Daniel and I spent this past weekend in Nashville. We were happy to have a weekend to explore a fun city and Daniel was able to do some work stuff while we were there.  But the real reason we went was to check out a 1969 vintage travel trailer. We have been thinking about this project for a few weeks now, have looked at several other trailers in our area and talked to a guy who could potentially remodel a trailer for us. We ultimately decided that this particular trailer was the right amount of work for us to feel comfortable tackling ourselves. We have done a fair amount of work here in our home, so we know we have skills in this area.

 

I’m going to be honest here and admit that we may have bitten off more than we can chew. This trailer is 47 years old, has some significant water damage and needs like, everything done. Exterior paint, interior paint, new appliances, new tires, new floors, new walls, really just new everything. We are excited and scared and nervous and I am dying to get some white paint on the interior so I can start decorating. Right now, when we don’t have kids and we have family and friends spread out all over the country, seems like a great time to tackle a (crazy) fun new project that will allow us to travel around more easily. Also, this is way cheaper than a new house to fix my decorating bug, so there’s that.

The Details: Our trailer came to us without a brand name. After some internet sleuthing, Daniel thinks it may be this rare brand called a FAN (some dudes initials) but the company wasn’t around for long, so they are apparently rare (read hard to find, NOT valuable). We thought this guy was about a 16-footer when we first went to take a look but it is clearly longer than that. It measures at about 21 feet from tongue to tongue.

We have affectionately dubbed this guy the Blue Beluga. The front end has a little roof extension so a bunk could be added and Daniel said it reminds him of a Beluga whale. I kinda wanna paint him mint or teal #greensaremyjam but now that he’s named, I almost feel like a can’t!

 

The Befores:

 

When you walk in through the left door, you enter into the little kitchen area. We would love to refurbish this range/oven and keep it where it is. The sink is also salvageable. That’s about it as far as keeping the original appliances. Everything else needs to go (or doesn’t exist to begin with).

 

The stop sign is covering a missing window from the outside. We will need to find a replacement for that. I tried cleaning the exterior of the other windows today and I think we can salvage those! That would be amazing! Most of them still tilt open too! But the horrible curtains and mini-blinds HAVE TO GO. Actually, as of tonight they are already sitting in our garbage barrel.

This gapping hole is where the fridge was. There is some significant rot here in the walls and subfloor that will need to be addressed before long.

Beside the fridge opening is a closet followed by a tiny bath (shower, toilet, tiny sink). We may nix the closet and extend that bathroom a bit, but we are still deciding. Bascially this entire wall needs to ripped out and built from scratch. The floors are rotted and the bathroom is horrible.

 

So with the current shower/bath area we would be showing WITH the toilet. Like, it’s hanging out there and the shower head is on the wall beside it and everything is just getting showered on along with you. How bizarre. After looking at a bunch of tiny trailers, I have found that this is fairly common as a space-saving measure. I’m not sure if we will keep this feature or not, but it’s a possibility.

Down at the far end (actually the front of the trailer where is will attach to the vehicle for towing) is the bed. Currently  the bed has a little slide out feature so during the day it can act as a couch/sitting area. When we are ready to sleep, we will slide out a section and lay the mattress down. That will block the front door, but we have the other, so it’s no problem. We will be recreating this sliding bed concept with new materials, what’s there is in terrible shape.

On the right we have the dinette area. 2 of the seats have storage below and there is a cabinet above as well, as you can see. Again, we will be recreating this space with new materials. but we actually really like this trailer layout, one of the reasons we purchased this guy in the first place!

The table is made to fill in the open section where your feet go while sitting at the bench. Then the bench cushions are laid out horizontally to make a second bed. Trailer designers are smart people, yo.

Here is a look back at the little kitchen area.

A closer look at the slide out bed. This is the slid-in position. These patterned curtains are staying as is #nope #reallynope

 

Sorry these next few are horribly washed out, I’m still learning my camera settings.

 

 

This is the rear of the trailer.

Stop sign filling in for a window. #classy

 

So there you have it. The Blue Beluga in all her pre-reno glory. We have a lot of work ahead of us! Even my Dad, the renovating genius, said “I wouldn’t even know where to start” when we gave him a tour today. I could see the relief on his face that this wasn’t his project to tackle. Great. Dad, are you reading? Thanks for your honesty! We may fail miserably at this, but we are determined to give it a try. Will keep you updated as we go!