The Curtains

Open & Shut Case

I mentioned before that Gillians mum had kindly upholstered the foam cushions, and was also doing the curtains.

They are now finished, so put them up in the van today so could check they were all ok. Just a couple of hems to be fixed, then will take them down and wash/iron and store them while still working on the van.

So first some pics of them open.

And a few with them shut, will hang better once ironed.

Also got one made just to cover up the front of the wardrobe.

The more observant viewers of this blog will notice a couple of cushions there too, 1 big and 1 small. Still got another set to come, they are just getting covers made for them too.

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The Cupboard

Overheads going up

As I mentioned in my last post, I made a start on the overhead storage cupboard which I am building. It's not finished yet, but wanted to update the blog with my progress, so here it is.

I started by looking online at various methods of doing this, and using pics I found to replicate it. It's a simple frame, but obviously needs to be secure and solid enough to support what I am going to use the storage for. This will be mainly for food, plates etc so nothing to heavy.

Luckily I had the air-con duct metal to attach to for the roof, and the ply on the side so had a good solid start.

With the 3 sides attached securely, it was just a case of adding in the sides first of all.

Then I just used another couple of bits of wood (after some slight changing of previous bits) to make the end panel frames.

Then it was just a case of putting in the front bottom strut, and I decided to put in an additional middle supports so I could make this into 2 separate storage cupboards.

And that is where I am up to just now, I've been to B&Q and bought a couple of hardboard off-cuts to use for the shelf, and will just use ply to panel the sides/back of the inside.

Will also ply the outside of the sides, and probably just put some more Veltrim on to finish it off. Not decided on what to do for the front yet, probably put a pine slat surround on it (as got some left over from the bed) and hinge a couple of hardboard doors on... it's work in progress anyway!

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The Progress 5

5 Month Review

And yet another month has passed with not much been done. Mainly due to the poor weather/light up here, me working a fair bit and saving for a holiday.

So it will be another quiet month with not much getting done am afraid, so that means April will be a busy one as I try to get it all finished for the first weekend in May!

What has been done is that the van passed it's MOT with no issues at all.

The upholstery of the foam cushions has been finished by Gillians mum, I've put up some wire for the curtains (which are nearly finished too).

I made a panel to cover the skylight at night time and put some edging trim round the shower doorway.

I will be ordering more trim to go round the rest, and a few other bits.

Also made a start to the overhead storage unit above the kitchen today, this will hopefully be finished soon and will upload the details of that when I can.

Again thanks for reading folks, nearly 6000 views on the blog... :-)

The Trim

Where two ends meet

I wanted a cheap and cheerful way to cover up the edges on the partition wall, so ordered a few bits of PVC trim from eBay and would just screw these on to the walls.

I got black to go round the outside of the doorway, but will probably order some white to go round a couple of inside edges.

Anyway, I will be getting some black screws to put these up, don't like the look of it with the brass coloured one.

Still it looks a lot better than the rough edges, will probably get some more to go round the wardrobe edges as well.

I've still to fix the shower curtain rail too, am not happy the way it sits at the moment as you can see in the above photo!

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The Sunlight

Light to Dark

I needed a cheap but effective way to close up the rooflight for when it was sleepy head time.

Due to the size of it, approx 600 x 600mm, to buy a proper blind for it would be expensive, so I decided to craft together something myself.

I ordered 2 bits of aluminium U channel on eBay, and would use these as runners attached to the roof, and then just slot a piece of veltrim covered ply when needed.

To attach them to the roof, I needed to drill a couple of bigger holes on one side, and then a smaller screw hole on the other.

I then just screwed these into the roof, measuring the gap so the plywood could easily slide in and out as required.

Then I just covered the ply in the veltrim, and a nice and simple way to cover it up.. I will add a handle on to it so I can slide it in and out easier.

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The Wire

Hanging around

Now that the foam cushions have been completed, the next part of the interior finishings was the curtains.

Gillians mum has kindly offered to make these too, I ordered the material at the same time as the other fabric and from the same supplier.

I was going to put up proper curtain rails, but for simplicity and cheapness, I decided just to use curtain wire, as I could put it at the top and bottom of the windows and this would help block out the light a bit better.

So this was a simple enough job, just put some hooks into the walls though I may need to put bigger ones in depending on if they hold the weight ok.

So I am doing one pair of curtains on the drivers side, along the back of the sofa/bed. 

Another pair will go on the passenger side, at the back of the kitchen unit with one more across the sliding door but that will be attached by velcro at the bottom due to the door movement.

I am also going to put one across the cab at the back of the drivers seats, I may eventually board this up but for simplicity a curtain will do for now.

So as you can see on the photos below, the curtains will hopefully hang well between the 2 wires

Am also just putting a curtain across the front of the wardrobe, though might put a proper door on it one day.


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The Upholster

Covered Up

As I mentioned a while back, I had salvaged some foam cushions from an old caravan, which I stripped the old fabric off and cut a couple of bits to form the L shape for the sofa/bed.

Although I have learnt a lot of new skills while doing this build, I wasn't about to become a seamstress and learn how to use a sewing machine etc.

Thankfully, Gillians mum has a sewing machine and is pretty good with that kind of thing, so over the last couple of months has been working away on re-upholstering them.

I got some great material for a bargain price from IWantFabric.com, which is a good heavyweight material so should be long lasting.

So not much else to say about them, apart from show you some photos... there are still black buttons to go on the top cushions to pull the fabric in a bit, these will be done tomorrow.

Firstly, some photos of the L shape sofa

And then with the bed pulled out and the cushions down.

Am delighted with the way they have turned out, I've also got a few cushions to be covered and the curtain fabric is here for the curtains which will be done soon too.

*EDIT*

Buttons now been added, they give it a much better finished look, am well happy with them :)

Link to Photo Album