Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably haven't missed the memo that this year
Airstream had a baby with Pottery Barn, and we just happened to get lucky enough to find one.
We are totally pumped to give you a tour today.
Now, if you don't know already, we live full-time in a 2021 Airstream Classic. Thirty-foot with the
rear bed queen set up. The question we're always asked is would we trade our air room Classic for
this new 2022 Pottery Barn edition? We're going to walk you through some of the pros and cons.
But before we go inside, we'll fill you in on the details of
the exterior because there are some really cool things going on out here.
First, let's start by talking about these beautiful Zip Dee Sumbrella shades directly
behind me. And these are exclusive to the Pottery Barn edition. The pattern is absolutely beautiful.
We both agree the awning and the blue color wins over the gray in our standard Classic.
This Pottery Barn Airstream comes with three awnings. You've got one you see directly
behind me. The other is located on the exact opposite side and runs the full length of this
28 foot Airstream. And the last awning is in the rear of the Airstream near where the beds are,
which provide some additional shade, especially on sunny days.
Other three awnings, you've got one that's fully automatic and the other two are manual.
Another unique aspect of this Pottery Barn edition is that it comes with lots of finishing touches
that are exclusive to this model, the chairs and table you see directly behind me. You can place
your chairs and your table right in here for easy access.
And since we're talking about compartments, this right here is one
of three external compartments that you can use for storage.
Now ours comes with 16 inch wheels in the Classic. This comes with 15 inch, and it's got this gun
metal finish. So, I think that part of it is mostly just a personal preference. Now let's
talk about what powers and fuels this beauty. Directly beneath this compartment is two 30 pound
propane tanks. One of my absolute favorite things about these propane tanks is that you can check
the levels from inside on the smart control panel. When one tank is empty, it'll automatically flip
over to the full tank, and that is super helpful, especially on rainy or cold days. This next
feature is probably one of my favorite features in the 2022 Pottery Barn Airstream edition.
Not one, but two 100 amp hour Battle Born batteries, lithium baby.
Unlike lead acid batteries, which if you drain below 50%,
you can actually damage the batteries, with a lithium batteries you can drain them down to
zero without risk of damage. Huge, huge advantage, especially when your power consumption is high.
Now, while this does provide a ton of energy, it's not going to provide enough energy to power your
air conditioning when you're boondocking. Now this Pottery Barn edition comes standard with 270 watts
of solar panels on the roof. But if you want to add to that, you've got an external hookup here
to add an external solar panel. The advantage of that is that you can point the solar panel
towards direction of the sun. Unlike the panels on the roof that are fixed. Now,
this is new for a lot of Airstreams in 2021 and specifically for this model in 2022.
You've got the smart plug feature, which supplies 50 amps of power. Now,
that's super helpful especially when, in this instance, you have two air conditioning units.
You're going to want all 50 amps to run both air conditioning units and live comfortably.
The older models used to have to screw on and you have a twisty neck that locks it in place. But
with this model, you just push it in and it locks very easily. I'm a little jealous now. Unlike with
our 2021 Classic where we've got the city water inlet here and then the flush directly below it,
here on the 2022, it's been separated and don't particularly want to ever cross streams, so
this would be the optimal setup. One of the cons of this Airstream is that some of the doors here
are not polished to match the finish of the entire Airstream. So, to me it stands out a little bit,
and I would love to see a polished version of the same door. Now, check out this little
fun feature. This is called an outdoor party ledge, and it's perfect for putting your soda
outside on this little ledge. It's so cool that I think I'll take it with me.
What makes this unit particularly special is the details. And as you can see, they start from the
very beginning with this cute little interior add that says Pottery Barn and always home.
You even have a fun chalkboard where you can write messages to whoever you'd like. It really
is the details that makes this thing special. The interior is really what made up my mind personally
for whether or not I would go Pottery Barn or Classic. The first thing you notice when
you walk into the Pottery Barn Airstream are these beautiful sofas, and in true Pottery Barn fashion,
the quality of the fabrics is exceptional. But to be honest, it's not anywhere near
as comfortable as our Classic. You don't have the recliners, which we use pretty much daily,
but the Classic doesn't have this cool little secret airplane table. I love this because
from a standpoint of working from the road, Daniel or I tend to work on our sofa often.
So, being able to stick a laptop here would be really convenient. Or
it's like a little dinner table. It's also pretty easy to maneuver it in and out.
You do have pay attention. Ta-da, secret again. Another thing that I don't love about this sofa
is ours in the Classic is leather. And while this is really pretty, I really worry that
the first glass of wine I would spill on here would be a nightmare for cleanup. You'll also
notice from this view of the Airstream, all of the windows. This unit actually has 20
windows, which is on the higher end of what you get with Airstream. From an expectation
standpoint, the idea of getting to be out in the middle of who knows where with the big beautiful
views that you see with a lot of Airstream Instagrams, this thing will give it to you.
And while I love the details of the lighting,
we're going to have to have a moment about these Roman shades. Now
they're pretty. And unfortunately, this is more of a comparison between the 2021 model of the
Classic and the 2022. So both the Pottery Barn and the 2022 Classic have these shades. And to be
straight with you, I pretty much hate them mostly because A) they're a pain in the butt to move.
And while they look okay, I just simply like the look and feel of the ones in our own Airstream.
So on these, first of all, it's hard to get them down. But you'll notice that you
have a space right here, which easily lets light in. On our 2021 Airstream Classic,
it has a box around the window frame, which makes it really easy to create a complete
blackout experience. Which is really nice if you want to take a nap during the middle of the day.
Now, one of the advantages to the Roman shades over the box shades is that, well,
the Roman shades take up less space on the walls.
So what that gives you is that gives you more exposed aluminum, which is one of the
main reasons we probably all are interested in the Airstream. That beautiful aluminum finish.
It's also going to make it way harder to keep this place warm in the winter. I'm just saying,
I am not team Roman shades. This unit compared to some of the other models definitely lacks
some of the storage that you typically get, but it does have storage underneath here.
And the storage that it has is actually pretty functional.
While I have serious living room problems, the kitchen does get kudos. I absolutely love
the fact that there is a cutting board built-in. Not only is it beautiful,
but it actually fits in the kitchen. And because we cut up a lot of vegetables as vegetarians,
you'll notice in my kitchen we have our own cutting board, and it really does get in the
way on a regular basis. This one, not so much. And you still have the big, beautiful farmer tub sink.
Another thing I also love about this kitchen is the use of where the trash can is.
In our Airstream, it's underneath the sink, and it's probably about half the size of this trash
can. This design is significantly better, because in our Airstream, a lot of the time when we run
out of space in our trash, we simply end up pulling the bag out and setting it by the door.
Which is gross, and I think we wouldn't have do that in here. Under-sink offers some storage,
including a nice built-in thing for your cutlery. And these drawers, well, they're
just normal drawers. For a majority of the other models, it basically comes with
nothing. But you get this gorgeous cheese set, this super comfy blanket, and then
over here on the kitchen table, it comes with all of this cutlery and plate ware.
On the con side, though, our table rises up and down automatically with the flip of a switch.
Whereas this table is manual. That being said, I do love the feature where I can raise and lower
the table, but this countertop is absolutely awesome. And if I could have this countertop
in our Classic Airstream, I would do it in a second. I love the countertops here in this
Pottery Barn edition. This white color just really opens up the space, whereas our dark countertops
don't really do that. If I could swap out these countertops with ours in the Classic,
I would do it, again, in a second. No question.
And for your cooking pleasure, it comes with your convection microwave, which is fantastic.
And the stove. And I really love the style on this thing from the lighted knobs, which just freaking
look cool, to these grates being built-in, this thing is really a work of art. Really good quality
cabinetry here. And I also like that it has the full bar light up here. I haven't seen that
before. One of the great things about the Pottery Barn edition is it is a smart RV. So you've got
this great control panel here that tells you how things are going with your black tank, your fresh
tank, your gray tank. It also shows you how the charge on your batteries are. And something that
we haven't seen before is it actually shows you your solar here too, which is pretty neat.
This is where things really start going sideways if you wanted to live full time in this Airstream.
First, your refrigerator is probably a third smaller than the one we have in our Classic. And
the closet, I think just about anybody who loves clothes will agree with me.
This is not sufficient. Considering the Classic has the Cedar cabinetry,
those two things just are not comparable. Like our Classic, I love that the shower and the
bathroom are on two different sides. When you open both of these doors, it creates its own little
private space, which is really nice. And where the bathroom wins is definitely in the details.
Miss the mirror here, but the subway tile is beautiful. And having the ability to put
a little towel or something here for when you wash your face is really nice. We don't have
this in our Airstream. I also absolutely love the sink. It's just simply beautiful.
The storage in here is subpar though. And you're also missing the heated towel rack, which
is nice during winter. The space under the sink only has one cabinet. And on this side,
you're completely missing the cabinets that we have that are great for little knickknacks.
As we move back into the bedroom, I think it's an important time to note that this is the only thing
that you have an option to choose about this Airstream. For most Airstreams, you can choose
the length, you can choose the interior color features. Not so with the Pottery Barn. Every
single one of them is a 28-foot Airstream. The only thing you choose is if you're going to have
twin beds or a queen bed in the back. In the twin model, you have two additional closets right
above the foot of each of these beds. Got a nice little bedside table that also has this little
extension thingamadoogie. You also have some basic under-bed storage, which has these cool little
containers that are, of course, in true fashion Pottery Barn style.
Now, something to note here is that with the Airstream Pottery Barn edition,
it is 28 feet in length. And our Airstream Classic
is 30 feet in length. Those two extra feet actually do make a difference.
So, what would we choose between the Pottery Barn Airstream and the Classic?
It is pretty easy. At least it is for us living full-time.
We would 100% stick with our Classic. From a price point perspective, it just
doesn't make up for how pretty this one is. We love our Classic,
and we are sticking with it. But that being said, if we were weekend warriors-
It'd be a tough one.
This Airstream may make more sense if it was $20,000 less. So, now that you know what we
would choose, we want to know which one you would pick. Leave a comment below. And if you love
Airstreams and would like to see more Airstream content, make sure you subscribe to our channel.
But until next week friend, make sure you wander local because as you know, it's good for the soul.