Kitchen Demos and New Scenery

We’re well on our way down this Life Rustic road, and we’re still two very happy campers. We’ve made a few updates to both the little vintage Shasta and to our lifestyle, including a kitchen demolition and major change of scenery.

We even made the life-altering decision to install a composting toilet.

When we first bought our little teardrop Shasta, the interior was a dream in 1962 — floor to ceiling birch paneling. For me — with my affinity for clean lines and minimalist aesthetic — the shiny, orange-tinted paneling wasn’t really my thing.

So, after lots of sanding, new wood flooring, and many coats of white paint, the interior was modern and fresh.

We also replaced the kitchen countertops with extra pieces of flooring and a large slab of wood that we stained and sealed. We then took out the old kitchen sink and installed a little tin bucket and added a teal tile backsplash to each countertop. A dream kitchen, albeit tiny, was starting to come together.

Just a few months later, though, we were ripping out those newly painted walls. The paneling was damaged in a few places, and we had only temporarily and cosmetically remedied those areas, so we decided sooner rather than later was the best time for them to go.

So we basically demo-ed the kitchen.

Old paneling, insulation, wiring, and the faucet were all replaced, and we even built our own barn-inspired front door and frame, which doesn’t require quite so much ducking from Sean. 🙂

Also to be made-over was the bathroom. After the dark refinished walls made the space feel too small, I attacked them with a thick bristled paintbrush and white paint, with the intended result being a shabby chic look. That was the goal, at least.

Enter the composting toilet…

And we love it! We designed it ourselves, and made it operate in a similar way to the Nature’s Head model so it separates the liquids from the solids, thus eliminating all of the unwanted odors and grossness. Without delving too deep, I’ll simply say that you don’t even see anything in there, and many people who make the switch claim they will never go back.

That said, the composting toilet conversation is somewhat controversial within the RV/tiny-house world (who knew?!) so I can only imagine what those who live in traditional housing think about it.

Luckily for us, we don’t really give a sh** what people think. Pun intended.

Saving our freshwater rather than literally flushing it down the toilet makes the switch so worth it to us, plus never again having to deal with frozen or clogged black tanks is always a win-win. I think we are scarred for life from the unfortunate day at the dump station when the frozen tank contents became rapidly unfrozen after much of poking and prodding from the outside, so yes, I think for now I’ll take a bathroom that smells like pine chips and coffee grounds over flushed freshwater and septic fiascos .

We still have lots of projects to complete, and the list of ideas seems to be never-ending. But with new mountain views, warm weather around the corner, and big plans in the coming months, we’re just as inspired and determined as we were that crazy first day on this Life Rustic journey.

Thanks for following along, too!