- April Gilleland and Jason McMillan moved into an RV with their twin daughters so they could save money.
- The 350-square-foot remodeled RV has one bedroom that the twins share, while Gilleland and McMillan sleep on a pull-out couch.
- The lot their RV is parked on has enough space for a vegetable garden and a patio.
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If you ask tiny house owners the reason they downsized, you’d get a variety of reasons. Some would say to travel the country and some would say to go off-grid.
But April Gilleland and Jason McMillan moved into a 350-square-foot RV with their twin daughters, Adalyn and Brooklyn, because they wanted to save money. After going through an extensive remodel, their RV is now a chic home that is helping the family work towards a financial goal.
Take a look inside the family’s house on wheels.
Four years ago, April Gilleland and her partner, Jason McMillan, moved from Southern California to Northern California after he accepted a new job.
Gilleland, a real estate agent, and her partner moved to Sacramento when he got a job in flooring. They first lived in an apartment in the Sacramento area with their two daughters, but quickly realized they weren’t saving any money to help support their dreams of owning investment properties. They knew they had to make a change, and Gilleland said tiny was the way to go.
"We thought it would be a good way to save money, and we just fell in love with it," Gilleland told Insider.
Instead of going with a traditional tiny house, they decided to buy an RV for $19,000.
Before actually purchasing the RV, Gilleland had to do a lot of planning.
"I figured out the costs for how much it would be and how much it would be to renovate," she said. "I wanted to renovate it so that it would look and feel like a home."
The next step was to find an RV park that felt right for the family because they did not plan to travel with the home. She said she went to several parks and immediately left because they didn't feel right. When she finally found the right park for her family to live in, she decided it was time to buy the RV.
The couple decided to buy a 2005 Keystone Montana for $19,000 in May 2018.
Completing the renovation process by themselves was not an easy task, especially while looking after two 3-year-olds.
They initially thought it would only take a week to renovate, but it took six weeks. Since their lease was up on their apartment, they were living in a hotel during that time. Making matters even more difficult, they didn't want their twin daughters to hang out at the gutted RV, so they had to get creative with the building process. One would watch the twins while the other worked on the RV alone and then they would flip jobs the following day.
"We would take turns going back and forth with who was doing what that day, and that's another reason why I think it took so long," she said.
The renovation cost the couple another $6,000, bringing their total spend to $25,000.
Gilleland said it was her main goal to make the 350-square-foot RV feel like a home.
During the renovation process, they gutted the whole space and made it more open so that it felt more like a welcoming space, Gilleland said. They also painted all the walls white and laid new flooring.
"I made sure it wasn't a closed-off RV," she said. "I needed it to be big and open. We customized it to fit our needs."
But the renovation process is still ongoing, as they make changes and do small projects on the home regularly.
"Over the last two years, I've been personalizing it to fit our needs," she said.
The kitchen has a stove, a toaster oven, and a two-basin sink built into an island.
The refrigerator is actually built into the wall right next to the kitchen.
On the other side of the kitchen sink, you can find the family's dining table.
The table also doubles as a work station.
Next to the table is the couch, which folds down into Gilleland and McMillan's bed.
The couch pulls out into a queen bed that fits the couple comfortably.
"It's kind of cool because we shut [the children's] bedroom door when they go to bed and the rest of the space - that one big room - is like our studio," she said.
Opposite the couch, there is a wall of cabinetry for storage.
The long cabinet to the far left is actually the hidden fridge. The home also has a fireplace and a large flat-screen TV.
At the front end of the RV, there is a small door that leads to the bathroom and bedroom.
Adalyn and Brooklyn's bedroom is through the polka-dotted door.
The white and muted color scheme continues into the bathroom.
The bathroom has a stand-up shower, a sink, and a toilet.
The twins' bedroom is a tight space, but Gilleland makes it work.
Gilleland said she created "makeshift bunk beds" by putting a twin mattress on top of a queen so that Adalyn and Brooklyn feel like they're sleeping in different beds while saving space.
The twins, who are now 5, love living in their RV, according to Gilleland.
"I think creating a kids' space was probably the best thing that we could have done because I was concerned about them," she said. "I could adapt to anything; I don't care. But I wanted to make sure they were comfortable."
Gilleland said she doesn't see any added issues bringing up her daughters in a confined space.
"I think I have the same problems I would have in a regular house that I do in a tiny house," she said. "The house has never been the issue."
Gilleland added that the children also get to play in the pool, the dog park, or the kids' playground at the RV park. They could even play outside in their fenced-in lot. She said that takes the tension out of all living in the same space.
Outside the RV, there is a fenced-in lot that the family uses as a backyard and vegetable garden.
The grass and cement lot is 50 feet deep and 30 feet wide. According to Gilleland, they spend $700 per month to park on this lot and that includes an extra parking space, Wi-Fi, cable, water, and trash. She said she only pays electricity, which costs $60 to $100 per month.
Gilleland said she is aware, however, that they may quickly grow out of this unique living situation.
Gilleland reiterated that the purpose of this living situation is to save money so they could eventually become landlords, but she realizes that it will take time, so eventually, she said the girls will need their own space.
"If it takes us a few more years to get where we want to be as far as owning properties, we would eventually upgrade and get an RV that has more room," she said.
For now, though, Gilleland said she is content with the home she created.
"I can't believe that this time two years ago we were tearing these upper cabinets out and we still had burgundy carpet," she wrote in an Instagram caption. "Forever grateful I took that leap of faith and said yes to the tiny life. It's been so good to us."
- Read more:
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