Given the population ever-increasing on our small island here in the UK (and the planet, don’t get me started…), I am always interested in how we can take up less space. And, I confess, I’ve always been a tad obsessed with clever furniture and how people design their small spaces into homes. P and I even bought one of these…
…I adored it! It’s a tiny Freedom Classic caravan we nicknamed LoveBug. I used it on the drive as an office to write in and we towed it with our tiny car to stay in various places. Sadly, I was still very sensitive then and didn’t realise I was reacting to the water system plastic so I was ill every single time we went out with her. Regrettably, we had to get rid, but we sold her back to the man we bought it from for the same money as they hold their value really well.
They are the only vans, I think, that are made from one piece of material so they don’t rust or let water in etc as others do. I’d like another one, in fact, but P was never keen on towing it and I was useless at it. It was the reversing that worried us down tiny roads in Cornwall! We fitted a turny-roundy thing (menopause brain strikes again, Googles: ‘thing you fit to turn caravans round with’…). motor mover! But it didn’t stop the anxiety. Shame.
Anyway, here are some pretty inside pictures for you to drool at if this is your thing too. It’s not where we bought ours from – a second hand one on Preloved, I recall for about £5k – but this is a good site to explore them.
I just had a quick look on Preloved. Loads of people wanting one, none for sale. Shows how popular they are. And relatively unknown!
Anyway, I digress. Back to living in small spaces.
I spent a happy 15 mins yesterday watching the video below where the woman has built customised furniture to fit her 333sqft flat. Just SO clever. Tons of storage, a hall, wardrobes, extendable dining table and a Murphy pull down bed. P made me one of these when we were in Plaidy, Cornwall; desk by day, guest bed by night. You can just about see it here in the pictures from when we sold it which I just found on Zoopla!
I used some Laura Ashley fabric stuck to a large panel and the white desk with two Ikea cabinets at the sides. The mattress lived behind the panel. Then, to use it as a bed, we moved the desk across to become a dressing table and pulled the bed down, the base resting on some cut down Ikea bed legs we kept on top of the mattress behind the panel. MUCH cheaper than a Murphy bed and just as effective, maybe not as pretty as in the video below. But it worked for us in a small bedroom. Don’t worry too much about me being squeezed in there writing to you for over 4 years. I had a garden office built to get some peace! It was luuverly…remind me why we sold this house again?
I planned to do my non toxic facials and massages again one day (hence the towels etc on the shelf), but I couldn’t tolerate the oils yet, sadly. I used it as a guest bedroom, clinic office and writing space instead.
Oops, I digressed again. Here’s the video – bit of an advert for some design software in the middle but some good ideas and inspiration.
Our current rental flat is just about double that size and, both working from home, it feels a bit of a squeeze. But it has fabulous sea views so we are loving it for that. It gives me ideas for small space living and hope that we can keep the sea view and squeeze into something that we can afford now the prices in Cornwall are so horrendous!
Here is the balcony we have with such a wonderful view. I think the balcony is half the size of the whole flat – great for Summer, going to be a bit of a squeeze in Winter. Anyway, I shall enjoy it while I can.. I’m surprised P and I haven’t killed each other yet, to be honest…
hushed.life 
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