Setting up our main living quarters turned out to be one of those times when frustration threatens to outweigh patience. We ran into several obstacles including an air conditioner that didn’t work and a leak that caused us to have to tear out part of the floor, but thankfully, we got them all fixed. (Roy says “several obstacles” is an understatement).
The camper we bought is a 32′ long 2006 FEMA trailer. Roy hooked it up to the water and sewage from the old house, and put up a new pole for electricity. Again, more work than it sounds like. It has a full size refrigerator and a regular porcelain toilet. It’s short on storage, so we have to be strategic about everything we bring inside. We are still working out a few kinks, in spite of the fact that I spent literally months planning where everything would go.
Little things have turned out to make a big difference, like each of us having our own plate, bowl, glass, and coffee cup. They are all the same for compact stacking, but each person has a different color and we are responsible for washing our own. The same principle goes for towels – each a different color – and each our own hook. An over-the-toilet rack and individual bins for toiletries have been a lifesaver (we have teenage girls)!
We made a few changes that we thought would make us more comfortable. We took out the queen-sized foam mattress on the bed, cut the support board down to fit a full mattress and used our old mattress instead. This made one less thing to store, a more comfortable bed, and more room to
walk on each side. We also took the doors off the overhead cabinets to easily access bins and books and replaced the carpet with self-stick vinyl tiles from a discount store… made necessary when we tore out the floor.
We are surprisingly comfortable in such a tight space and I have enjoyed having everyone right there while we cook, do homework, and relax. However, it is definitely a short-term solution for 5 people, especially with the top bunk bed being so unaccommodating. If you look at it as an adventure, though, it’s great. It has been more than worth the financial freedom, made especially nice by the fact that we chose to do this rather than being in a place where we had to do it.
Living in a FEMA Trailer – Ideas for Small Spaces