From Drab to Fab...anyone got any ideas how to do this?

[Dowser]

Just bought this caravan and I feel like I have two options

1 leave it as it is...it's only a caravan ffs!

Or

2 style it up as I'm going to be spending a lot of my relaxation time there

Problem is, I just don't know where to start and I can't expect too much help from dh as he's firmly in category one and we are nearly at the end of extensive home alterations ( none of which he's had to do, I hasten to add and most of the work has been done during trips away. )

I only intend to do the lounge and main bedroom, so they will need to fit in with the beech coloured kitchen

I won't be going so far as to paint the walls. They are like a special textured finish anyway.
My home has all white walls and white or black furniture. I love it but can't recreate it in the caravan.
I don't know where to start with creams, yellows, beiges
I can sew. So can make curtains and hate the frilly peles and ugly sofa.
I don't want to spend a fortune on this but last night was thinking of binning the sofas and buying two new ones.
Has anyone ever done this.
This is my fifth van and I've always just left them as they were but this one looks really dated.

Frilly pelmets

Oops forgot photo

Oops forgot photo

Can you put blinds instead of curtains? Maybe reupholster instead of buying new sofas.

Thanks yourat, was thinking along those lines, I just don't know how to go about colours.
I'm not a fan of yellow and beige.
All the houses I've done have been based on a white theme so don't know how to tackle this one.

Why are you going for beige and yellow? With the wood you have for the units you could contrast it with teal maybe? Or rich jewel colours like turquoise or purple. Might give you more options?

Actually look at the colour of the doormat in the second photo....

You could paint the woodwork, use a small roller and a specialist primer. There are loads of YouTube videos. You can even get a spray gun for a perfect finish. Otherwise just recover the sofa and replace the curtains and carpet, even that will make a big difference. Colour wise I'd go for smoky blues and coralish orange with the beech

I wasn't going for yellow and beige, that's what's already there. I like the idea of teal

Has anyone recovered a sofa before?
I would need something hard wearing but washable. Probably not too light in case of an attack of the grandkids.

Would you match curtains to fabric of sofa or have a patterned sofa and plain curtains.
I think think thats what I would do. Are floral sofas in or out of fashion or do I go with what gives me joy.

( I can see why I've never tackled the other vans now!)

My hairdresser has just been and she thought it looked lovely. My husband was grinning and agreeing with her.
I just fancy putting my stamp on it.

Go with what gives you joy. You'll need flame retardant inter liner under whatever fabric you choose, though.

Buy upholstery weight fabric and make sure your sewing machine can handle heavy fabrics and thick seams before buying all the materials!

My personal choice would be plain fabric for the sofas but I lean towards block colours rather that floral prints. Plus its easy to change the look with a different coloured throw and cushions that way.

If for example you went with a charcoal cord or cotton sofa you could add a teal throw and scatter cushions with teal print curtains. If in a few years you decided you like lime green you can just change up the accessories and curtains and the sofa will still work.

My dm has reupholstered her caravan sofas a couple of times but she is an experienced seamstres and managed to buy a huge roll of fabric pretty cheaply. They are not flat cushions so I imagine it wouldn't be that easy to make the covers yourself. Plus with the cost of upholstery fabrics it would be very pricey, then the added cost of paying someone to make them up. You could just put a throw over the sofas.

Insread of recovering the sofas, i would go for new flooring/carpets and new curtains/blinds.

My dm has also repainted a caravan, she used vinyl silk as thought matt might peel. It does work but I personally preferred how it looked before she painted it.

Sorry, I misinterpreted your yellow and beige comment. Whatever you do make sure you update us!

Aw I think it looks lovely and caravanny. Unhelpful.

Thank you for some great ideas.
I rang a local upholsterer. He would charge somewhere in the region of £1500 and you bring your own fabric.

That's not going to happen.
Surprisingly my dh is practically on board. He fancies a nice comfy chair for himself so he's happy to go along with my idea of taking out the sofas and buying free standing ones. Then he's got room for his chair.
I fancy laminate flooring in main bedroom, hall , kitchen and living room.

It's going to be middle of next month before I see it again . When it will be sited on the new campsite.
If we do rip out the old sofas how do we dispose of them? I'm sure there's an answer but what a lot of problems I've given myself. Can't just leave them for the campsite owner to deal with.

Meanwhile we are going to have to spruce up our current van so it's ready to sell on....before we go away next week.
Aargh
I will keep you posted but it may take some time.

Isn't one of those sofas a sofa bed? Be a shame to rip that out. I'd paint the woodwork white and get white throws for the sofas.

I don't think they are sofa beds. I've only seen it once. I'll have to check.

I was thinking of grey sofas, teal curtains, grey laminate flooring. Teal and grey cushions. Silver lamps and a small black glass table and chairs.

The more I look at the pictures and the more I think of the work involved I wonder if I could learn to love it.
Then I think
No!

I did have some wonderful news.
The pitch it is going on is a bit gloomy and I love a nice sunny spot. We've been under the trees before and I swear down our van was 5 degrees colder than everyone else's.
I mentioned my concerns to the site owner and he's only going to develop a site just for me with views over the countryside that gets full on sun.
It won't happen till October now but I'm so thrilled I can actually be patient.

That's brilliant! It looks like my PIL's van, in which case the sofa under the big window pulls out.

You do have some grey in the sofa -

Swap the carpet for grey flooring

Google grey and cream/teal (i prefer lime green and purple) and look for curtains and cushions - there's loads really cheap

Mix and match so it looks lived in an comfy - throws blankets

Look at texture as well as color - waffle fabrics suedes chunky knits

Add colour in the kitchen - same themed mix and match - teal kettle and grey toaster -

Try and find huge prints - look at posters being framed it cheap and cheerful way to add colour