Yes, it is true! After 4 long months Barb is ready to reveal her camper makeover. When she first started this project in April, she thought it would be a breeze and she would be done in a few weeks. A cold wet spring was not conducive to wallpaper which significantly delayed the project. But with the kid's departure last week and our own departure next week it was time to crack the whip!
She had been whittling away at it over the past couple of months, but this past week was the final big push. Although she is not totally done, she is happy with where it is for now.
But first, the before pictures. This is what the inside of the camper looked like when she started.
The camper is almost 20 years old, dated, but in great shape, it just needed to be freshened up. And when Barb does something she goes in with both feet. Removing all the linoleum, replacing the handles on the cabinetry, wallpaper, backsplash, new carpet, new shades and new curtains.
The in-progress pictures are scary and overwhelming. I personally stayed as far away as possible, only peeking in there when she had a question or wanted to show me something. The first thing she did was recover the dinette cushions and started the backsplash in the kitchen.
Next up was the wallpaper. Talk about slow and tedious. Her advice to anyone thinking of doing this, do not pick wallpaper with lines. Too hard to maintain the lines and make it appear level in a camper.
Then came the flooring. We are still not sure how this is going to work. We used leftover LVP from the house. Not sure how it is going to stand up or hold together in a moving vehicle. We shall see. Last up was the carpet, shades and curtains. There is not a lot of carpet, the stairs, up by the bed and under the dinette.
Now for the finished(ish) product!
I think it looks great if I do have to say so myself! I am super proud of her. The wallpaper is kind of a birch bark design. She cut, planed, stained and varnished the wood around the slide out. She made the curtains my hand and cut and installed the carpet herself.
She only replaced the carpet on the steps going up to the bed so far, the dinette carpet will wait for another day. The pictures on the wall are ones each of us picked out from previous adventures. I picked out several of her and she picked out several of me.
There are a few other final touches she wants to do but for now we are ready for our next big adventure!
While she was doing that, I was having my own fun this week with the garage installing posts, LVL's, 4 more trusses and purlins for the extension.
No skidsteer and boom to help with the trusses this time, we beefed them up by hand with an assist from the tractor.
We now have all the trusses up and can carry on with finishing the remainder of the roof. I highly doubt we will get that done in the next couple days, but we'll give it a try!
Kevin needed help with two pours this week. Brutal. It would not have been too bad except for the heat. 90+both days.
Then of course when we are rushing to get things done before we leave the brakes on the Jeep start squeaking. Why, oh why does that have to happen now. A couple hours later I had new brakes (and one new caliper) in the Jeep and it is ready to roll.
Friday was of course the 4th. Barb and I celebrated it by working on the garage. It was also our baby girl's birthday! 44 years young, we are so proud of her.
I have fond memories of 4th of Julys past spending it at my dad's place in Shell Lake Wisconsin. What I remember most was the fireworks. Dad used to fly his plane to South Dakota or Iowa, fill it with fireworks and fly it back. I am not sure of the legality of that, but I have a feeling it was a little sketchy. Firecrackers, sparklers, M80's bottle rockets and some bigger stuff that I did not know the names of. After dark, we would all pile into the boat and watch the fireworks that were lite over the lake. Great memories, I wish I could go back and experience one of those days again and really appreciate it.
This coming week is going to be action packed and one we have been looking forward to for months!
