Deep Cleaning our Vintage Airstream

Twenty weeks!

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here that long! We’ve knocked out some pretty fun projects, but with dedicating so much time to building our homestead, something had to give. And for us, it was the care of our home.

I don’t think it’s ever been this cluttered and dirty. I couldn’t take it another day so we took the weekend off of homestead projects to give this place a proper cleaning.

First, we took EVERYTHING out of our Airstream. I mean, everything! It took us right at an hour and a half to get it all out on the deck. 

Can we just pause for a minute and marvel at how much stuff we were able to store in here? Along with 6 people and a puppy!? Sometimes we forget how much planning and care went into renovating our Airstream, and it's cool to see how well it's still working for our family all these years later.

Ok. Then came the dirty work.

You can tell how serious we are about cleaning this place up because we even bought a vacuum! We had to. A broom and dust pan was not going to cut it any longer! Living in the desert, you can literally wipe you counters, turn to put away the cleaner, and they’re dusty again. Part of me is looking forward to winter so we can once again close our windows and perhaps not have so much dust in here.

This little shop vac was a beast while still running on our 2000w Inverter! It really helped us get this place spic and span. Then we all wiped down everything we could. The kids were a huge help getting it cleaned up and looking nice in here.

That was the easy part! The hard part was going through all our stuff and deciding what stays and what goes, reorganizing, and putting it all back before dark. Think it can be done? You'll have to watch the video to find out!

Through the cleaning and organizing our home, we’ve rediscovered some of our favorite things about living tiny. We may not have much, but what we do have we love and treasure. Here are a few of our favorite things.

Ashley’s Favorite Things

Berkey Water Filter 

I’ve talked about it many times so you can read about it here if you don’t know, but we will never be without our Berkey.

Bird Hooks 

Sometimes they get covered up with dish towels or other random things throughout the week and I tend to forget about them, but these bird hooks are on of my favorite things in here! Pretty and functional which is a rare find these days :)

Curtains 

These curtains have been with us for nearly 10 years! They were in our home before we began traveling, we had them in our 5th wheel, and now we have them here with us in our tiny, shiny home. They are well loved and treasured by us all. They came from World Market. 

Quilts

We bought these Camomile London quilts last winter and the colors still make me smile. I love, love, love them. Though they are light weight, they pair well with another warmer blanket for winter and keep us smiling year round.

Rug

I get asked often about this rug from World Market. They have THE BEST rugs and reasonably priced.

Vista Windows

Okay, this is not something many will or can replicate, but this is one of my most favorite things about our tiny home. My dad made these custom for us and the way the light streams through is so dreamy, plus we get to see the stars through them at night!

Packing Cubes

Sometimes I forget that most people don’t store their clothes in packing cubes. For us, it keeps our closet tidy and we’re able to fit everyone’s clothes in a tiny little closet in the bathroom. For traveling families, packing cubes are a game changer!

Jonathan’s Favorite Things

Note, Jonathan did not write these, see copious amounts of sarcasm.

Book Arc 

I highly recommend this Book Arc for holding my MacBook Pro. It keeps my tiny desk super tidy and my computer safe from a certain dog that likes to jump up on everything.

Fantastic Fans 

I’m so glad we installed three of these Fantastic Fans in here! The one in the bathroom we use often when taking showers to direct any steam outside. The one in the kitchen is right near the stove so that we can turn it on when we cook inside to direct the propane fumes out. And the third is above the master suite ;) This allows me to freeze my wife out while I sleep comfortably in the crisp evening breeze.

Nature’s Head Composting Toilet 

What’s not to love? I no longer have to deal with a black tank and I love lugging my families urine out to dump each day. But seriously, we do love our Nature's Head Composting Toilet.

Kids Favorite Things

iPads

For (4) kids who are constantly reading, getting each of them their own iPad has been the perfect solution for not towing hundreds of books around. Not only do we not have room for many books, but they add way too much weight to safely tow around for years on end. They do their school work on them and each have some games that they like to play.

Nintendo Switch 

Though we are minimalists, we don't live under a rock. Our kids still enjoy video games and the Switch makes it easy for them to get their fill of entertainment while not taking up a bunch of space. Easily can be taken in the car, connected to TV's at hotels and friends houses, and has a sweet little charging rack that stays out of the way!

Nine Nine 

While brining a puppy on board has had it’s challenges, we love this little guy. Though we’re still working through a few behavioral issues, we’ve been extremely happy with adding Nine Nine to our family. He’s a bernadoodle (part Bernese Mountain Dog, part Poodle) and we got him from @StrongDoodles in New Mexico.

Nine Nine's Favorite Things

Bully Sticks 

Everyone with a dog should have dried bull pizzels right? He loves them and it keeps him busy for hours!

Why was this so important to us? Well, honestly I just can't handle the clutter. I think it's super important to take a look around you regularly and see what is being used and what isn't. We don't need half of what we think we do to live a comfortable life. 

With less stuff comes less to clean and less to break and less to have to replace. Less really is more. And why you start treating your home as a living place instead of a storage unit, you'll have more room to breathe and could lead to a much more productive and happy life.

What do you think? Are you team "Less is More"?

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About the Author

Ashley Longnecker is the fiercely independent tattooed and dreaded half of Tiny Shiny Home. She's a woodworker, photographer and maker of delicious baked goods. She loathes schedules and makes every day an adventure.

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