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Couple Living in ’78 Airstream Tiny Home


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This is the story of a couple who are living in a 1978 Airstream Tiny Home. When they got tired of living paycheck to paycheck, they decided to make a big change.

So George and Melanie decided that they would live in an Airstream travel trailer to pursue their dreams of a simple life and the opportunity for George to pursue his career in art. After doing some research, they found an Airstream on Craigslist and bought it for $5,000. And with a budget of about $1,500, they fixed it up to suit their needs.

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Couple Living in ’78 Airstream Tiny Home

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Images © A Small Life

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Images © A Small Life

My name is Melanie and my husband, our tiny dog and I live in a 1978 Airstream Sovereign. We decided that we were sick of living paycheck-to-paycheck. We wanted a chance to get out of that lifestyle and a chance for George to pursue his art full-time. So one night we dreamed up the crazy idea of living in an Airstream. After a bit of research, we purchased a 1978 Airstream Sovereign from a Craigslist ad for $5,000. We pulled the Airstream to land that is in my husband’s family. The land formerly housed a single-wide trailer, so it was perfect for our setup.

We didn’t budget a great deal of money to fix up the 1978 Airstream— just $1,000. Unfortunately, we did go over our initial budget by about $500. It took way too many coats of Kilz and a bright white paint/primer to cover the walls. To save on furniture costs and lumber my husband custom-built much of our furniture from old barn wood or discarded lumber. To decorate we used things we already had from previous apartments or DIYed it— like the curtains and the pillows.

To be honest, we didn’t do much to the outside of the trailer. We simply washed it and buffed it. We also sealed all the windows and around the doors.

I’m so proud of how we transformed not only the place that we live but the way that we live. We live a much simpler life now.

You can see more of our life on: asmalllife.com

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 9 comments… add one }
  • Rue
    May 14, 2016, 1:42 am

    Wow! An Airstream Land Yacht for $5,000?!! That was an excellent and lucky find!

    I like what they did with the interior….though I suspect that they aren’t fully accounting for the cost of the custom-built furniture and the DIY’d decor in their $1,500 total. There’s still time, labor, and materials for all that.

  • Paula
    May 14, 2016, 1:43 am

    A happy home. What do you use for power? A generator? Or a couple solar panels?

  • May 14, 2016, 5:01 am

    In Detail the Slinht touch of color and fantasy of a Design Artist Original details that are distributed in a white almost complete, while around: Rationality, Functionality, Genius, in distribution of the spaces and their function. Bravo, the Genial Author/Artist from the soul Light and Candid

    • Melissa
      December 13, 2017, 10:47 am

      What’s this^ comment? Just curious.

      Love The Airstream❣️

  • Peter Piper
    May 14, 2016, 2:39 pm

    Forget the art career. Living this way IS art.

  • Trish
    June 12, 2016, 10:25 am

    SWEEEETTTT!!!!!!

  • December 13, 2017, 1:54 pm

    Nothing “Shocking”! is Just an Appreciation!

  • December 14, 2017, 9:58 am

    The livelines of some colored elements, well visible in the photis, certainly show a discreet break with the predominant white. Even this IS ART ! How (for some) could the lifestyle be Artistic !? Yes, which begins idillically with the “Naive” lines of Naif painting and ends up with the “Unpredictable” paint casting of the Action Painting Style, of which the shapes are a “bizarre surprise”. Example: “My dear, light of my eyes, what is this stink of burnt plast?!”…” Darling co…! is jumped the eletrical system, and we’re just a hundered miles from the nearest town!”….” Ohhh my darling mao mao from the “monkey face” is you who brought me to this “Jungle”!!!…etc But certainly, in this case it is an Art in a “Romantic” style.

  • Melissa
    November 4, 2018, 5:54 pm

    Beautiful home and lifestyle. I’m happy for these two that gifted themselves a life they can truly appreciate! Kudos 👍🏼

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