Top 10 Favorite Posts of 2016

As 2016 comes to an end, Eric and I thought it would be fun to look back on what we’ve accomplished this past year. While most of our favorite RV projects haven’t made it to the blog yet (can you say 2017 goals?), here are our 10 Favorite Posts of 2016!

Ready to take a trip down memory lane? Let’s go!

For those that are new here, we recently left our sticks and bricks home to spend a year traveling in our RV. You can read more about us here.

Tiny Kitchen Remodel

This year we shared the reveal of our tiny RV kitchen remodel. While the renovation certainly got off to a rocky start after dealing with a major water leak in the ceiling, we’re both really happy with the outcome. You may also want to read about how we removed the wallpaper border and painted the two-toned cabinets.

In case you’re curious about what our (new to us) RV looked like when we first purchased it, you can see photos and watch our RV Before Tour here.

Reclaimed Mountain Wall Art

This mountain wall art was not only super easy to make but since we only used materials we had on hand, it cost us $0.

RV Flooring Update

While we’ve worked on DIY projects over the years, the RV was our first time tackling an actual renovation project. We knew from the get-go that we would replace the carpet and linoleum with plank-style flooring, and while it was a lot of work, it really paid off. There was a bit of a learning curve with installing it in the RV, especially the slide-out, but it’s made a HUGE impact on the overall vibe of our tiny home on wheels.

It was basically the first step we took in transforming our outdated RV into a rustic modern motorhome.

Custom Media Cabinet with TV Lift and Fireplace

I can say that our custom media cabinet is one of our most-used pieces of furniture in the RV! Not only does it house our TV on a lift, which means we don’t lose prime window real estate when it’s not in use, but that also keeps it secure while we travel down the road. Using a remote to make the TV come up and down from within the cabinet always feels magical, and is generally the first thing Eric shows to our friends and family. You can even watch an updated video of it in action over on this post.

The electric fireplace really came in handy when we spent a couple of months in Wisconsin, but I love that we don’t have to use heat and can keep it on purely for ambiance if we want.

However, the most used aspect of the cabinet is hidden inside, and chances are you wouldn’t even know it exists. I’ll get to that next…

Space Saving Expanding Table/Desk

We created an expanding table/desk that comes out from the center drawer of our media cabinet, and it takes less than 2 minutes to set up or put away.

Eric and I both work at this table most days unless I feel like using the desk in our bedroom. Not gonna lie, we got lazy for a while and kept it up because the next morning we would have to work at it anyway. Even so, I always feel better when I walk into the living room in the morning and the table is put away because it definitely takes up a decent chunk of our living room.

We now have a new rule that the table has to be put away before we go to bed.

The Secret to Keeping Mice out of the RV

Within 2 weeks of moving into our RV, we had some uninvited guests I’d rather forget…mice.

We were parked on a farm so it wasn’t too big of a surprise I guess, but we did try several attempts to get rid of them before finding a solution that worked. You can read all about the natural remedy we used here.

Horseshoe Bathroom Storage

Here’s a simple storage project we shared this past year that has turned out to be one of my favorites. I love having storage that didn’t cost a lot to make (we got the reclaimed wood for free), we were able to customize, and adds rustic character to our bathroom. As a bonus, the horseshoes help keep the towels in place, even while we drive down the road. You can see how I made new horseshoes look rusty here.

Vintage Style Push-Pin Map

What RV would be complete without a map? We’re excited to document our upcoming adventures, so this vintage-style map will really come in handy in 2017!

RV Christmas Home Tour

One of our absolute favorite posts from 2016 is our RV Christmas Tour. I think it’s mainly because we want you to see the progress we’ve made in our RV over the past year, despite not having every project up on the blog yet.

Our goal has always been to inspire YOU to create the environment you want to live in, regardless of size or budget. I hope our RV remodel shows you how a little imagination, LOTS of patience, and a decent amount of elbow grease can go a long way. Some of our projects cost nothing and others were a splurge, but our renovation certainly didn’t happen overnight and it’s still not completely finished.

It will be interesting to see what it looks like this time next year, as we get more accustomed to the tiny living lifestyle…

Why Starting a Blog Could Change Your Life – FREE eBook

I’ve been blogging for nearly 4 years now and it’s changed my life in so many ways, and I recently wrote an eBook about how it could change yours too! If you’re considering creating a blog in 2017, for personal or professional reasons, then I hope you’ll subscribe and give it a read.

You can also visit my blogging page which links to a few other posts I’ve written including steps to consider before you start a blog, 10-minute blog setup and some of my favorite blogging resources. I plan to add more to this topic next year.

That about wraps up our 10 favorite posts of 2016. Did you have a favorite? We would love to hear about it in the comments below!