Sprayed Fridge

Pat primed the fridge months ago but we couldn't decide on a colour. We just couldn't get the correct pink to match original so we went with cream. It looks really lovely!

Light at the end of the tunnel!

Well it finally feels as though most of the big jobs are done. It will always be ongoing seeing as it is 50 years old but the old girl is looking good and I thought I'd share some pictures of her from this weekend. Don't get me wrong, there is still a long list of jobs but it seems achievable now and not too daunting!

The bedroom

The bed upholstery is done and cushios are made. These pictures show the bathroom area behind the fold out bed and looking the otherway you can just see the sofa.

Veneer and varnish

Well the job list seems endless but each visit means more jobs get done. Pat was determined to get the galley looking smarter so he applied the iron on veneer to the side of the fridge and to the dividing wall between galley and bedroom.

Veneer went on and then he stained it to match original wood (see pic). Unfortunately next morning the veneer has bubbled in places but a bit of work with the iron and it was flat again. It has all been varnished and it looks lovely, its amazing how much better it looks.

Some pics of the inside

Some pictures from the inside. We are far from finished but thought I'd post a few pics. I have been scouring flea markets for good fabric and stuff to make the trailer comfy. I also have friends that have given me some great vintage fabrics to help me out, Sue gave me some lovely pieces and I made the oven mitts below. The curtains around bed/sofa area are from Snoopers Paradise and Lucy gave me lots of curtains from her stash.

As my best friend lives very close to the campsite we go car booting some weekends and I found this lovely crochet blanket for £2, Looks great on the sofa!

Pull out bed

Last year Pat and his brother pulled out the original water tank and removed the bed frame covering it. In its place they built a smaller couch frame and put a water heater in there.

This means we have more floor space mid trailer but we need to build a pull out single bed. Pat and I finally came up with a simple design. It will be a wooden flat panel that folds in two for a seat and folds out to make a bed. I have constructed 3 slide out legs for lots of support.Now I just need to order the foam and cover it, fingers crossed I have enough upholstery fabric left!

Airstream evenings

Although the days are filled with jobs that need doing, in the evening we just relax around the fire pit, bliss!

Cleaning up before the big move!

More clean and Tidy photos!!

Coming together at last

We are a way from finishing the trailer but it is getting there and I can envisage weekends in it now, which is good as we should be at the campsite by the end of the month! At last!

Retro love

When we got the Overlander it needed lots of work but it did have an original interior. So we have a lovely cooker, some great lights and a beautiful fridge. A really beautiful fridge! But with 2 kids and a 50 year old gas fridge from the USA Pat decided it had to go as god knows whether it was safe.

But after much thought and a lot of work with a hammer, angle grinder and some creative thinking he has kept the door and hidden a smaller fridge behind it. Looks good, works and should be a lot safer than the vintage gas one! It still needs spraying back to the original pink but it is looking good

Retro Pictures

Have found a great programme to download to your computer. It makes your pics look like old Polaroids, it's called Poladroid

Check out these Airstream images I poladroided

Our very lovely new floor

Well the beautiful floor from Madmatz has started to go down and it is making such a difference to the look of the trailer. It is such a lovely colour so I will be encouraging Pat to get down there again to finish it off! Apparently the tiles were so cold he had to warm them up individually with a heat gun before laying. Pat does say they are all very slightly different in size but it looks good to me and lets face it, he is a graphic designer so rather picky when it comes to these things!

Varnishing in the cold

Pat spent 4 days in mid november at the Airstream. He seemed to spend this varnishing the newly sanded overhead cupboards and dividers as well as the veneered drawer fronts, well some of them anyway.

He also sprayed the gold light fittings which were seriously pitted and I had tried sanding them back but they looked really ropey. They are now silver and look pretty nice.

It's not only Pat working!!

I admit I get to do the good stuff on the trailer. I've done half the upholstery that needs doing and am onto curtains now. A few bits are in the Airstream but I think it all needs a good iron! The sofa foam is all covered we just need to cover the base board above the drawers, in the pic here you can see original fabric above the drawers.

Weekend of veneer and woodwork

Pat went to Airstream and rebuilt the doorstep as he had removed the rusted fold down step. He reinforced the step with some steel.

He has also been applying veneer to the kitchen area and it is looking loads better already.

Monday night!

Well this is what monday night looked like at out flat.

We bought 14 lengths of oak veneer (the iron on kind) from this company. Last night in our hallway we started applying it to drawer fronts and the kitchen cupboard doors. Only another 12 lengths to apply!

Useful brothers!

Pat has 3 brothers, one is a carpenter, one a plumber and one an electrical engineer. They will all come in very useful. Dave who is a carpenter and who lives in Canada is over for a couple of weeks and has not escaped helping out. He decided the bed frames and a kitchen cupboard were looking a little old so he and Pat rebuilt them.
One bed has remained the same and one has been reduced and will eventually be a pull out bed. This means there is more floor space for the kids to play about on on rainy days. They also removed the water tank and we plan on using tanks outside the trailer.

You can see the dividing wall has been removed but once we have re vennered it it will be put back up.

Interior fittings

We have been looking at flooring options and someone on the fantastic My Cool Caravan facebook page suggested Madmatz, they do vinyl tiles for camper vans. I also like Forbo Flooring, they do a lovely retro flooring but it comes on the roll so a lot more hassle than tiles.