Trailer Interior
This is the as-purchased interior of the trailer. It’s currently a very generic color scheme - pretty common in the RV world. Overall it has a living area with couch and dinette, a kitchen, a rear bedroom with bunks for the kids, and up the stairs a bathroom and master bedroom.
It has the following amenities:
- Solid oak door and drawer fronts
- Day/night shades
- 3-burner range
- Combination convection/microwave oven
- Ceiling fan
- Ducted heat & A/C
- Theatre sound system (with hidden, somewhere, subwoofer)
- Heated queen size mattress (still figuring out how this works)
- Gas/Electric hot water heater
- Wiring for cable, satellite and phone
Our plan is to do some redecorating to make it feel less like a generic and more like a home. What that means just yet we don’t know - paint? Laminate flooring? Different window treatments?
Jenn writes:
What is the make and model of your trailer? I think we have decided to go with a 5th wheel after all. Where do you work? Did you build an office anywhere?
Boyink writes:
Hey Jenn -
It’s certainly not as stylish going down the road but the 5th wheel format has worked well for us.
Ours is an ‘05 Rockwood 8281SS. I know when we were shopping both Cougar and Sundance had a similar floorplan.
See this post for what we did to the interior. I gave up on having a dedicated office and instead work out of a backpack, usually sitting in one of the Ikea chairs we put in. The laptops slide under the Ikea chairs when not in use.
Otherwise I sit outside when I can, or book it to a library for the day.
Boyink writes:
We also changed from a “decorate it to be home” mindset to “lets do as little as possible to make it livable” mindset.
Ultimately the trip isn’t about the RV.
Jenn writes:
Thank you!
We are just trying to do as much research as possible. :-) I saw emailed an ad for a class C on CL today. She mentioned in the ad her family spent 16 months touring the road. I asked her about going with an Class C as opposed to the 5th wheel. She gave me a few reasons but also mentioned she had envisioned herself schooling and working while they traveled down the road but it was too bumpy to get much done. I thought that was very telling. We are now thinking in the “long haul” that a 5th wheel will work very well.
I LOVE decorating and find great joy in making something unique on a budget. I CAN’T wait to pull out paint, nails, and fabric! That’s one of the reason we are going to go with an older one but maybe once we get it we’ll change our minds!
It’s all so exciting! Thanks again!
Boyink writes:
Just occurred to me - I’ve always liked driving days for a couple reasons. First - I’m disconnected so am not worried about email / social networks / work during that time.
The other is we are all together, in the same room, doing the same thing, seeing the same stuff. Yea - once in a while the kids will put iPods on and tune out a bit, but we’ve still had some of our best moments and conversations while driving.
But you wouldn’t have that with a Class C - only two chairs up front and if you’re in the back you typically can’t see out the front so are looking out the side windows. I just don’t think you’d have the same family time going that route.
Just be really careful buying an older RV - these things aren’t made to live in. Get it professionally inspected. We just spent thousands getting a new roof put on our 6-year old trailer - and if I add that cost to what we paid we could have bought new with a warranty.