dinette: cushions

Ok, so I haven’t written an official post on the “How To” built a dinette… honestly, we’re not trying to re-invent the wheel here.  There are tons of videos on YOU-TUBE how to build the interior of a vintage trailer.  Maybe I’ll come back and post all that later.

But I do have these pictures available in one place so I’m writing this post about the cushions. 

Our dinette seats are about 25 inches deep from the back to the front.  I found some cushions that were about 27 inches. There were five cushions total. I needed there to be enough to span the dinette area while in sleeping mode to make a comfortable bed.

This photo shows how the cushions fit together after I laid them all out and marked them with a sharpie marker and then took measurements to get the configuration that I needed.  Some still have the slips on them that they came with, while the white ones have been stripped and cut (with an electric carving knife)

 

Below, shows the two back cushions (one for each side of the dinette.  They’re not perfect around the zipper area, but that part will be tucked out of sight and not noticeable.  I used the zipper placard from the original slip covers—rather than cut the zippers out to or buy new. I just cut the whole placard away and re-fit it to my new drop-cloth slip covers.  Work smarter, not harder.

In the next photo you can see them in place on the curb-side seat of the dinette. I had two velour avocado green place-mats that I cut open and turned into lumbar/lounge pillows for the camper.  I like the pop of color that they add!  I do like the look of the drop cloth slip covers, but I want bright and cheerful colors inside the camper.

You can catch a glimpse of the curtain for the potty closet here.  I am really leaning toward a bohemian style—bright and cheerful color palette.  I’ve said all along, I wanted turquoise/aqua; orange; and chocolate.  The avocado green is a surprise color that just keeps sneeking into the camper.  That’s ok.  It really is my favorite of all colors!  (anyone that knows me well, can testify to that!)

This is looking toward the dinette from the rear of the camper. There is that little bit of green up on the shelf… how’d that red get in there? LOL… I haven’t come across anything to remake liners for these baskets yet.  As soon as I find the perfect piece of vintage-y look fabric, I’ll sew them up!

You may be wondering what that is that PSYCHO-DELIC GOODNESS on my drop-cloth cushion slips!?  I told you I wanted some color.  So I did a little bit of an experiment…but only on side.  I like having options.

Here is what I used:

• a yard stick
• FIVE sharpie markers, (black, blue, aqua, orange and lime 3pack)
• rubbing alcohol
• an eye dropper and
• an iron

I drew my lines in a pattern that I wanted… (first I tested this out on some scraps and I liked the pattern, so I just copied it!)

Then I squirted (with an eye dropper) the alcohol all along the lines and let the colors bleed out in a random fashion.  After it dried, which only took about an hour for the whole thing… I ironed each cushion to SET the color. Voi`la!

Cheerful, happy, bohemian… HIPPY COLOR!

**The best part about the whole thing?  We finally got the electrical hooked up to the camper,so… I did the coloring all right there inside the camper! I did the sewing inside… over the course of a couple of days.

Hope you like it!

Grace and Peace

 

** PS:  if you’re interested in seeing more photos of the camper I have an INSTAGRAM tab at the top and you can click #lilcamperthatcould

Nit Picky Details

We bought a $10 box of floor laminate that look like floor planks… and that is what we are using on the kitchen counter and table in the dinette (not pictured).

The Vent box has been the bane of our campering existance… seriously. We’ve had leak after leak.  Truly and HOT MESS. It looks bad right here, but take my word for it when I say …IT LOOKS GOOD Y’ALL!   THIS PRE PAINT… infact as of this writing it’s still no painted. But is leak free and there is a cover installed …photo to follow, soon.

Collage: Shows the vent framed and caulked. The Contact paper tres foil motif on the ceiling and under the back cabinet.  The new 12 volt light installed and new screens and cranks! (purchased at Ace Hardware…they have a pretty good camper section)

Close up of the screen and window crank… I just love this photo.

If you’d like to see more you can on my Instagram hastag lilcamperthatcould … so yeah! there is so much to see!  I mean if you can’t wait.   

 

Grace and Peace!

Finally! An IDENTIFICATION on the Camper-

About three weeks ago The Honey and I decided we were close enough on the make-over to put some paint on our camper.

He had power washed the entire outside prior to hitting it with a D.A. sander.

I came outside to have a look…and there was one spot I have always been curious about;  it had left a rectangular patch on the rear of the camper.  I knew there had to be a decal there at some point.

This day after he had sanded it down some, I looked up and very faintly, I could see this image.

This photo has been enhanced with filters so that the image would be more clear for you!  (you can thank me later…he he he)

Elation and Celebration ensued! Our camper was …IS … an Okie!!!

This confirms our suspicions here…

That leads us to this week… But first a recap—Sometimes you want to know information, you need to find the oldest man in the hardware store, I’m just telling ya!

  This is our original breaker box…the older gentleman at Home Depot informed us this company had gone out of business early 1970s and that parts were very expensive (aftermarket) on the internet. This information helped us to figure out that our camper was probably PRE-1970!

This is the breaker box INSIDE our trailer…before we replaced it. (bottom left corner) Sorry it’s not a better photo.

Now onto this weeks events!  This week, I made a point to stop at the local sub-courthouse in our town.  I asked about getting the title and registration… after being given the X-Y-Z in the matter.  I came home and relayed all the info to Honey.

We watched a video on You tube you can watch it here if you’re interested.

We found ours… but are told “nope, we still need a Vin Verification through the North Texas Auto Theft Vin Verification Dept”. 

I’ll let you soak that up for a sec… mean while … here is a partial of our number.

See that?!  that 7 67 – OK… that is the main identifier of our camper.

It was manufactured July 1967 and we already know it’s an OKIE!

 

That right there… makes this girl a truly, truly, HAPPY CAMPER!

GRACE AND PEACE, Y’ALL!

Back Posting some Progress…

These photos are from my Instagram feed and about 1 year ago…

I decided I better get some things posted to show some progress here and let everyone know that we haven’t quit… we are still not officially camping, but we haven’t quit!

Here goes… this is the back wall, you might have seen a few post back that had to be rebuilt and here it is.  I’m happy to say, LEAK-FREE and all trimmed and painted.

We (meaning Me) decided to put some color inside my camper!  This is the original back cabinet.  The aqua blue… is perfect for inside this all white space. You can also see the bed.  The back piece is two pieces that lift out for inside access if needed to the cargo hold.

 

Because we’ve NEVER SEEN  what the inside of our camper might have looked like in it’s original state. We looked at other similar trailers and decided to go with a simple shelf over the front dinette and windows. It is great for baskets and storage.

Our daughter bought this sign for the camper… and gave to The Honey and Me as a ‘CAMPER WARMING’ gift!  She thinks of everything! 

You can see the new glass here.. before we added the rock guard. (also a few posts back, our other daughter and her hubby bought replacement glass for the trailer) 

 

I don’t have very many pictures for some odd reason of the carpet and floor. I know I took some… but here it is.  This roll of carpet if I remember was about $17 (we bought two rolls) and it is made of recycled water bottles.  It looks pretty clean in this picture right after we put it down.  One year later… I’ll admit, I’m questioning this decision!

I’ll stop here on this update with everything to this point including the kitchen sink. We had put a funky sink in that I wasn’t crazy about. It took up too much space

 

** I usually close with a plea for information on our camper. If you have any or not and a link to my “Help I.D. our Camper” page.  I have good news! I’ve narrowed it down so much further since I last updated.  I’ll post more on that soon.

Til next time,

Grace and Peace

Built a Rock Guard

 

 

Not much going on with the camper on the outside lately.  Most of the work has been inside. However, we did construct a rock guard for the front window, with recycled aluminum. It’s not fancy and it’s very light weight. So far, we haven’t had a need until today to open it up.  We propped it up today with a piece of PVC. 

We’re looking for new material for the bottom portion on the front.  Haven’t found any yet that is the right size.  Ours is pretty dinged-up there on the front.

The outside is yet to be painted. Though we did seal the roof over the summer and gave it a good scrubbing.  That was a drastic improvement!

Sorry, I don’t have pictures of the actual build for this rock guard. I might be able to come up with some written instructions, but without photos—it might be kind of pointless. 

Anyway, I just wanted to show it.

We’ve just about gotten all the trim up inside and we have the carpet cut and laid down. I’ll try and get a post for the inside work soon.  So please check back!

Grace and Peace~

Repairing our Mistakes- Possible I.D. on the Lil Camper

 

Early on,we searched for an ID for our camper. The Make and Model tag, model number or any identification marks were no where to be found.  I was a little disappointed. Then we began rebuilding.

The Honey put some framing pieces in thinking we’d just build around them and we’d never see them.  I went along with the idea because I’ve NEVER done this before, so what did I know?  cool, we’ll just build around it. Four years later… this bed area is built and paneling is up and this IS A PROBLEM!

As you can plainly see, we DID NOT build around that 1x3.  I have the original screen frames that will go on all the windows on the inside…except this window. I just didn’t like it and wasn’t happy with it.  Yes, I’m that kind of woman. The kind that goes along with your ideas, but in the end… makes you change it because I really didn’t like it in the first place. I’m not proud of it. It’s just who I am. 

It did help my case when we noticed a little leak. {she grins}

Out comes the window. Only to discover, there was also some ROT that was missed 4 years ago. Apparently, the leak has been there for quite some time. We had to rebuild the whole entire back wall from just below the cabinet that stretches across the back all the way down  to the bumper.

In the process though… {excitement builds!}  We found these original manufacturer markings on the underside of the skin! 

I’ve done a little bit of research and I’m wondering is this the answer we’ve been searching for all along?  It our camper MAKE an OKANAGAN? 

I’m curious.  If you have anything to offer regarding our lil camper , please leave me an comment tell me what you know about my camper…possibly my OKIE!

* click here for other details and Identifying marks from our camper

In the end, I guess it’s a good thing I wasn’t please with that 1 x 3 sticking out there. Hopefully now, I’ll be able to use the original frame when I put the new screens up in there.

Grace and Peace in your travels!

Tweaking the Closet with Panel Box and Trims--

 

We have been in limbo with this side of the camper. 

The biggest part of what you are seeing here will be seen from the door… well, maybe half. The other half, the breaker box will not bee seen. It will be enclosed within the closet.

Currently, Well it was a hot mess!

Previously,we pieced in small pieces mainly to hold the insulation up while we worked inside. Our thoughts were we’d come back and do a trimmed out board and batten look to this section.  It is also where the potty sits.

We still needed to work on the wiring before completion. The more we looked at it, the more we said, “Lets work on it next weekend.” 

‘Next weekend’ was this weekend. We took all that small paneling out of there! It’s gone! Then we replaced it with a much larger, whole piece; and went back with some trim over the seams.  It cleaned up nicely!

We also had to move the closet we were building. It houses the refrigerator and hopefully, the a/c when it’s all completed. Where did we move it you ask?  Just 4 inches to the right.  That outlet plug needs to be INSIDE THE CLOSET and not inside the potty area.

We added a door to the front, bottom section; the wheel well is under there and it will be extra storage. The left side of the closet was also closed in.

Now that is done, we can build the shelf for the A/C with a drain and a pan it needs to be vented outside via the vent you see in the top there (there is a vent behind the fridge,too). Also, this cabinet will be insulated. The compressors for both these units will throw off hot air; there’s no point in trying to cool hot air. Once it’s complete it will be a closed off unit.

I’ll be back to show you the bed/deck and carpeting we purchased to cover the floor and the deck for the mattress. This carpet is made from recycled water bottles. It will look great installed!

Grace and Peace!