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A family of 5 living in a toy hauler RV for 2 years!


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This family of five (soon to be six!) has been living in their renovated toy hauler now for about two years. They got started on the tiny living journey when husband Troy became a travel nurse — an RV allowed his wife Elizabeth and their three girls to take home wherever he went for work!

They purchased the RV for about $45K and put $3K into the renovation. Using mostly paint, they were able to take the dark “stock RV” and make it into a lovely boho home that’s lovely and inviting. Enjoy the photo tour and their interview below!

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Travel Nurse Family Doing Full-Time RV Life

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul

Images via @switlife.mnc

Their living room has a comfortable-sized couch. The family that RVs together stays together!

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 22

Images via @switlife.mnc

They chose a beautiful sage green color for the cabinets.

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This is what the kitchen looked like before the renovation.

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Wow! It looks so much nicer.

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 3

Images via @switlife.mnc

The original kitchen was very dark.

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 4

Images via @switlife.mnc

Now it has a soft, boho feel.

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 14

Images via @switlife.mnc

More dark cabinetry in the original.

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 5

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They opened up the area with shelving.

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The original bathroom.

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Images via @switlife.mnc

They painted most of the bathroom white.

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Images via @switlife.mnc

The toy hauler area before.

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The toy hauler area after, with an elevator queen bed.

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 6

Images via @switlife.mnc

They installed a real table in the kitchen.

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 9

Images via @switlife.mnc

Pegs help hold coats and bags.

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More pegs on the wall here.

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Bunks in the girls’ room.

Family of 5s Toy Hauler Overhaul 2

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They have a pop-up fenced-in area for the kids.

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Images via @switlife.mnc

One more close-up of the kitchen.

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Images via @switlife.mnc

Their Story:

We have been living as a family of 5 in our renovated rv for 2 years now. My husband is a travel nurse and we wanted something that felt like home no matter where we went. It’s a Grand Design Momentum 380 toy hauler. It has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. We did the full renovation ourselves while we lived with my mom. We bought our rv for $45,000 and put about $3,000 in it towards renovations. It took about 3-4 months for the renovation. We saved a lot of money by just painting almost everything instead of replacing things. We painted countertops, faucets, all the cabinets, even the bathroom floor! We also used a lot of wood from items that we removed and sold a lot on fb marketplace. We turned the main bedroom into our girls’ room and we sleep in the garage section of the toy hauler. Our bed comes up and down on a system so our bedroom is our living room during the day. We love having the extra floor space! We also removed the doors that led into the garage space to make our living area all one big space.
We are expecting baby number 4 in February! We don’t really have a plan for how long we’ll live in here or do travel nursing. We will do it as long as it works for our family.

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Our big thanks to Elizabeth for sharing! 🙏

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Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributor for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She's a wife, and mama of three little kids. She and her family are homesteaders with sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and quail on their happy little acre.

Latest posts by Natalie C. McKee (see all)

{ 2 comments… add one }
  • Ann
    October 26, 2022, 7:29 pm

    Wow, what a difference. I’m not a fan of the dark green, but it still looks great and to each his own! Love the kids play area out there, great idea! Good ideas all around. I like it all.

  • Delene Dilsaver
    January 15, 2024, 6:48 pm

    Hello!!!!! Beautiful remodel!! What do you do with things when you “move”??

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