Personal Style Reena Sotropa’s tiny trailer in Calgary
A vintage trailer is a budget-friendly alternative to a cottage for Calgary designer Reena Sotropa.
RReena Sotropa, who heads up In House Design Group in Calgary, had been scouring Kijiji for a year before she spotted and adopted “Poppy,” a sunshine-yellow trailer from Saskatchewan. Named for the canvas top that can be popped up 18 inches when parked, the circa1970 six- by 10-foot rig became a welcome addition to the designer’s family — her husband, J, and daughter, Annabelle, 10, ( pictured with Reena, opposite). “We always had our eye on these vintage trailers,” says Reena. “A lot of people our age in Calgary, especially people with kids, are campers, but many have massive RVs. We just didn’t picture ourselves being able to camp on a regular basis in one of those.”
Poppy’s previous owner had only done a “lick and a promise” renovation, so Reena and J started by dismantling and stripping the trailer back to its fibreglass shell. Then, they sprayed the interior themselves with LizardSkin, an automotive ceramic paint, to help insulate the interior and applied a cork wall covering with metallic accents to the pop-up ceiling. J, a systems engineer, did all the wiring and plumbing. “It was a labour of love that took two summers to
finish,” says Reena. “Anything we could do ourselves we did, so that was a big savings, but I had a millworker make all the cabinets.”
Because the straps that hold the canvas pop-top were in the original silver finish, Reena went with a light grey palette for the floor, drapery and banquette seat cushion upholstery. When it came to the floor, she knew she’d have limited options. “I searched long and hard for vinyl flooring that wasn’t ugly,” she says. A grey patterned tile made the cut. “When you have so little space, everything has to be really deliberate.”
Reena soon discovered that the fixtures designed for trailers in RV stores were lacklustre — chrome faucets, for example, were dinky with clunky plastic handles — so she opted for yacht fittings instead. “It’s exactly the same stuff, but you can get nicer things from a yacht website,” she says.
“It does ratchet up the price, but what a huge difference.” She kept the propane cooktop and little yellow fridge, which is more of a glorified cooler. There’s no bathroom, but on weekend trips, they typically park at campsites with facilities in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
While friends with big RVs need up to 90 minutes to set up their rigs, Reena says
Poppy is ready in 10 minutes, and she’s so light she can be moved by hand. “We can do a water and electrical hookup, but the beauty of this trailer is that we can fit it in the smallest of campsites and be self-sufficient,” says the designer. “We can plug in power for our lights, or we operate off marine batteries.”
In her off-hours, Poppy is compact enough to get parked in Reena and J’s garage and doesn’t require an SUV to tow her. “Our car is the size of a CRV, but even a Mini Cooper could pull a Hunter camper; it’s about 1,300 pounds,” says Reena. “And we don’t have to plan that much. We’re lucky to live in a place where you can be in the most amazing wilderness in just 45 minutes.”