Holly Goes Lightly

Anyone else would be happy; ecstatic even, at the idea of having a boutique and living in the flat above it…adding at tea party space would have been icing on an already moist, and exploding with flavor, cake.

BUT…I wanted just a little bit more.

Her name was Holly; I dreamed of her while designing an idea for a craft fair I had coming up. My plan was to close the boutique early and take it on the road to participate in this event just one town over, stepping out and getting a bit of exposure for my Simply Lyla’s boutique. (Lylas by the way is not a family member but means Love Ya Like a Sister…something I had started at our church in Michigan and kinda something I loved when moving to Oklahoma too)

I decided to look on Craigslist one night for a mobile boutique option; hubby was open to the idea when I suggested it, so I had to look quickly…while he was still in the mood…kinda like a wife may bring up the idea of another baby BUT absolutely nothing like that at the same time!

GUESS WHAT?!?!

I found one…the very first search. It wasn’t in the Tulsa area but in a random, small town, 4 hours north of us in Kansas. It was a Friday night and the seller had just posted a few hours before; I had heard that this was the best way to find these vintage campers since the “glamping” trend became a very real thing. (Thank you Pinterest) People were now finding these vintage campers, redecorating them and playing “glamorous camping trips” in them. Not going to lie, the idea of chandeliers, blinged out cannisters, new flatware and whimsical zebra pillows did cross my mind; even lingered a little while.

I sent an email to the seller expressing my dying need for this camper and waited. He didn’t respond until MONDAY MORNING which was the absolute biggest test in patience…EVER. I was the first one to inquire on her and he said that he would hold her until the weekend when we could get there to pick her up. The rest, as they say…is history.

Look at the pictures below to see a bit of her transformation; it was a doozy AND what started my love affair with vintage campers…I just had no idea how much until a year later. You’ll hear all about that too; I pinky promise.

The interior; from left to right. You could literally only stand up in the middle 2 feet

The demolition. EEK! Lots of water damage and we had to start from scratch

Outside gets some love

Interior gets LOTS of love

Parked in front of my boutique before her big reveal

Her rear end

Her first craft faire

Her first night on the town

Comments

The Chrome Cottage

We were loving this tiny life; I never thought I could because I also loved our big houses and decorating rooms we never used. I even made a room into a photo studio once because the lighting was so good and I had a great wall to cover in barn wood; I was not a photographer. OR, the time I turned a room into a gym; complete with a holder for fresh white hand towels and a recumbent bike…I didn’t work out; I’m a perpetual curvy girl that embraced that fact years ago. I even joined a gym last May because they were running a special and have only been twice…two days in a row in JuIy; guess that’s another blog entry all in itself…I promised you randomness, right? We lived in The Rolling Cottage just about six months when we decided that if we weren’t going to be traveling the country in our tiny casa, we could get something a bit bigger. One interesting tidbit about travel trailers is, that you have to pull them, and in order to do that…you had to have a vehicle big enough to do th...

The Rolling Cottage

Fast forward a couple years; the boutique is fabulous and constantly evolving to include new artisans, the tea party space is booked nearly every weekend, Holly Goes Lightly is more popular than any person on Main Street and then…hubby said he was ready to retire. What did that mean? Retire into our little life on Main Street or take on a whole new adventure? After talking about our options and love for living tiny, I made the craziest of suggestions…what if we sold it all, bought a travel trailer, and traveled the country? Mind you, I’ve never camped and thought moving into our 500sq ft was tiny but was now suggesting to go uber tiny and travel around despite not ever actually being in a travel trailer before. Again…I found myself letting my fingers do the walking over my laptop keys to Craigslist; searching for a new adventure…one that had never been uttered or even thought of before. Things happened quickly after that; I mentioned the idea to a few people and just like t...

Kate's Closet

Imagine a fabulous 8ft by 24ft walk in closet; sure they’re out there, but I know that…living in just 200sq ft, I don’t have one. In fact, I have a closet that is just 1ft wide by 4ft tall and hubby has one of his own. We did build a buffet that is great for folded items to fit; which is also awesome because I am one that absolutely loves ironing. No… that is not sarcasm; I REALLY do. I even iron sheets and pillowcases each week on laundry day. But…I digress. Imagine a great big, ROLLING, walk in closet; a closet that rolls right up to your front walk; plugs in, rolls out the proverbial red carpet…except ours is in a snow leopard print, and invites your friends to come in and play dress up. Yes… THAT! There are two Kates in our Traveling Kates collection of vintage traveling boutiques and Kate’s Closet is the larger of the two; she is 24ft where her sister Kate is just 10ft long. She’ll get a blog and renovations all her own later. ;) Kate’s Closet was a sad little thing whe...

Traveling Kates

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