Monday, October 27, 2014

Travel Trailer Renovation... Post 2

So, hubby cleaned the garage and told me I can't leave trailer stuff in there over the winter.  So back down I went.  Brought the other stuff I made yesterday too and stowed it, but not before taking a few pictures.

Ok so here was the dining area before...


And here is the dining area now, in the "during" phase...


Lights still on down there, but no water.

Here is the couch area before...


And now... Light is off center, will fix later if it bugs me.


Here is the before of over the sink...


And now, with new curtain...


So that's what's new today.  Back down this weekend to finish closing up. This is a never ending prospect, I see.







Sunday, October 26, 2014

Travel Trailer Renovation... Post 1

So yeah, we went a little off our rockers.  Hubby and I bought a travel trailer.

So wait, let me back up.  After watching every flipping show on DIY and HGTV, I was up late one night, I saw a commercial for Flippin' RVs.  I figured, it couldn't hurt to poke around on Craigslist to see what might be for sale.

Of course, I also have to say that I have almost no camping experience, whether it be in a tent, or anywhere else.  And really, tent camping is likely simpler and loads cheaper.  No plumbing or electrical to worry about, no long term care, no worrying about the off season.

With that said, we jumped in with both feet and bought a 1994 30' KZ Sportsmen Travel Trailer.  Here are the photos from the Craigslist ad.  The couple were upgrading to something a bit more luxurious.


So I love the screen porch and the deck.  I will be spending a lot of time sipping coffee and reading books out there, I hope.


So here is the cute little kitchenette.  It's pretty small, but the cabinet space isn't awful.  The sellers said they had never used the stove, and neither had the previous owners, but over time, they bet something may have resided in there so I am not anxious to use it either.  It's ok.  The burners work and we have a crock pot and a grill.  Good enough. The microwave also works and so do the fridge and freezer, but we have decided that next year we will pick up an inexpensive apartment-sized fridge to keep on the porch like the sellers did.  Today's fridges are more economical to run, and I can use the old fridge and freezer for food storage to keep the critters out.


Here is the rest of the kitchen and the dining area.  Only four chairs so I picked up a folding chair as we are a family of five.


Here is the "living area" which consists of a couch on one side that turns into a double bed, and


this nifty little swivel rocker that they left for us.  Behind the rocker is a cabinet with a built-in radio and cassette deck.  And it works!  If we keep the rocker, it will have to be recovered.  The color scheme in here is awful.


Ok here is the bathroom in all of its glory.  But hey, good to have a toilet, sink and shower.  However, the trailer is on a site right next to the public rest rooms so I generally prefer that as it is much more like home.  It also saves us water and dumping the tanks so often.


Last but not least is the master.  Three cabinets above, one on each side as nightstands.  The bed also opens up with storage underneath on lifts.  YAY!

Loving the 90's decor, right?  Especially the mirrored doors.  Yuck.

So as most of this stuff belonged to the prior owners, we are starting from scratch.  Lots of trips to Savers, Goodwill and The Salvation Army have produced lots of great stuff and I think at most I have spent $200.00 outfitting the kitchen and bedroom.  But believe me, there are no real "after" photos yet, just some "during" photos as I try to do a few things before the snow falls.  We are already closed up as far as there is no longer electricity or water, but we can still drive down and check in.  Once the snow falls, we can only walk down from the gate.

So today, I upgraded our kitchen chairs.  

They went from this:


To this!!!!!!


I fell in love with this fabric and just went totally bonkers.  Please don't notice how filthy the floor is in my kitchen at home.  Yikes!

I bought quite a bit of fabric, so I recovered the pillows too.

Before: Sooooooo ugly


After: Fresh and chic!


Once I can paint in there, I will be happy.  My plan is to have a retro 70's look in there with green, orange, yellow and brown.  White walls will be good.

So, that's all for now.  This is summing up about two months of stuff with the trailer.  We are learning as we go.