Friday, June 24, 2011

Project Airstream

Last week I shared a little sneak peek of our newest project with you....and apparently it is hard to disguise a 29 foot travel trailer in photos because every single person knew what our new project was:) We did in fact get a new travel trailer, except the word new needs to be used very loosely here because our new travel trailer is actually older than both Jason and myself! We are now the proud owners of a Vintage Airstream {fyi did you know that vintage means that it is more than 25 years old}!
 After looking at a few other Airstreams and comparing prices, we decided to go on a little trip to see this beauty! When we got there, we were just a little bit excited about what we saw! Not only was this travel trailer the perfect set up for us, but it was also in REALLY great condition considering it was made in 1977! The guy we bought it from was a really cool guy who had intended to make a cabin in the woods out of this Airstream....but he just never got around to it. So our lovely travel trailer had been sitting on his property untouched for the last 5 years. The previous owners had obviously taken good care of it because when we started testing out all the systems everything seemed to work!
 The outside is in really good condition with only a few minor dents....though it is going to take quite a while to restore the shine to this beauty.

The inside is full on vintage 70's!
awesome sort of pink carpet
wood paneling everywhere
yellow and green flowery wallpaper
and some ugly curtains that seem to wrap around forever!


Luckily for us, most of the interior is easy to remedy with just a little bit of elbow grease. Actually Jason has already taken out the carpet and removed almost all of the curtains. After we finish demo-ing, we are planning on saying bye bye to all the dark wood by coating everything with a coat of light colored paint...plus a few dozen other upgrades that need to be made to make this travel trailer road worthy:
bunk beds will be built
new appliances will go in
laminate floors will recover the sub-floors
and fun new fabric will cover the fold out couch

Needless to say we are going to be busy with this project for quite a while! Our plan is to work on it for the next few months with the hopes of finishing up by next summer. Jason has always wanted to take the boys to the Grand Canyon, and camping with a bunch of boys seems almost perfect!
I will share more as we continue with this fun new project. We are complete newbies to the whole travel trailer and camping thing, so all advice and suggestions are welcomed:)

29 comments:

  1. I love this! How great to renovate such a cool vintage camper rather than buying new. It will be so beautiful when you guys finish it, I think its beautiful already! If only I could motivate my husband to take on a project like this.

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  2. oooooh I am jealous. not only is that a fun family project you all get to enjoy it for years to come. awesome. I need one if those for our long roadtrips to visit the inlaws. so fun!

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  3. Look at you!! I know you'll have fun redoing that, and then camping in it!!

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  4. This is going to be a really fun project for your family! Can't wait to see more pics

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  5. What a great buy!!
    Can't wait to see how it's transformed!

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  6. Wow! I love the its classic look. I'm sure many great family memories will be had restoring and then traveling with it!

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  7. I knew you got a camper but I never would have guessed you got and Airstream! How cool is that?! Enjoy, I'm sure you will make tons of memories in it.

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  8. I think that's pretty awesome!! Can't wait to see the interior. An Airstream is about as close to camping as I would consider going. Exciting!!!!

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  9. I knew it! Way cool!! I see some work ahead of you guys to pretty it up but LOTS of fun trips to come in the future to make it all worth it!!

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  10. Airstream's are da-bomb! Congratulations on your newest adventure. My dream is to have a Gypsy wagon, that I can run to and hide from life for awhile. In my back yard would work just fine. Enjoy!

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  11. Oh yay! How awesome is that?! I loved camping in my parents rv...so much fun! Y'all will have fun renovating and camping together. What great memories your giving your kids! Enjoy!

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  12. oh i think airstreams are the coolest!!! i'm a little jealous right now ~ what a FUN project!

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  13. That is awesome...we just drove across the country and everytime I would see one...I would say "I think we need an airstream." Good luck with the renos!

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  14. I bet it will end up looking so cute! Can't wait to see it along the way:)

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  15. OH,OH,OH You are so lucky! My b/f has a 1977 Open Road motor home (my kids and I have nicknamed it The Turd). I have been planning to re-do the inside of the turd much like you are doing with your Airstream. Good luck with your project, I am sure that its going to be awesome.

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  16. What fun! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

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  17. I may be more than jealous of this awesome project. Tons of fun awaits you. I have always wanted a vintage Comet or other smaller trailer. I think it would look so cute behind our '58.

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  18. Wow! It's going to be fun to your renovation progress. I have a friend who really wants one of these. Keep us updated!

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  19. Girl you are going to have SOOOO much fun with your trailer. I don't have one, but I know you are just the person that would have a ball redoing the inside, and just imagine all the memories you are going to be making with your boys!!!!

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  20. wow very cool Can't wait to see the finished photos of it! Good luck and hope you all have loads of fun times with it when it is finished

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  21. Oh my gosh..very cool!!! I can imagine how your creative juices are flowing with this bad boy!!!!! I can't wait to see all the changes!!!!!

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  22. Oh you all will have such a good time fixing this old beauty up and then making millions of special memories in her. You have a wonderful blog. I found it when I was looking for some waffle ideas and found your watermelon recipe from last year. I will be making it for my grand-daughters when they visit this week. They will love it! Thank you. ~ Miles of Smiles ~ Lynn

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  23. What an awesome find. I love it. I know that you are going to love redoing it. This is right up your alley. I can't wait to see the make over. How fun.

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  24. That is so much fun! I can't wait to see it when it's finished!

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  25. So exciting. One day we hope to have one. I cannot wait to see your progress!

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  26. Oh to think of all the meories that your children will have from this! So much fun...you need to look up an old movie with Lucy in it called The Long Long Trailer! SOOOO funny!

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  27. so fun!! I can't wait to see what craftiness {craftyness?} you unleash on that thing!!

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  28. We really enjoy our travel trailer. It's not an airstream though. Looks like you found a really good one! Can't wait to see it all finished!

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  29. My dad grew up in Jackson Center where they make the Airstreams, we now live about 30 miels from there & my grandpa owns a foundry that makes the molds for I believe the bumper (not sure), but we never really here much talk about those around here. However, you are making this sound so neat that I can't wait to watch your progress on this! You might need to go in the business for Airstream and tell them what a gem of a business they could get goin again. Best of luck!

    ~Stacey
    csfish@roadrunner.com

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