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Posts Tagged ‘renovation’

Our 1974 Air Conditioning Unit And ‘House’ Refrigerator Work!

Posted in Air conditioning, Airstream, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2011| 1 Comment »

Today our good friend/electrician, Kyle Zimmerman of RedTail Electric, came over to assess our electrical situation. We are far from done with electrical, but we needed to ensure whether we were pulling the right amount of power to run everything in the airstream. We were trying to power everything off a 20 amp breaker. Now, we have a 30 amp breaker, dedicated to powering the trailer. We also made modifications to Matt’s existing 220 circuit in the garage. After those fixes were done, Matt turned on the AC and it started blowing out cold air. I almost couldn’t believe it! So, I brought my new temperature gauge out to the airstream and got 59 degree air blowing out.

We had tried to turn on the refrigerator previously, but couldn’t get it to work. With today’s quick electrical fixes, it turned right on and got chilly fast. It is a household refrigerator that we will soon replace with an RV model. They are just so stinking expensive!

We were so excited about the AC and refrigerator that we decided to bring our dogs out, snuggle up on the couch, eat dinner and watch movies in the airstream. So lovely!!

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Making Progress…

Posted in Airstream, Flooring, kitchen, living area, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2011| 4 Comments »

We have owned Airstreamy for about 1.5 months and keep working on getting her ready for the road. Our custom-order black and grey water tanks arrived a couple days ago. We now have the task of installing them, which should be a lot of fun (not!). Since this airstream was lived in, a lot of the traveling components were discarded, by a prior owner. We haven’t been able to test the plumbing yet. We have heard the water pump turn on when we use the control center on button, but we haven’t filled the water tank. The waste tank install is a major hurdle to getting us on the road. We also have to take the airstream in for service to have all our gas appliances pressure-tested, to ensure they are safe for use. We hope to do that in the next couple weeks.

There aren’t many things that Christie and I can do in the trailer, as we have no mechanical knowledge whatsoever. We’re good on the cosmetic/design side. We’ve been hunting for some good drapery fabric, but still coming up slim on options. Most of the patterns we find are too busy, so we think we’ll go with a simple off white. I put together a $10 table I got at Ikea for a coffee table; It’ll work just perfect. We got all the ceiling lights working and bought brand new plastic covers for them. The covers don’t fit properly, so we have to make a few adjustments to the power knobs to get them to fit snug. I got the old speakers all painted and ready to be installed, but Matt thinks we should get new ones. Speakers are low on my priority list, as we can just bring a stereo with us. I have been spray painting the screen door silver and working on some kitchen solutions. I wish there was a way to repair our existing kitchen cabinet tambour doors, but they are in rough shape. We might build new cabinet doors or buy new tambour…we haven’t decided yet. Here’s some updated progress photos:

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Shine Coffee Coming Soon…In An Airstream

Posted in Airstream, Airstream Business, tagged , , , , , , on September 14, 2011| 4 Comments »

My friend Traci sent us a note about a new mobile coffee shop opening soon in the Phoenix area. Shine Coffee is a traveling espresso bar housed in a vintage 1957 Airstream. They will be available for events around the valley. We’re super stoked to support a local Airstream-based business. Check them out at their first event on September 25th at the 48th Street Farmer’s Market in Ahwatukee. I gotta find out who polished their Airstream!!!!

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Green airstream remodel

Posted in Airstream, inspiration photos, Renovation, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2011| 3 Comments »

This remodel blows my mind! I spotted this gem over on TreeHugger.com. Airstream owners, Cece Reinhardt and Brenda Daugherty remodeled a 2003 Airstream and turned it into an off-grid traveling home. They’ve got it all…solar panels, composting toilet, eco-friendly cabinetry, flooring, lighting, mechanicals, etc. They haul the Airstream with bio-fuel powered truck. So great to see people doing cool stuff with their Airstreams. You can follow these gals on their traveling adventures on their website www.greenrvlife.com and they are on Twitter at @greenrvlife.

 

Check out these photos, from their website…amazing!

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Airstream Pinterest Board

Posted in inspiration photos, priming walls, tagged , , on September 4, 2011| 2 Comments »

We LOVE Pinterest. It is a great site for bookmarking photos of anything! We made an airstream/camping photo board, with 162 photos of Airstream inspiration. We’ll keep bookmarking photos, to grow the collection.

Check it out:

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Inspirational Remodel of a 1969 Airstream

Posted in inspiration photos, Renovation, tagged , , , on September 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A friend of ours sent us a link to a 9/1/11 New York Times article on a super chic remodeled 1969 Airstream, owned by interior designer Rachel Horn  and her husband. Wow! These are my kind of Airstream people. I have talked about how I haven’t been camping before (I’m high maintenance, what?!), but how I want to go “glamping” (glamorous camping). I share a love of design, even though I am not a designer. This is a true inspiration to me because I know how hard them must have worked to get the airstream into this condition. Any old airstream, even if it has been maintained through the years, will require some level of repair or remodeling. Our Airstream was built 5 years after theirs, but it shares the same layout; rear bath and middle twin beds. I can only hope our remodel will be this nice. Our budget is 1/10th of their original budget. Ours will still have some retro 70s details, but the goal is a sleek, modern interior. I can see this article inspiring a bunch of people to go out and buy Airstreams!

Photos from the NYT article

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Project #13: Replace Front Overhead Reading Lights

Posted in Lighting, living area, tagged , , , , , on August 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

We knew we wanted ‘bullet’ style lights in the airstream, so I was tasked to find the light covers. I looked at vintage ones, but realized I could get a similar look with some Ikea hacking. We bought 2 $9.99 lights (similar to these) and took them apart. Matt reinstalled the lights and they are perfect! They are adjustable and cast a cool pattern on the walls.

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Project #12: Remove Living Room Cabinet And Fix Floor Rot

Posted in Before photos, Flooring, living area, paint, priming walls, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , on August 30, 2011| 2 Comments »

I guess it is a good thing that I suck at measuring things. In an effort to get the sofa bed to fit where it is supposed to fit, we decided to take out the side living room cabinet with the 8 track player (*tear*). We had noticed a small area of rot in an inaccessible area behind the cabinet. So, we picked up from 23/32″ plywood (really Lowes, no 5/8″ plywood?!….geez) to repair the damage. We were able to replace the damaged plywood in 2 of the areas and used bondo by the door. Matt sanded the bondo and got dust evvveeerrrryyywwwhhhheeerrrreeee! I was so sad because I had been cleaning this airstream for weeks now (assuming demo was done!). He redeemed himself by thoroughly cleaning the sofa and floors. I primed and painted the wall that was behind the cabinet. Next, we have to caulk the edges of the floor where the patches are and install the new flooring over it.

We’re making progress with other projects. We ordered new blackwater and graywater tanks today. They are being custom made and should be here in 4-6 weeks. I feel like making a paper chain counting down the days because that is a long time to wait!!

We got the 1974 AC working for about 1 minute. We’re pretty sure it’s gonna be trash because A) It is impossible to find someone locally to work on it, B) It uses R-11 refrigerant, which is basically for sale at the price of gold, and, C) We could spend $450 and get a brand new one a lot easier than trying to fix this one.

Christie and I priced out fabrics for curtains. I am not in love with any of the patterns available locally, so I am researching some good modern fabrics online, but we might just go with $.99/yard muslin and possibly use it as a liner, once we find some rad fabric for curtains.

I cleaned the inside of all the kitchen cabinets….all I can say is EW. Gross. Yucky.

I’m thinking we could be ready for camping in about 30-45 days, depending on when our waste water tanks come in. Or, we can find a KOA with bathroom facilities and take airstreamy out sooner. Can’t wait!

Here are some photos of what we’ve been up to over the last few days:

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Project #11: Install Sofa Bed In Living Area

Posted in Before photos, Flooring, kitchen, living area, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This project sounds easier than it was. We bought a sofa bed ‘site-to-store’ from Walmart called the Atherton Home Manhattan Convertible Futon Sofa Bed and Lounger (Pearl color) for $269. It had great reviews and was the cheapest, nicest looking one we could find online. We picked up the sofa in a big box last night that barely fit in the back of Matt’s Expedition. We decided to wait for daylight to move the sofa into the airstream. We kept it wrapped and carefully wiggled it inside. Once inside we had to install the short little legs and figure out the ‘click-clack’ function. The sofa bed can be a sofa, double chaise lounge or a bed, with a couple clicks. We got it all put together and tried to squeeze it into the area it was supposed to go….it didn’t fit! Boo! I took measurements before buying the sofa to ensure it would fit, but what I didn’t account for was the slight curve at the front of the airstream, which strips us of 1-2″ of square space.  The sofa base is square and can’t be changed. So, in the meantime, we have it set up as a double chaise. Matt is going to do some measurements to see if it will fit snugly, if we cut the countertop to the side back a little bit. It sure does make the space look cleaner and newer. Every project gets us a step closer to a modernized airstream. Don’t mind the filthy floors in the photos….we just finished laying them last night. We still have some trim pieces to install before they’re finished.

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Project #10: Install New Flooring In Living Area And Bedroom

Posted in Flooring, kitchen, living area, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 22, 2011| 5 Comments »

The airstream definitely needed new flooring; the existing vinyl flooring was worn and didn’t match the retro trailer. Once we started taking up the vinyl flooring, we realized it was not only glued down (and super sticky), but it was also nailed down. We spent a while sanding the sticky floor with 3 sanders and removed all the nails. I had originally thought of sanding the plywood smooth and painting a glossy white finish over it, but the time and cost associated with that project made me think more towards traditional floors. I really wanted white flooring, but Christie and Matt talked me into a dark wood laminate instead, which they said will be easier to keep clean. We got 7 boxes of the Tundra dark brown laminate from Ikea, which should be enough to cover the living area and bedrooms. The cost per/sq ft is $1.15, so it ended up being a very cost-effective improvement.

We are about 1/3 of the way done with the flooring. Matt hurt his back yesterday, so we are on a short hiatus until he recovers. I’ve been cleaning the inside of cabinets and working on little projects on the inside. I have to locate a light-weight modern/contemporary flooring for the bathroom and find a good fabric for the drapery this week. We have a new sleeper-sofa coming on Friday, which will get us another step closer to getting this trailer out of town. We also just got the owner’s/service manual in the mail. We are looking at dimensions for the blackwater and graywater tanks, so we can get those installed asap.  This week is expected to be HOT…some forecasts say up to 116 degrees. Until we have our 30 amp circuit installed in the garage, we won’t be able to test and/or fix the AC unit. I am counting down the days to AC!!!

UPDATE 8/24/11: We have finished laying the flooring in the living space and bedroom area. We just have to install some trim pieces and transitions.

Here are some before and progress photos of the flooring:

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