An artist by trade, I see everything as a blank canvass.  In fact, The Hub jokes that if it can take paint, it will get it.  His only request was that I not paint the cabinets while they were brand new.  So, that meant I needed to get busy with the accessories.  As you will soon learn, our dogs are front and center in our lives and travels.  It is true that dogs encourage people to lead better lives.  They get us moving, laughing and playing.  But mostly, they get us out into nature where the soulful healing begins.

So, if you look closely at the hand-painted pillow in the lower left corner, you will see there is a beagle flying above us in all our journeys.  She was our first fur child and, I am convinced still travels with us– as witnessed by the mysterious skunk spray that failed to hit its Bassador target on our Thanksgiving outing.  Watching the big guy roust the skunk and seeing the black and white tail go up, I braced myself for a long, long camping experience in a very small camper with a very smelly dog.  But, as God is my witness, it was as if a force field sprang up and protected the Bassador from the noxious fumes.  Gratitude, gratitude and more gratitude for that little miracle, let me tell you!  So, the Beagle continues to be our protector and has earned a pillow painted in her honor.  And that is my first rule of small house on wheels decorating:  include a few useful custom items that bring heart and home to the Egg.

My second rule is to keep your color palate clean (I like bright). Then add in textures and shapes–in solids.  In a small space a little pattern can go a long way.  Because our walls are carpet (and yes, I like the carpet because we often camp in cold weather and rolling up against carpet is so much nicer than hitting a icy hard wall on a long cold winter’s night!)  I wanted to add in more texture for balance–thus the big furry pillows.  Not just for looks, we use those pillows every day.  We leave the king size bed down and use those yummy pillows to prop us up against the walls:  for breakfast in bed or a late night of backgammon.  The bright shams hide our sleeping pillows and extra throws/towels.  Space is at a minimum in the Egg, so creative double uses for everything becomes paramount.

In a future post, I will start to show you all the useful suction cup items and bins and and hooks that we have accumulated to help keep us organized and comfortable.  Tiny space living really is a lot of fun.  It requires a lot of editing and re-editing to make it perfectly functional.  In my case, it also requires a big garage shelf dedicated to seasonal and menu specific cooking utensils so that I can change things up based on holiday and need.  Ah, but that will all come later…

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