since I have a follower...

I notice I have a few people following and or commenting on my blog. I thought I'd better get bloggin! I don't have any pictures to post of the latest and greatest restorations but I promise to get some soon. The picture with this post is a fabric sample called "Tiki Native" from MelinaMade which we are using an inspiration for colors for the motorhome.

I found this fab fabric site from the wondrous mid-century resource, Atomic Ranch This magazine is a great resource for articles and companies specializing in vintage & vintage style items, such as lighting, fabric, furnishings etc. Although focussed on houses, they sometimes profile trailers and motorhome items, & did an article on the fabulous Design Within Reach airstream. It can offer some inspiration for decorating.

Let's start from the outside in. Well there is good news and bad news on the exterior. The good news is that it is all rust proof gel coat fiber glass. The bad news is it takes a lot of elbow grease to shine her up. It is a multi-stage process of cutting compound, buffing, cleaning waxing,& yet more buffing. On a 27 foot motorhome that is a lot of work and the high roof makes it a little more interesting! In fact we stopped this weekend as the hail started lest we get hit by lightening! She is starting to really shine! We've stripped most of the chrome items off for a thorough cleaning. A word to the wise, the chrome trim strips along the side are fastened with metal clips that go through the fiberglass and are a major source of hidden leaks! We sealed the holes from the inside but we still had leaks so we caulked the edge of the trim on the outside as well.

There has been several developments in the restoration. We have completely pulled out the front walls (by what will be the dinette and then across at the couch area). We pulled out all the area underneath the dash board and all of the ceiling tiles. We saved the walls in the kitchenette and closet. We replaced all the insulation in the walls and ceiling with foil insulation, which looks like silver bubble wrap, 2 layers deep. This insulation is easy to work with and I think will be less appetizing to mice.

Our motorhome has lovely wood veneer walls. We replaced the water damaged one with new birch veneer sheets. I have started the physically demanding job of scraping all of the varnish off of the walls we are keeping so we can stain the new and old walls the same color. We also found a great solution for ceiling tiles in white wood panels that came in a finished embossed pattern. We then replaced the broken plastic joiners with lovely aluminum.

We will be attempting to use interlocking foam floor mats (like what you would see in weight room) to 're-carpet' the front driver/passenger area. The front area still needs insulation and walls. Most importantly we need 2 captain swivel chairs with built in shoulder belts. I am investigating a lead on a motorhome 'pick your part' yard to hopefully find these, and perhaps other items.

Every window, except the windshield and back window, have been pulled out, had the wood frame rebuilt around them and then resealed and screwed back in. We will get the windshield and back window done professionally.

I will post later with all the names of the items I have used to creatively fix up Myrtle.