It's been two months since I updated this blog - my bad. The van is now finished, and in fact has been for about, well, 2 months! We've even managed a couple of trips to the New Forest in it, which was great fun - there's nothing like rocking up to a campsite, knowing that once you're parked up, that's it, you're sorted. The only things you have pack are the food, drink and dogs :)
Suffice to say I LOVE my little van, and exactly as planned, I'm also using it everyday as my main vehicle. I can even reverse park it straight (on a good day). It's also dead handy for shopping, and for my car boot sale adventures (buying and selling).
Last time I updated this blog, the units were finished and the flooring had been put in. To finish the van, I did the following:
- carpet-lined the interior - this wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be
- covered the tops of the storage units/seating with carpet
- covered my foam cushions with gorgeous grey leopard print velour
- put up some lights (LED battery powered ones that stick to the walls with velcro)
In summary, and for those of you new to this blog, the van has running water, seats/table with loads of storage which convert into a lovely comfy bed (big enough for two adults and three dogs to sleep comfortably), and space to store a porta potti too. No leisure battery, no complicated electrics, no built in cooker. The more complicated something is, the more likely it is to break or go wrong I find...
So without further ado, here she is in all her glory:
above and below is the fold down flap that creates one end of the bed....
Just a final word about the nitty gritty - how much did it cost. Because I know you're all dead nosy! I am too if it's any consolation! Firstly here's a quick recap on the 'ingredients' for my conversion (in no particular order):
- 12mm/18mm plywood
- some lengths of timber
- kitchen unit from Ikea
- vinyl flooring
- hand pump tap
- stainless steel dog bowl 'sink'
- fablon to cover table
- table leg and bracket
- foam for cushions
- fabric to cover foam
- satin paint
- carpet for lining & spray glue
- porta potti
- LED lights & batteries
- lots of love and care from yours truly
As for cost, including all of the above (plus the cost of 1.5 days labour, excluding the porta potti, which was a present from my dad!), I'm pleased that I managed the whole conversion for around £600 (give or take the odd tenner).
So that's it! The van is finished, the blog is finished probably for this year (we're already planning to take her to Bestival next year though, so don't be surprised to see the odd update now and then).
Lastly, if you're reading this for the first time, please take a minute/hour/day to read the other posts from the beginning - it makes more sense, and is more entertaining (even if I say so myself) and informative to read it from the start.
For those of you who can't be ar*ed reading the whole blog, I'll be adding another post shortly, which will be a quick-fire recap/how-to with photos from start to finish...
Hasta la vista mis campervanconverting amigos
xxxx
