he's a writer. she's an entrepreneur. they bought a trailer.
We'll be the first to admit: the bathroom was the last room on our minds. Not because it's not important; trust us, it's vitally important. Especially when you're living on the road full-time for the year. But it was also the toughest to transform.
Read MoreWe FINALLY made it. The big “after” reveal of our brand new Elsie. When we first started Camper DIY, I thought we would have reached this point months earlier. But once we started cataloging all the work we did, it slowly grew and grew. But we’re happy to finally share in great detail what Elsie looks like post-remodel.
Read MoreWe don't really know what to call this thing. Work station. Chopping block. Kitchen island. Floor cabinet. And we're okay with that because we built it to be exactly this: an ambiguous work / storage / organization unit.
Read MoreDon't get us wrong -- we visited IKEA a lot over the course of the remodel and use a lot of IKEA buys in the trailer. However, there are some times when you just have to say "screw it, I'ma build this sucker myself."
Read MoreWe knew the flooring would ultimately make a strong visual impression in the trailer, and picking out the right style / color / weight was something we took very seriously.
Read MoreWe didn’t set out to build our own light fixtures. In fact, Elsie’s original wall sconces were among her most charming features. A bright light – literally – among a trailer that required a lot of TLC. Which is why it surprised even us when we decided to replace them.
Read MoreAfter stripping off the old contact paper, there wasn’t much else that the cabinets needed. We primed them, painted them and planned on calling it good. But being us, we decided the cabinets needed a little something extra. Creating custom trim was the way to go.
Read MoreI did successfully reupholster Elsie’s cushions with little to no sewing experience. Looking back, I probably should have started a little smaller. But seat cushions are like one big throw pillow, right?
Read MoreUltimately, we started over. We stripped out the old copper lines and replaced them with PEX, or crosslinked polyethylene, a flexible and corrosion-resistant material more in vogue with plumbers today.
Read MoreAt first, the avocado green didn't seem so bad. I even remember a time when I thought "that's probably one thing we actually won't change in the trailer." After coating the walls and cabinets in bistro white, however, the green sink led to the first of many "aesthetics arguments" that Jerry, Carson and myself would have over the course of the renovation.
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I'd seen several cool reclaimed wood backsplashes online and wanted to try it in the trailer. After some deliberation over color and whether or not it could withstand full-time travel, all we had to do was figure out how to make it!
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Elsie’s ceiling was a Frankenstein patchwork of bolts and seams and glue stitches once Jerry and Carson were done with it. We had a lot of ideas about how to cover the scars at first. Tin tiles, pennies, wood, paint. Then one winter day in Lowe’s, I stumbled upon a white, texturized wallpaper and I was sold.
Read MoreDespite our plunge into lunacy, we pushed forward...Once the walls had been freed of the tyranny of the contact paper, we began the priming process.
Read MoreThe one area of disrepair that Ray had been upfront about was a small hole in the corner of the ceiling. He said it probably wouldn’t take much work to fix it. “No big deal," I said. But what I had meant to say – what I was thinking – was that I had no idea if that hole in the corner was of serious concern, and that either way, I did not have the skills to fix it.
Read MoreIt was the calm before the storm. On November 8, 2014, the wind ceased and the autumn sun spilled over the buttes and prairies surrounding the Vaughan outpost. Elsie was parked in front of the Quonset. Demolition day had arrived.
Read MoreSome things even the greatest scientific minds will never understand. Mel and I now respectively submit the following to this growing list of life’s greatest mysteries: adhesive contact paper, specifically of the woodgrain variety.
Read MoreThe FAN layout in 1968 was real feng shui. And she was the right age. Not that WHAM! circa-1985 “new vintage”, but Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass old.
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