Yesterday, we made the trek into San Diego for a trip to Ikea.  We were on the hunt for some space-saving solutions for small homes and Ikea was the first place that came to our mind for reasonably-priced ideas.  We have found that while many RV specialty stores do carry some good stuff, you end up paying a premium price for them.

As we walked down the curving Ikea maze, I was drawn into some of their home layouts with curiosity and a little bit of awe.  One 596-square foot layout in particular.  I toured its adorable kitchen, complete with space for real cabinets, the living room that contained a real bookshelf.  I stared wide-eyed at the bedroom and bathroom as I took in the outlandishly large closet for storage.  It was a palace.

I remember walking through these setups when I had a house, thinking that maybe I could live in something like that but probably not.  Now, however, I don’t know what I’d do with all the space!

We did end up finding some neat little contraptions to help with our storage issues.

One area that has irked us for a while is the space where we have our coffee maker and toaster.  Though we replaced the broken built-in with a rack that allowed us to add a toaster, we were struggling with where to keep our filters, sugar, and cinnamon so that they would be handy.

We added a second little rack to the wall, easily removable for when we drive.  So far, it seems like the perfect fix!

Since we’ve been parked in SoCal, we have turned over the front driver’s seat to storage.  Piper likes to hang out in the passenger seat and we wanted to leave our reclining chair open for another seating option; that left the driver’s seat as the place to stash stuff.

“Stashing” is not really the right word here.  It’s a complete mess.  Mail, purses, bags, clothing…it all ends up right here.

This spot is still in progress.  We did buy a rack for more organization—to be installed.  For now, we added a hook in the cabinet above the steering wheel so we can hang up our park shirts.  It helps a little.

We also added a place to put our hats (apparently I’m a hat person in SoCal.  All that sun).

As we are working on improving other areas, such as our shower storage (FYI, suction cup shelves are a joke, thanks a lot Target), we are coming up with more creative storage ideas for our tiny house on wheels.

Last night, Andy looked at me and said, “All these improvements make it seem like you are accepting the idea that we are going to be living in this for a while.”

I am accepting it.  I truly am.