After all my Pinterest surfing, I had decided I wanted my little home to reflect me and my style and not end up like any other van conversion. There were so many amazingly beautiful vans that I spent hours drooling over and wondering how I could create the look. For inspiration check out Quirky Campers; if you want a home with personality, this is the place to hang out. But again, I just didn't have the tools and skills to create the homes I was falling in love with.
Check out my Pinterest board to see the things that inspired me and the ideas I collected for my van... I especially love (and in turn stalk!) the amazing Jacqui Brown, brownbirdandcompany and Sydney Ferbrache, divineontheroad, who have the most gorgeous vans, fantastic outlook on life and are a real inspiration for my new lifestyle.
So, after much deliberation, I decided to go 'rustic' and start from there... I had already built and installed my bed, so I knew the bikes, camping gear, dogs and all my important 'stuff' was nicely stored and accounted for. So next I needed a kitchen, wardrobe and somewhere to sit.
I had a vision that a Welsh Dresser would look kinda awesome for a kitchen; so after a little searching on FB marketplace, I found a lovely oak dresser locally; so off I hot footed it to collect it. After treating a horrid case of woodworm (clearly always check what you are buying!) I started the mammoth task of giving it a facelift with some chalk paint... again, not sure what possessed me to go with a pale grey in a small space with two dogs! But to start with it looked rather lovely... Not really thinking about the weight (!), I popped the base in the van and then realised that due to the curvature of the walls the top wouldn't fit... bummer, but never mind. I secured the unit to the wall, attached my double burner camping stove to the top with a couple of screws through the foot stands, drilled a hole at the back for the gas pipe (the gas bottle is stored in the cabinet underneath) and added the light switches, UBS socket, 240v socket and power control panel to the side of the unit. A trip to Ikea for some spice racks and jobs a good'un.
In my many plans, I had thought about building a seating area opposite the sliding door, so I could enjoy the views from the comfort of my seat, have lots of storage underneath and cupboards overhead. However, after the stress of just getting the walls and ceiling up, I decided woodwork was not my forte! I did still have a lovely Victorian sofa left over after flogging all my stuff. I hadn't been able to part with it at the time and had held on to it, trying to decide it's future... would it fit in the van I wondered.
It was meant to be. The dogs love it, I can chill out on it and my nephew has even slept on it! Not everyone can boast an actual sofa in their van!!
I used corner brackets to secure it to the floor and there is plenty of space underneath for a few storage hampers. In fact, it's great having a sofa instead of the built in seating area, as if I get bored I can move my furniture around, or lob a different colour cover and cushions on it, plus it's so much easier to clean around than with fixed furniture.
So, seating and kitchen sorted... next job clothes storage. Again, you'll remember on my 'original' plan I was going to build a wardrobe area next to the bathroom. Well after having lived in my van for a while and using the space, I realised how much I liked the space! So, I scrapped my designs for a bathroom and wardrobe and instead opted for using my old wicker hampers to store my clothes in.
They look awesome and go with my cosy, rustic home. Because I had whittled down my stuff so much, three hampers actually store all my clothes (crazy I know!); one is reserved just for outdoor clothing such as shorts, cycling gear, walking trousers, hoodies and t-shirts; another holds my 'nice' tops, jeans, jumpers and scarves, and the final one has my underwear, many socks, swimming cossies and pjs! You may be thinking 'how can you cope with so few clothes?', well how much do you actually need? I do store my skiing and bulky hiking gear in the 'garage' area of my van along with my towels and spare bedding, and I recently created a little hanging rail under the bed for a couple of dresses, a ball gown (obvs... everyone should always have a gown to hand), a shirt and a blazer, to hang without getting too creased. My shoes are all stored in the 'garage' area and I appear to have gone from having over 100 pairs of heels to mainly outdoor shoes and boots!
Finally, a house is not a home without art and nick-nacks... so I had the tough choice of deciding which pieces of art and collectables would work in my little home on wheels (anything left over was boxed up and sent to my Mum's for safe keeping). I found some awesome shelves from Willow and Stone (I saw them in my friend's kitchen and thought 'perfect'), which look great in the van and add a little extra homeliness to the space, I added some art to the wall, using hooks and 3M Command Strips (very useful in a van for securing stuff!), made some curtains to hide the cab at night, a little blind for the side window and put up the all important fairy lights... suddenly the space felt happy, homely and cosy.
I've tried to add plants to the van but I keep killing them! At the moment there are a few succulents, air plants and cacti, plus a rose my friend gave me recently, but in a month's time they could all be artifical!! There are still things to do, those little finishing touches that you never get around to doing, plus panelling the back and side door, building a bulk head, creating a bookcase (everyone needs a library!), installing a pull out bike tray, fitting the kitchen light etc. and I still need to install my sink, paint the unit and make some doors, but it'll come in time...
... But for now, this is home and I love it
Comentários