Happy Thanksgiving - I am thankful for progress!

I cannot believe how fast time is going by.   When I first read about the length
of time some Airstream renovations took, I naively thought "that won't be us!" 

Lo and behold the weeks slip by.  Bottom line is it is a drag to have
to work and only be able to devote weekends
to the fun things in life like our Airstream! 

However, a few things are coming together and progress is obvious.

The biggies recently are the installation of our floor.  After reading numerous
blogs by other owners and weighing the pros and cons of various floor options

we chose cork. The reason was durability, flexibility, and how light weight it is.

It actually went in very easily. Thus sayeth the observer!
Due to the way we approached the renovation the floor is not under
any of the cabinets.  There is less flooring going in but also in the event
of a water issue we can pull up the floor without ripping out the
cabinetry/ furniture.  At least this is our theory.  It made the cutting/ install a
little more work, but Robert is an uber talented guy and he sailed through it.

Foam underlayment goes down.

 

 

A little cutting in the bathroom.

I love the contrast with the color of the cabinets and benches!  Just need to add
the rest of the shoe mold and we are done!  Check!

At approximately the same time I decided to take on a little project. With the relocation

of the dinette we needed some lighting over the table.  The obvious solution is
an LED puck light.  Low energy use, they don't get hot and the color in LED
lighting is vastly improving.  We had removed a double head spot light
at the back wall.  So there were wires dangling in the closet that can be rerouted
to the new LED pucks.  I mounted them under the upper cabinets, then

drilled holes for the wires to pull up into the upper storage cabinets.

A nice clean look.

Since the wires don't lay flat this required creating
false floor in the upper cabinet so that things can still
be stored on a level surface. 

Robert was telling me he had a solution but I had to wait.  So I took matters
into my own hands (patience is not my strong point) and used
some of the left over cork flooring.  After cutting it to size, added some
  small pieces underneath to raise the surface and viola!
I have a nice clean stable floor for the cabinets and you can easily get
to the wiring if need be.  Robert still had a bit of a critical eye
(I think it is mostly because he didn't think of it) but he begrudgingly
gave me props for my simple and fast solution. All he has to do is
pull the available wires into the upper cabinet and we have light.

The last little project was the installation of the tile backsplash. As a

designer I can't imagine not having a tile splash but I am realistic enough
to not want to install something that will crack and pop off because

of the movement in our little trailer. After quite a bit of research and
consulting some of my talented tile contractors I have opted to 

use a small stone and metal mosaic and take it only 4" high.
I also opted to use a metal  trim piece in order to avoid having to
find a small decorative trim piece. My theory is the less glued to the wall the better.

Here is the metal being installed

We applied the tile with a silicone latex caulking.  Mold resistant, flexible,
and it should hold up great.

A close up of the tile.  I think it looks super clean.  Now I just need to grout it.

A larger shot of the splash.   The edge detail still needs to go on the countertop.

We are going to add a silver magnetic metal panel over the large space above the cooktop. 
Cuteness factor all the way. 

We also ordered a new furnace a couple of days ago.  We finally got around to turning on
the one in the trailer and the noise was deafening.  One more thing to add to the list
of stuff to do.  Seems like we check off a few things and add a few things every week.

Par for the course  and we will persevere!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a bed (or at least a place for a bed!)

 Our new license plates for the Airstream have arrived! 

  I had extremely good intentions of updating this blog sooner.  While we are making steady progress 

we also seem to be generating quite a mess and the photo ops are few!  When thinking about how 

we wanted to use our Airstream we knew that we would prefer a full time bed versus making a bed

 out of the dinette every evening.  As I mentioned before, we did a big floor plan flip and have

 built a queen size bed platform where the original dinette was. 

We want to try and take advantage of every square inch and have created
some additional storage at the front of the Airstream that sits above the fresh water tank.

 

There is a fairly deep box right in the center that will be handy for pajamas or

something and then there is a bin at each end that can hold other things.  Maybe a good book!

Speaking of pajamas I am so excited that Target is carrying some fun PJ's by Nick and Nora.

They are Airstream inspired and beyond cute with pink flamingos and little airstreams.

Being a now loyal Airstream groupie I felt obligated to buy myself a pair!

How can you not love these?

                      Back to the new bed.....we wanted to accomplish a couple of things with this bed frame. 

                                  1-Create usable storage  

                                  2- Keep a little bit of the vintage charm by reusing the original Airstream bins

                                         and hardware that were in the Safari when we purchased it. 

                                   I am super happy with Robert's creative skills and the results. 

The bed platform lifts up and you can reach the additional storage space easily.
We used lifts supports and they went in super easy per Robert. 

At the same time the new dinette is just about done.  While the storage looks original from the
exterior we now have some nice deep storage boxes inside!
Pots and pans should be extremely happy in there!

And I love the new cushions.  They are beyond adorable as far as I am concerned.

Pippa likes the cushions too!

Robert has just started working on the new countertops. This is the one that sits above the 

refrigerator. The pop of color is perfect! There is an existing cabinet that will sit back 

on top of it. I love the red laminate and the vintage metal edge trim is so cute.

looking back at the bed platform

Just a couple of more items.  I have been all over the map trying to come up with an overhead
bin storage solution that worked visually and practically.  The doors originally on these cabinets were
in good condition but in a moment of reckless abandon I removed the doors of the cabinets
which were covered in a wall paper type material.  I thought I would take the wallpaper off and
refinish them.  Upon further inspection the doors were actually a low quality plywood.
In the mean time the hardware that held these doors had been removed (oops) and it is just about
impossible to put it back on. So the quest for a new solution began.

If we were going to put on new doors I wanted some that had a opaque panel in them.
I really wanted a cool piece of resin from a company called 3form. Check them out if you

are the arty type.  They even have a remnant section which is perfect for our application.

 However, I could never find a piece that seemed to be the right choice, in the right size,

 at the right price.  So on to plan B.  I found this vinyl stick on stuff at Home Depot.  

I liked the pattern, liked  the price and we decided to give it a go. Robert

built the new doors and I applied the pattern vinyl to a clear plexiglass sheet.  Easy Peasy! 

 If someday 3form has the most amazing piece of resin available I can change it out.  

Win, win I think!

Last but not least, the new little LED lights have been installed by the bed.  The original
spot lights were a mix of broken and almost broken so we opted to change them out
to these.  Energy efficient, fairly vintage looking and affordable.  I like it.

Still on the list to finish:

•   new counter top at sink side
• new sink and cooktop,
•  table at the dinette
• install new refrigerator
• install new hot water heater
• install new microwave
• new faucet in bathroom
• install new flooring
• hang up curtains and shades
• PUT IN ALL THE CUTE STUFF!