc. And I do think as much as I like "things", I agree with La Loca that we do get too caught up in what we own. There are worse things than living in a trailer. I think the fact that we get so impassioned about this subject might have something to do with the fact that this is a site devoted basically to decorating and lifestyle.
Again, I don't mean to downplay the health concerns, but much of what I read here I think is related to our basic stereotype of trailers and people who live in them.

I think what's interesting is how people manage, in such situations, to scrape together a modicum of normalcy, of comfort.

It's also interesting that many people see the smallness of these spaces (not such a big deal if you're from NY!) as being the worst part of living in them. Of course, the actual toxicity is hidden, but it seems to be a visceral response by so many people who have the luxury of space. I'm always struck by what people consider small on this site.

And ultimately, the sad thing is that this disaster was, like so many others, merely sparked by a "natural" cause, but made tragic by human action (or lack of action).

I spent 13 years in a STATE prison for a crime that I didn't commit. I know that I suffered a lot more than most of the folks that survived Katrina. I would have loved to have had a place as nice as those trailers and I would never complain. The federal government is not responsible to mend the booboos of every individual that has ever suffered due to a natural event. Sure, the insurance companies need to be straightened out, but a nice trailer like that is above and beyond what they think they are owed. Until you have been the victim of multiple prison rapes, stop crying and drive your fat asses down there and help out yourself!!

When I volunteered earlier this year in St. Bernard Parish, one of the hardest hit communities in Louisiana, I saw hundreds of these FEMA/Katrina trailers first-hand. And I met the people still living in them YEARS after the disaster, with little hope of moving out anytime soon. They didn't talk of big-screen TVs or plush leather sofas, they only wanted to be out of these trailers and into a home with 4 walls, space to move around in, and a roof over their heads. For them, it's been an agonizingly slow and frustrating process of rebuilding and repopulating. And there is no end in site to their situations.

It was a very sobering moment in my life.

When I returned home and looked at all of my fancy designer things, I realized it's all just "Stuff." Stuff that doesn't matter when it gets stolen, lost in a fire, flood or earthquake, or your whole family or community are gone. Stuff that has little value when my home is gone, I have no food, family, pets, electricity or clothes, but I still have a Nelson clock or Eames lounge chair. My thoughts about this are obviously deeper and more personal, but the root is that all this Stuff can all be taken away in a heartbeat.

Don't get me wrong, I love being around my Stuff. But we have a different relationship now. It's almost like the Buddhist notion that we never really own anything. And I am okay with that. So for now, I collect pictures of pretty things on my computer from sites like this. And look forward to volunteering in New Orleans again later this year.

wow.... ill bet when Lise wrote this she never thought Prison Rape would come up in the comments!

Or...did she? *dramatic eyebrow!*

I assure you, I didn't. But it is certainly interesting where AT readers' minds might lead...