Amazing Mobile Home Part 2: Kristy’s Interview

The Interview

Name:
Kristy @ 4 the love of WOOD and husband, George

Location:
Langley BC Canada

Model/Year/Manufacturer/Size: 
Manufactured by Gendall Industries out of Edmonton Alberta Canada / 11ft wide x 60ft long / yr. unknown (early 70’s)

Years Lived in:
3yr and 8mths

My favorite style: 

I adore the look and feel of shabby chic all white décor and French provincial furniture (a lot of women do). But I also really like a traditionally modern home with pops of vintage elements perfectly placed within it. Whether it is a shabby chic painted piece with antique clocks displayed about, or a vintage fabric used to upholster a modern chair I feel it offers a warmth and welcoming feel that is hard to find when surrounded by strictly modern furnishings. I also love classic French and European Baroque styles with gold gilding and wonderful soft green paint colors, none of which are incorporated into our home … YET! I enjoy a color pallet mixing pinks and greens, to which I do when we transform the showroom entry into a guest bedroom when company is coming. But day to day I share this home with George and as supportive as he is there needs to be a balance of masculine elements to reflect his taste as well. Thus our bedroom is furnished with a gorgeous cherry finished sleigh bed flanked with matching side tables and dressed mostly in white and blue fabrics.

Favorite room/place in home:
I can’t live without a large bedroom, the layout of our home is a typical mobile home with a bedroom at one end and the living room at the other. The moment we decided to move here I said, “the bedroom is too small so we have to use the living room as our bedroom” George didn’t quite understand how this would work but now he’s an advocate and wouldn’t let me change it even if I wanted. There is an open area between the foot of the bed and the kitchen we use as a small seating area that also has my computer desk/office area. We don’t entertain very often but anyone we do have over knows how we live and that we love our home as is. Of course, a plus to this is because the bed is usually always made … USUALLY!

Biggest Challenge so far:
One challenge that bothers me in this home is that there is no electricity in the ceiling. I love hanging beautiful chandeliers in every room but I have to hook each one up with a swag cord that has a well-placed switch and try to conceal the cord running across the ceiling and down the wall to an outlet.

What friends say:
A friend answered this question: “It is cozy and comfy. I feel like I just walked into my own home. It is always a revolving door of beautiful furniture and décor. There is always something new for my eyes to see. It proves to me that less IS more!!” Another element everyone comments on is the old dresser mirror frame I used in our dressing room to frame the window.

Love the way she took the mirror out to frame the window…it’s genius!

Biggest Embarrassment:
The front door and front steps are next on the list for an overhaul this spring. It will be something to watch for on the home tour.

Oh yes, soo embarrassing! (NOT)

Proudest DIY moment:
Laying new flooring is huge, it transforms a room greatly. We have put hardwood in the front entry, laminate in the back entry, but my proudest DIY install was the bathroom floor tile. The tile was a freebie but the homeowner who gave it to us didn’t have the correct amounts of each kind of tile so when we picked it up there were less of the full sized tiles and way more of the small mosaics then we had planned for. I’ve done tile installs many times in past homes as well as for friends, so with that experience, I knew it was just a matter of rethinking the layout to maximize what we actually ended up with. I built a hinged box to conceal some exposed pipes behind the toilet and tiled the box, as well as built a spacer for between the washer and dryer tiling it also.

Biggest Indulgence:
Back porch roof and new outdoor sectional for our main entertaining area in the warmer months. By all accounts that is our living room, and for those who don’t know Vancouver is a very temperate climate it often only snows here once or twice a year and melts the same day. Temperatures don’t go below freezing often and never stay too long but it does rain often.

Best advice:
My best advice for small spaces is to live in your space modestly for a time to determine best functionality, sizes, and layout before dropping cash on the perfect furniture. When we first moved in we had a round antique pedestal table and 2 benches for dining. This did not work for the space so we tried a rectangular table with the benches, still didn’t work. Then a beautiful expensive bar height dining set, this did not work for the space either, too big. An additional problem we had was the limited counter space, so I customized a mid-century cabinet to work for a kitchen island with 2 Craig’s list stools. It’s where we eat, prepare food, and we can work on paperwork and small projects. This also offers George a comfortable area against the wall to have his office desk and PC and be close to all the action and talk to me while I’m down the hall painting. We would love to have a dining table and chairs but in this small space, it makes life uncomfortable. It’s the right compromise for us.

Sources of materials/supplies for remodel:
Hardwood and tile flooring are great and inexpensive finds on Craigslist, Cedar Beams for the roof framing were purchased at a local lumber yard (we love our cedar here on the west coast), wallpaper used in the kitchen was from D. Marie Wallpaper Interiors ordered online (they have beautiful papers). Home Sense (Canada’s Branding of TJ Max, Marshalls, Home Goods) is a great source for fabrics which is what is on the entry walls (black n white tablecloths) and the blue printed curtains hanging in the backroom (again tablecloths).

Gorgeous wallpaper!