I have posted this story before but thought I would share it all with you again as I get so many lovely queries and comments on it……..
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This is a little story of a reno on our humble caravan. My husband thought it would be a great idea to buy a caravan and put it on our block of land at the beach. ‘This would make do while we build our holiday house’ he said, trying to convince me that spending quite a few thousands of dollars on a caravan is a good idea.
This is how our caravan looked before. It was in dire need of an update.
The curtains were old and musty, the wood panelling was coming off, the walls and the floor were so dirty and grotty, beyond saving.
Lucky for me my husband has a very good imagination and is very handy and got to work straight away.
Inside we replaced everything. New kitchen, seat coverings, flooring, blinds and mattress’s. We also painted the wood panelling white.
I chose outdoor fabric from Bungalow Living. A fabulous QLD based business who stock the best outdoor fabrics that are so durable and look fantastic.
They also made a few cushions for me to go on the sofa. We reupholstered the couches and foam mattress’s ourselves and saved about $1,500.00 by doing this.
The kitchen was my old kitchen from when I updated mine at home. We salvaged all the good bits including cupboards, handles, kickers, oven and even the kitchen sink.
Everything else was sourced from Masters. Our one stop shop for this little renovation. It had everything to fit in our small budget, blinds, flooring, kitchen tap and the paint.
My hubby even put down a makeshift deck area outside. I bought the little table inside the van from IKEA, it is lightweight and we use it outside as well.
So, when we go down to the beach, this is where we stay. Its clean, has running water, electricity, a fridge, tv and a porta loo. What more could you want? Well, until the house is finished this is just fine.
These are the plans for our house.
Have you ever updated a caravan?
It’s amazing how a few changes can make a huge difference.
This caravan was completely un liveable before.
I have a 1960’s camper that fits on the back of a truck that I eventually need to renovate to be useable & I loved seeing your transformation, it gets me excited!
So glad I was able to inspire you.
Yvette
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Looks great, well done x
Wow, this looks amazing – this is a dream of mine, and I love the caravan (before was cute but after, wow, what a transformation!!) If you know of anyone that is selling one like that, please let me know!
Thanks so much Elise for your lovely comments, I hope one day you get to buy a caravan and have fun with renovating.
Yvette
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Oh I love! I have been wanting to do up a caravan for years and you have just made my thirst for this even thirstier lol xx
Go for it Sonia, it was so rewarding for us and my hubby is so handy so that helped.
Good luck
Yvette
x
What an awesome and clever pair you two are! A great makeshift idea whilst building your house and I bet the kids love it too. Thks for sharing again xx
Thanks Kylie, in Summer it’s great to use as we can walk to the beach. We haven’t been down there much in Winter though.
Yvette
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Looks great! We have an on site caravan that we totally gutted and redid. Still some little tweaking to go…lots of inspiration from your post. Loved reading it. Thanks 🙂
Thanks so much Belinda, your caravan sounds like it’s coming along nicely. So glad I was able to give you some inspiration.
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We rescued a little 1950’s caravan, but not for living in, for turning into our dream venture – a travelling children’s bookshop – The Itty Bitty Book Van. Although, I some days, I wouldn’t mind parking it at the beach and sitting in it all day snuggled up with a book!
Your dream venture sounds amazing. It such a great concept, a children’s bookshop, how cute. I can imagine though it would be tempting to snuggle up with a good book, thanks so much for stopping by.
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Wow what a transformation! We recently purchased an older caravan and are looking at renovating it. Can I ask what kind of paint you used on the panelling? It looks so fresh and new.
Hi There, the paint we used was an enamel paint. We sanded the panelling back first and then used an enamel paint in a light colour. Thanks so much for stopping by. Yvette x
It looks really really good! How many coats of enamel did you use?
Hi Mandy, we did 2 coats of enamel, that was enough. Thanks for stopping by. x
Hi Yvette, We are looking at making over an older van and painting all that dark faux woof paneling is high on my priority list. What colour white did you use?
Hi Fiona
We used Dulux Hog Bristle. It’s almost an off white. I would suggest using sample pots first before you buy the paint. Hog Bristle is a great colour as it isn’t a stark white. Good luck with your renovations and thank’s for stopping by.
Yvette
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I know the colour well. A little too taupe for me I think. We purchased our van last weekend and my husband will be going to Melbourne to pick it up this weekend. I’ll be hitting up Bunnings for sample pots. Can’t wait to get started!
Approximately how much did this cost you?
Hi Melinda, we had a small budget of $2000.00 AUD but I think in the end I ended up spending just over $2,500.00. I hope this helps. Thanks for stopping by,
Yvette
Hey there I must say I’m very impressed.. We just bought a onsite van and it’s very old needs a good update.. I never realised u can paint the paneling.. Just a quick question where did u buy the kitchen?? Love the idea of the cushion but I’m not good at sewing ;(
Hi Tammie
Thanks so much for stopping by. Painting the panelling is a cheap way to update the caravan. The kitchen was actually my old kitchen from my home as we updated it. Thanks again.
Yvette
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Hi Yvette, we are currently doing up an old caravan and my sister saw your article no emailed it to us. We hadn’t considered painting the cupboards as we thought the paint wouldn’t stick. How long ago did you renovate the caravan? Has the paint deteriorated at all? Do you need special paint to paint the ceiling and cupboards or just the normal household paint.? I absolutely love what you did. kind regards Lynne
Hi Lynne
Thanks so much for stopping by. We painted the walls about 2 years ago and they seem to be holding up really well. My husband used a water based paint too but gave the walls a light sand first. The kitchen is my old kitchen out my home so that was not painted. The ceiling was painted using the same paint as the walls, we have had no problems with it, but if you are unsure, it would be best to speak to someone at your local paint store for some expert advice. Thanks so much for your lovely comments, Yvette xo
Hi Yvette,
We have an old Advance van and want to renew the kitchen benchtops – just wondering how difficult it is to remove old top and replace it with a new one? Any thoughts?
Hi Lyn
Thanks so much for stopping by. We bought the bench top at our local hardware store which was a piece of laminate board and had it cut to size to put into the kitchen. You could try Bunnings and Masters and as my husband is a builder this was not difficult for him to do.
Good luck with you renovations.
Yvette
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What did you use for your floor covering?
Hi Nicole
we used lino flooring that looks like floor boards from Masters.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for stopping by.
Yvette
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hi, I would love to paint inside my old caravan , wall and ceiling, did you paint your caravan wall and ceiling hog bristle ..I thinking on doing the cupboard’s a slate grey…with light grey curtains, can you please email to me from rose
Hi Rose
Thanks for stopping by. Yes I did paint my caravan Hog Bristle by Dulux and I have grey aluminium slat blinds that work perfectly well with this colour. Good luck with your choices, I think that if you stick with neutrals you should be fine.
Yvette
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We have just bought a caravan to do some travelling in over the next few years. I’m now IG trawling for ideas to give it some style. I’m thinking Tommy-Bahama-I’m-on-tropical-holidays feel. Black, white, green, a bit of yellow. It’s going to be fun. I also need to find light weight outdoor table and chairs that will suit. Lots of searching to be done.
Hi, I also want to buy a caravan and have it restored. Not by myself, but someone profesional have it done. I asked a company in UK who does it vintage style, really really nice and cute work, but they told me it would cost around 16k to 18k pounds. I do not have that kind of money! My budget is around from 8K to 10K CAD restoration and caravan included with this budget. Do you think it’s possible?? By the way, excellent job. It look really nice!!
Hi Lila
Thanks so much for your comment. I did a lot of the work myself on the caravan and my husband is very handy so it was really only material that we used. If you set a budget you can shop around to suit your needs. There are so many great DIY project and hardware shops to get you started. Good luck.
Your van looks amazing! How big is it? We just bought a 1977 York van. It is 16 foot and totally needs a refit … But the budget is tight. Also ……..We have no idea where to start. What do you do first?
Hi, thanks so much for your comments, we started out by stripping the van first and then started with the flooring and painting. Have fund.
Yvette
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Does that mean you removed the cupboards and everything and just had an empty van with nothing in it? So sorry…yep obviously I’m a novice lol.
Hi
We just painted the cupboards and removed everything else. The kitchen was added in after we painted the van.
Good luck
Thankyou
You van looks great! We are just about ready to renovate ours. We have the same brown cupboards! Did you use the Hogs Bristle on the cupboards in a water based paint ? What colour did you choose for the walls and ceiling? We would like to get the same look. Well done on the Reno.
Hi Marcus
Thanks so much for your comments, we weren’t to fussed with the quality so we just painted the Hogs Bristle on the cupboards in the water based paint. It stuck on there fine. I guess it’s about trial and error, just see what works.
Good luck.
Hi I’m not sure if I pressed post comment or not. So here it is again … your Reno looks great! We have the same wood veneer cupboards and want to do the same colour scheme as you. Did you use Hogs Bristle on the cupboards in a water based paint? Also what colour did you use on the ceiling and walls? You van looks amazing! Congratulations.
Awesome job congrats