Jet van der Graaf (in her daily life she’s a designer at a magazine) has a dream: traveling the world in an old camper with her boyfriend and her two sons. The nineties camper van has been purchased and work continues day and night to pimp the in- and the outside. Jet shares her tips, doubts, decisions and moments of bliss with us.
Honey… it looks like Dynasty in here!
Yep, that’s the first thing that came to mind when I saw our internal spa… (yes, we do have a shower and a toilet on board!). It’s this kind of marbled pattern which reminds me of the glamorous lifestyle of Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter, including ‘dressing room’ lamp. It made me want to dig out some huge shoulder pads to add to my travel outfits…
Luckily we see our tiny bathroom as a fun challenge, we can make it much nicer. Let’s get out the adhesive foil! We were aiming for some nice Piet Hein Eek-esk walls (Piet Hein Eek is a Dutch designer famous for his scrap wood furniture). We felt a more beachy, and less bitchy, vibe would suit our happy trails better.
Sticking the stuff on was supposed to be easy as pie. Get a bucket of soapy water and a squeegee and Bob’s your uncle, right? Well, as I’ve mentioned before… I have some patience issues… When I tried it everything just stuck to everything higgledy-piggledy. Luckily my guardian angel Michiel came to my rescue. In less than an hour he managed to get our little bathroom plastered tip-top. Turned out that putting up the towel hooks was more my cup of tea, and after adding a nice crisp blue shower curtain Dynasty was a thing of the past!
While we’re on a roll, we really get going, yes you can… The Orla Kiely wall paper has arrived and the last layer of white lacquer has been applied. Suddenly everything is moving really quickly and within a week the end result is starting to shine through…. wow… it’s going to be so cool!
At the eleventh hour we remember that we have some blackboard paint left over from a wall in our living room and it would be perfect for the inside of the camper’s door.
Now that our interior is coming together bit by bit, it’s time to start thinking of the outside, as so far it’s very ‘unsexy’! I have stocked up on bottles of sticker remover and my hair dryer is at the ready, because the twenty year old original Hymer stickers are still on it. The doors of the cabin and the back of the camper will get their very own No-Mad Family-logo and the first designs are popping up on my computer screen… decisions, decisions… Are we going to use wrapping foil or sand down and paint? But first let’s go on our trial & error weekend. The sun is shining, it’s about time to sip wine & smell the campfire!
A summery salute,
Jet
