We have a stunning caravan revamp to share with you, as Kelly Whyton worked with her husband and dad to revamp her tourer, in the process creating a modern, stylish space.
The stunning transformation was completed for less than £3,000 – and this included having a combi boiler fitted too.
Speaking to Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK, Kelly said: “We used to go camping then upgraded to our caravan in 2019.”
Initially, the couple looked into buying a new caravan – and if you’re looking for similar inspiration, be sure to take a look at our guide to the best caravans, where we round up the top models currently on the market. However, after seeing how much the prices had gone up, they settled on redoing the tourer they had instead, especially as they loved their caravan’s layout.
There was no working heating in the caravan, so they decided to have a combi boiler fitted. However, they noticed a leak around the window as the old heater was taken out, which led to the discovery of damp.
After carrying out some research, they discovered just how damaging damp could be to a caravan.
Initially, they tried vinyl wrap to recover the damage, but this proved impossible, so they settled on completely renovating their caravan instead, transforming it into a chic, modern space.
To start, the doors were taken off and any rotten wood was removed. After this, the wet wood was treated and the window gaskets were changed to combat the leak – these cost £100. The next stage was sanding – this was done lightly using 240 grit.
After washing everything down, the wood was then left to dry.
The interiors needed a new colour scheme too – having recently painted their hallway grey and white, the couple decided to replicate the scheme in their van. To do this, Kelly opted for Dulux Night Jewels 4 in eggshell, along with white Dulux eggshell.
After applying the first coat of primer, Kelly’s reaction was “what have I done?” However, by the time the second coat was applied, “it looked 100 times better”.
To get a finish she was happy with ultimately took two coats of primer and three coats of Dulux eggshell.
Any dents in the cupboards were filled in with Ronseal wood filler, as were the old handle holes. Sanding, priming and painting followed.
Spray was used on the door, to help make it durable when it was opened in the rain.
£21 was spent to wrap the worktops, while the sofas were professionally covered for £700.
£150 was spent on the paints in total, while £30 was spent on new handles for the doors, with another £130 going on the flooring.
Kelly already had the blinds to hand, but spent another £20 sorting LED lighting, while the tap was £40 and further decoration came to a further £30.
The new combi boiler and internal pump were installed for £1,500 but as Kelly noted, the whole project “would have been very inexpensive without the boiler and pump.”
The project only took five weeks to complete, with the majority of the work completed over the weekends, showing just what a difference can be made in a short space of time.
Commenting on the results, Kelly said: “Luckily it turned out amazing. I absolutely love it.”
“To go and get a decent upgrade we were looking at £14k so this definitely worked out cheaper. That was for a 2012 van – prices are crazy at the moment.”
“I’m very pleased that it looks so beautiful and we didn’t have to spend a fortune paying someone or buying newer!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “The popularity of caravanning has shot up since the pandemic, but buying a new or even second hand caravan can cost a fortune!”
“Well done to Kelly for taking the time to carefully and lovingly renovate her caravan.”
“She’s saved a fortune compared to getting builders in or buying new, and you can really see the dedication in her renovation: the space looks absolutely fantastic!”
If you’re thinking of carrying out your own renovation project, you should keep a careful eye on weights for safe, legal towing – our guide to caravan weights and measures will fill you in on all you need to know. You can also get more brilliant DIY ideas by heading over to our caravan DIY & maintenance section of our Back to Basics online event.
Future Publishing Limited, the publisher of practicalcaravan.com, provides the information in this article in good faith and makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgement in determining the appropriateness of the advice to their circumstances. Individuals should take appropriate safety precautions and be aware of the risk of electrocution when dealing with electrical products. To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither Future nor its employees or agents shall have any liability in connection with the use of this information. You should check that any van warranty will not be affected before proceeding with DIY projects.
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