Thursday 8 September 2016

Not so vintage Caravan makeover

I've not blogged for a very long time, I think about it but never seem to actually do it, but I wanted to document my latest project and this seemed the best place to do it, but I should warn you its going to be an epic! I hope you enjoy it.

It was my 50th Birthday earlier this month, I didn't feel the need for big celebrations, lets face it I'll be 50 for a whole year I can celebrate that any day if I want too, but I did get a something that I had wanted for a while. recently we sold our trusty VW bay window camper van, which left a bit of a gap in our holidaying choices, 3 sausage dogs are not easily contained in a tent, and we are not big fans of renting holiday homes or holiday villages, so the thought of a little vintage caravan seemed appealing. After much searching,lots of horror stories about scams, damp and dilapidated 'vintage' caravans ( which all seemed to be 150 miles plus away !) we found a genuine seller of an old (not vintage) caravan 20 minutes away from us.
the caravan was in reasonable condition, a small area of previously treated damp, an awning and more extras than you could shake a stick at... who knew there are so many kinds of caravan chocks !... so she was promptly purchased and towed home, Happy Birthday me !














Once home We began getting her ready for her makeover. She is a 1988 Abbey 213 not a vintage caravan in my eyes just an old one, but as we are planning to use sites with no facilities she has a few mod cons that will help, a little shower room being the most useful, this room is just so 80s in her peachyness that apart from a clean and a new shower curtain, we decided to leave her alone, the rest of the caravan decor however had to go !

After a little repair of the previous damp patch to make it look prettier and new replacement shiny white and fresh window strips the rest of the decoration was just cosmetic. As she is not vintage vintage I decided on a bright and cheerful colour scheme, saving most of my vintage barkcloth fabrics for the day (if it comes) that we get a 'proper' vintage caravan, but i couldnt resist using some of my favourites for cushion covers !
So after 3 coats of white paint on the main wood work, 2 coats of chalk paint and a wax coat on her cute little kitchen cupboards, new bench cushion polka dot fabric covers, new curtains with blackout linings, new vinyl flooring... the pink carpet had to go ! it took a surprising amount muscle to get it all out but once it was gone the caravan just seemed so much bigger (and cleaner !)  and wallpapering with my favourite Cath Kidston wallpaper, she is ready to be filled with vintage bits and pieces ready for her first adventure, We still have the outside to spruce up and of course there will be plenty more pics of her out and about, but they can be for another day !














It was hard work, but lots of fun planning how we wanted her to look and making her soft furnishing, she feels light bright and fresh, and we are looking forward to our first outing in Margo !