As promised, the "Middle Tour"!
Because it will most likely be years before the "After Tour" is ready, and I couldn't just leave ya'll hanging with only the super scary "Before Tour".
If you missed the before tour, click
HERE.
Not everyone can see hidden potential, but we can, and we knew it could {potentially} be charming!
So, here is our 1963 Friendship Vacationaire, so far.
My husband was able to strip the rest of the paint off the front side only.
It's very hard to get off because it's so thin and almost gone.
. Because there isn't a lot of actual paint left, so it took a lot of elbow grease.
We hope to eventually get it a paint job. The originals were all white, so we will do that but also maybe add some sort of teal or light blue stripe at the bottom.
Light teal is a common color around the camper. I spray painted the screen door with it.
"Take my picture, mom!"
And now, what you all truly care about - the inside!
I found this "happy campers" sign at hobby lobby this year and spray painted it with Rustoleum's "Blushed" chalk paint to match some other soft pinks through out the camper.
I painted all of the cabinets with Annie Sloan chalk paint in "Old White".
The copper light was really fun to polish up.
It was so tarnished to begin with, that I didn't even know it was copper!
These curtains were my project for this year. They are the first thing I've sewn fully on my own, (without my mom) and I did a really horrible job! Not the best at even straight lines yet, but I'm still proud I did it on my own, and they are "good enough" to get the job done.
We added a full size memory foam mattress, which is very comfy.
I found the little teal lamp shade next to the bed for 9 cents at Hobby Lobby. Yes, 9 cents!
I know the ceilings look a little rough. There was some water damage from moisture being trapped inside (not from it coming through the roof - this thing seals up tight!), so replacing the paneling is on the list of future projects.
This year we also added the curtain rod (spray painted in the same color as the sign) and sheer curtain.
I added a small section of our old eyelet bed skirt by just cutting it to size and stapling it to the inside of the wood. It adds a nice softness plus hides the laundry basket and some storage totes.
The little shelves at the sides of the table and trim around the door were painted with Annie Sloan's "Antoinette" chalk paint, which is a very similar shade to the pink Rustoleum chalk spray paint.
*Side Note* I didn't get a very good close up picture of the table top or counter top, but it has little flecks of light pink, light teal, and light yellow, which is where I pulled the color scheme from. Although I am still in need of more light yellow.
Maybe I can recover the cushions with yellow fabric!?
I'm sure you've noticed by now that they need it. :)
My mom sewed all new curtains for the camper as a birthday present to me. Light teal with light peachy pink floral, so they fit the color scheme perfectly.
On the bed side they have some pretty lace at the bottom too.
I've had this little decorative metal chandelier for years, and it is a nice shabby chic touch that helps put the GLAM in "glamper". ;)
I've said from the start that this would be a Shabby Chic Glamper.
And I've got a good husband that has never put up a fuss.
Happy camper wife, happy camper life.
And now, a few practical pictures - I personally always like seeing a bit of that.
To help you get a real feel for the camper, inside of the tall cabinet with the mirror on it lives our port-a-potty that we have yet to use. It was brand new and came with the camper. We may get some use out of it eventually. Also, the water container is stored in here.
When we are camping it goes out on the end of the picnic table.
I also painted the inside of the "kitchen" cabinets with Antoinette and added some mini cork boards to keep different camping notes organized.
All of our camping dishes (more off to the left) are either stainless steel or blue enamelware.
The little kitchen shelf and under cabinet lights were all painted with Annie Sloan's "Duck Egg Blue" chalk paint.
I call this the "pantry" - little mason jars with flour, sugar, popcorn, dandy blend, etc. just to always have on hand if need be.
Do you think that cabinet lining is original?! 60's orange and yellow. And I'm sure i'll leave it, because our smokey cast iron skillets get placed on top of it.
I found the teal floral knob at Hobby Lobby... or course. Best knob isle eva!
Also, one of our first "projects" in the camper was to simply move the paper towel holder from up above to down in the cabinet. I like to keep as much ugly stuff hidden as possible.
We hung enamel mugs up above where it used to be.
Behind the curtains I made used to be a big open hole. The stove was on top and I think possibly a refrigerator was underneath at one point? My husband put in shelves for our dry food storage. I just slide the teal bins out and fill them up before we head out. We always use our cooler and cook over the fire when camping, so we don't really need a fridge or stove.
* We do have a vintage Coleman camp stove in the storage under the table seats in case of rain or fire bans.
If you are familiar with campers, then you probably can see how this little table area converts down into a bed. When we camp we usually have it set to a bed and the pack-and-play is on top for our son.
Speak of the little love...
He LOVES camping and the outdoors. He even had a camping themed birthday party this year.
The inside color of the door was a horrible muddy brown, so I spray painted the bottom half with chalk board paint - for kids to color on, but it's filled with "camp rules" right now.
My plan for the top half is to slowly cover it in stickers until all of the ugly brown disappears.
My garage sale score bistro set was very handy for our first camping trip this summer, and I'll probably keep taking it with us - it adds a nice pop of color out front. We also have a large teal rug we put outside when we are camping.
I plan to eventually spray paint the step a dark teal, and there are lots of other little projects along the way. But it's usable, cozy, and cute. We love it!
Thanks for taking the tour!
Have a happy camping season!
~Olivia
