Before & After: A Terribly Cute Vintage Trailer Makeover
How cute is that little guy? My goodness! Adorable on the outside, but leaky and damaged on the inside, this trailer needed some upgrades to make it safer. While making some of the less sexy fixes (apologies to all those window sealing fans out there) Meredith took the opportunity to give the space a style boost as well.
From Meredith: My husband and I decided to buy a vintage trailer and after a brief search, we purchased a 1976 Boler trailer. A lot of the big things were still in excellent condition. The frame was good and the fiberglass shell had almost no cracks in it. But the inside was extremely dated and as we found out after the first time it rained, we had major leaks in almost all of the windows and the roof vents.
We removed the old heater, fridge and cooktop as we did not want any sources of carbon monoxide inside the trailer. We rewired the whole thing, painted it and installed new cabinet doors (ones that didn’t need to be held closed with bungee cords!). I also sewed all new cushion covers and custom roman shades with black-out lining.
We completed most of the work in about four months and spent around $2 000 on materials. We did have some help from a friend who is an electrician for the wiring. He also owns a Boler and was an amazing resource!
The biggest setback was realizing all the windows leaked. The large end windows had to be resealed professionally at an auto-glass shop, but the the side windows we did ourselves. We had to drill out all of the rivets, re-seal and re-rivet them back into place. That took a while!
I love everything about the after! The light in this trailer is amazing. Lots of windows and the white walls means it just glows during the day. The fabric is sturdy and just the right color for hiding dirt (we are camping after all) and it is so nice to sleep off the ground when you are camping, especially in a rainstorm. I wouldn’t do anything differently!
Meredith’s words of wisdom: Before you buy one of these trailers, make sure the frame and the shell are in good shape. Everything else can be fixed for a reasonable cost, but those two are the big-ticket items and will majorly cost you if they need extensive repairs.
Thank you, Meredith! You can see this project and more on Meredith’s blog Mockingbird Interiors.