With the tiny house movement showing no signs of slowing down, renovated Airstreams have become of the most popular ways to live small. Kristen and Siya, travel bloggers and owners of travel website Hopscotch the Globe, upped sticks to an Airstream home in 2017 and never looked back. After spending a year renovating their trailer Luna, they now live life on the road with their daughter Kia and dog Atlas. Let’s step inside their stylish space. Click or scroll for more…
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Setting up home
After starting Hopscotch the Globe, Kristen met fellow traveller Siya and together they backpacked around the world non-stop for years without having a permanent home. “We missed the sense of home and at the same time didn’t want a conventional type of house, which is when we thought of the idea of buying a van or RV,” say the couple.
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Finding a tiny home
They spent around a month searching websites like Craigslist before they stumbled upon their amazing Airstream. “We found a 1976 Airstream Sovereign on Kijiji for $10,000 (£8k), purchased it and spent the next year completely gutting and renovating it,” Kristen and Siya explain.
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First timers
Airstream novices with no experience of undertaking a renovation, Kristen and Siya admit that their search for the perfect trailer was somewhat haphazard: “To be honest, we didn’t really know what to look for when choosing an Airstream and ended up getting one that needed a lot of work.”
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Dark and dingy
Luna came decked out in 70s furniture and smelt decidedly musty and neglected –an extreme fixer-upper not for the faint-hearted. The furniture didn’t utilise the snug space well and the interior lacked light. “She needed love,” say the couple, “and we wanted to give that to her.”
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Major makeover
When they first purchased the trailer, the pair thought that they could live in the Airstream the way it was. However, they soon discovered that this wasn’t the case. “We quickly decided that we wanted to do some minor renovations to make the Airstream look more modern. That quickly turned into a year of full renovation,” they explain.
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Scaling down
At only 200 square feet, the couple would need to downsize and wave 90% of their belongings goodbye. To create a permanent home, some major changes were required too, for example, the tiny bathroom didn’t support off-grid living and was lined with old plastic units with no windows to bring in light.
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Nasty surprises
Embarking on the tiny home renovation, the couple had zero knowledge but initially decided to tackle the project on their own. “The more we inspected the Airstream, the more we realised that it needed a lot of work. We found rot and mould and the tipping point was when Siya’s uncle fell through the floor,” they admit.
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A helping hand
That’s when they realised they were in over their heads and needed some help from the experts. “We had planned to do it all ourselves, but instead hired people who knew what they were doing to help us,” say Kristen and Siya. “If we didn’t have that help, we’d still be working on it today!”
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Starting over
In the end, the renovation took a year and the Airstream had to be completely gutted. The couple and their team removed the shell from the frame and then re-welded the frame. They also had to replace the floors, after Siya’s uncle fell through them, and the water tanks.
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Going off-grid
Setting Luna up for off-grid living was an important element for the couple. “We have a solar system in place, a compost toilet and everything that doesn’t run on solar runs on propane. We can be good for quite some time as long as we are somewhere sunny,” they explain.
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Hitting the road
Finally, after a whole year of hard work, planning, research and extensive renovations, Luna was ready to hit the open road on 1st July 2017. Let’s take a look around…
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A unique interior
Since Kristen and Siya ended up completely gutting the Airstream and starting from scratch, they were able to design an interior floor plan to suit their lifestyle needs and maximise the available space. They opted for a relaxed boho-chic scheme with plenty of hidden storage built in.
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The heart of the home
Walking into the Airstream, the first space you come across is the space-saving kitchen. Originally, Kristen wanted to install a pizza workstation complete with a stone oven. However, to make the best use of the tiny space the couple chose a pizza stone plate and a farmhouse-style design that blends raw materials with modern built-in appliances. “The Airstream kitchen is right in the middle of everything, so it had to be nice to look at,” the couple say on their blog.
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Rustic design details
The kitchen was designed to be efficient and multipurpose. The stylish space features copper accessories and reclaimed wood countertops that came from a 100-year-old dilapidated barn. Inspired by rustic, country decor, a deep farmhouse sink is the main focal point of the scheme.
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Utilising the space
It was important to Kristen and Siya to make the Airstream fully-functional for off-grid living. When picking out their appliances they went for an oven that runs on propane and a dual induction hob that will save electricity and countertop space.
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Installing an eco bathroom
The tiny 15-square-foot bathroom is also designed to work off-grid and includes a compost toilet. With stylish blue tiling and plenty of storage, it features a tiny sink installed into an off-cut of the same 100-year-old wood used in the kitchen.
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Light and bright
To make sure enough light filtered into the snug space, the couple decided to add a Plexiglass window. Sitting just above chest height, the window looks out over the master bedroom, but still offers an element of privacy when needed.
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Shower in style
Lined with blue penny tiles, the shower has a six-gallon hot water tank which is hidden underneath the shower seat. Heated by either propane or electricity, the copper-effect shower head can pump out one gallon of water per minute. A shower curtain pulls across to keep the rest of the bathroom dry, while a small built-in shower ledge gives the couple some extra storage.
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The master bedroom
Kristen and Siya’s favourite part of their tiny home on wheels is the bedroom. “We love the bed. We have a king-sized bed. In fact, we have two! Our dining room table converts into a king plus bed as well,” Kristen says. The space has everything they need for a simple life on the road, with six storage drawers for their clothes, plus bedside tables and reading lights.
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Bringing the outside in
The master bedroom also has five windows and a skylight that leaves it feeling light and airy. The couple say it makes them feel as though they’re camping when they leave it open at night and let the sounds of nature flood in.
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Doubling up
With faux vines and LED lights overhead, the bedroom has a soft romantic feel and is a space of calm for the couple. The dresser extends through to the kitchen for extra surface space and can also double up as a home office which is especially handy for the bloggers.
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Guest quarters
It might be a tight space, but impressively, they’ve managed to fit in a guest bedroom. The dining table is a piece of furniture that converts before your eyes into a super king size bed and just like the master bedroom, it has plenty of windows and a skylight.
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Hidden storage
The cosy area also provides some extra hidden storage under the benches and slides down easily into a relaxing bedroom space for any visiting guests. A curtain along the back wall provides some valuable privacy when needed.
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Small touches
The cleverly designed trailer doesn’t go without some homely touches and mementos from the pair’s travels. “We were inspired by hippie vans, but didn’t get into the whole movement until we were living the lifestyle ourselves. The interior design is based on our needs and interests and is in a boho-chic style. We love the raw, outdoorsy, hippie style which is what Luna is all about,” explains the couple.
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A budget renovation
The whole project cost Kristen and Siya $34,000 (£27k). The most expensive part of the project was the help they had with the interior renovation which came in at $14,400 (£11k). The bodywork, labour and supplies came to $9,000 (£7k), with extra tyre repairs totalling $472 (£370). Deciding to hire experts helped save the couple a lot of time and allowed them the space to keep working on Hopscotch the Globe during renovations.
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Learning curves
The first journey in Luna started in Ontario, Canada and ended in California, but didn’t come without a few hiccups. Driving in the rain meant that the couple had to learn how to leak-proof a wheel well and dodgy parking attempts led to the installation of a rear camera system.
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Reconnecting with the great outdoors
However, they wouldn’t change it for the world. “The great part of living in the Airstream is that the outdoors feels just as much a part of our home as the inside of Luna. We both prefer living in tiny spaces with only what we need,” explain Kristen and Siya.
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Always on the move
“Every time I open the door I have a different front and backyard,” says Kristen. “Sometimes I have mountains, other times we have an ocean or forest. But, when we close the door at night, we have a familiar place we call home that never changes.”
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Family life on the road
Currently, the couple are living in Luna, but are set to move to Costa Rica for three months to join a community called La Ecovilla. Head to their YouTube channel to follow the family’s new travels.
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