TRAILER BLAZER

mall was a big dream for childhood educator Tabitha Lash. “For years, I’ve been intrigued by tiny living,” she says. “When I found this 20-foot trailer at a dealership, I knew I could transform it.” Her plans started with remedying water damage and a mouldy smell, then morphed into the fun stuff: laying new floors, painting it top to bottom, and kitting out the place with fab finds. Tabitha, who lives in Southern Ontario, now spends four months a year at her trailer in famous, rugged Algonquin Provincial Park (think: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven). She says, “I feel so proud sitting in something I built myself.”

B E F O R E

A dated trailer gets a second life as a cozied-up living space complete with bold style and all the mod cons.

Warm Welcome

“It’s so calming stepping in here,” says owner Tabitha Lash, pictured on the doorstep of her 2010model Joey Layton trailer. She replaced the original vinyl flooring with engineered oak planks, and kept the sofa’s metal frame (it hides the water tank) but upgraded it with new foam and rich velour upholstery. “I saw this colour and it reminded me of the park’s autumn leaves,” says Tabitha. The runner is both stylish and sentimental. “It was my nana’s, and it was in the hallway of every house she lived in.”

Full Menu

Tabitha opted for a mostly white interior to impart an expansive feel and punctuated it with shots of black. She tore out a space-hogging dining area with a built-in banquette and replaced it with a statement-making live-edge table. “I cut, sanded and hand-dyed it, then poured on resin in layers, which took days,” she says. The existing kitchen cabinetry was refreshed with paint and matte-black hardware. Painting the lower cabinets black helps the appliances blend in. “The kitchen is fully functional,” says Tabitha. “Tacos, seafood pasta, muffins…I make everything here.”

Cool Comfort

This teeny bathroom is big on fab DIY ideas, starting with the snazzy wall treatment. “They are actually not tiles!” says Tabitha. “I traced a hexagonal coaster onto matte-black vinyl, cut out a bunch of shapes and stuck them on the wall.” Cedar shelves and a countertop (that she made with her dad) lend a rustic edge to the mod palette, and there’s a full shower behind the black curtain. Tabitha rebuilt the bed frame to accommodate a queen-size mattress that lifts up for storage, and sprayed the brushed-nickel cabinet pulls black. A mix of cushions is a nice finishing touch. Says Tabitha: “I like adding lots of them to the bed to make it look extra cozy.”

B E F O R E

BATHROOM FAUCET, Facebook Marketplace.