by the Artist
Whether it is a house or an RV.
How was your Memorial Weekend 2016? Did you go to the beach? A lake? A picnic table? We stayed home at Applewood Headquarters. It was a good weekend to work on the camper we acquired last fall. It's not brand new and between a damaged floor, and some pesky details I felt it needed some updating.
I saved up over the winter. We had enough on Saturday to head to our local area Menards Home Improvement store. We spent at least half of what I had saved- man that went fast. Here's a list of what is being updated:
1. Replace flooring. It was vinyl and had split out from each heat vent located in the floor. The Carpenter picked a vinyl wood floating floor system. It has some color variation in it and looks nice with the existing cabinetry and trim. We hope it holds up to extreme temps of winter and summer storage. I always say camping in a hard sided camper is like camping in an "Easy Bake Oven". (for those of you who remember those!)
2. Replace bathroom door. The bath is tiny. This camper is triple the size of our old one.. but the bath didn't gain any footage. I asked the Carpenter if he could put a "slider" in to expand this tiny space out but he just looked at me like I had lost my marbles. Maybe a full view glass door to make the space appear larger? Kidding. I'm settling for a new wood no view door. The existing one is a very plain flat door in the same material as the walls.. RV ugly fake wood. The Carpenter ordered a 24" wide raised paneled door. (yes those are available!) It will now match the cabinets and add some architectural detail to that area.
3. Replace kitchen faucet. Replace faucet with pull out sprayer. Will be easier to keep the sink clean and do dishes without using a ton of water. Always mindful of that "gray" water tank!
4. Replace bath sink faucet. Existing one is plastic! (even my old camper had a metal faucet!). It's just beyond ugly.
5. Replace mini blinds. In bedroom and kitchen window with pleated shades to match the rest of the camper windows. (why they weren't all the same style shade I will never know) I found a great sale on-line for 45% off. Can't match exactly so am going with a darker shade. Design rule: if you can't match exactly.. don't come close. Go at least two shades darker... or lighter.
6. Add towel rods. I know men design RV's. Minimal closet space (for clothes or vacuum cleaners) (In our case no "broom type" closet) and no place to hang wet towels! We added one on the back of the bath door and one will go on the bedroom wall. Out of sight. The best I can do if hanging between trees isn't an option!
7. Switch cabinet door orientation. We have a "5th Wheel" style camper. In this particular model you can not stand up in the bedroom area. (this calls for a certain level of flexibility) To access the tiny side closets and the overhead bed storage compartments, you have to sit on the bed. Currently they swing in towards your face! (no comment). The Carpenter will switch the hinges so they swing outwards away from my face. nice.
8. Replace lighting fixture over table. This might not happen for awhile. Current lighting is a small overhead light. I envision a small pendant that hangs down over the table. Like a mini chandelier. Mini RV chandeliers or pendents don't exactly exist. We would need to convert a standard house pendant to a 12 volt deal. That's going to take some significant persuading.
It took the Carpenter all day on Memorial Day to put in the floor. It was a lot of measuring and fuss. The camper toilet had to come out. The space was cramped. Super cramped. He thinks he cracked a rib in the process. :O It does look nice!
Now for the fun part. Shopping to provision this camper. Our goal is to have a fully stocked kitchen (except for food), bedding ready, towels in. All we will have to do is grab some food and some clothes and we're off for a relaxing weekend!
I will also enjoy purchasing a ottoman for storage (and also to make the sofa more comfortable), outside rug (a must to keep sand at bay), decorative pillows, table lamp, la la la la la. My RV's are the play houses I always wanted but never had as a child.
And now "tiny" houses are the rage! We have our very own 25' tiny house on wheels! The world is our apple to bite and enjoy!
PS And to be honest.. resale is always in the back of my mind. We sold our very old, very small "5th Wheel" RV in about 24 hours. I had updated simply (no floor replacement) and I staged it for Craig's list. We had a bid war. I wrote a post about that experience. https://andrea-olson-x9a6.squarespace.com/config#/pages/555e5b3ae4b097314db44ed9|/carpenterandtheartist-blog/2015/8/26/goodbye-little-camper I look forward to doing that again. (But don't tell the Carpenter that... he can hardly breathe as it is right now!)