Glamping!

Finding and Glamping the A-Frame!

A-hoy-hoy and welcome back!! Are you ready? Are you sure? Okay! Get ready!! For this shall be the first of many glamping posts!!!! That’s right, glamping!!!! Shh, my husband hates that word and refuses to acknowledge it. But it’s pretty much what we did!! Later on, I will create posts about our bus conversion!! But, first things, first! Glamping up the A-frame! 

This adventure started with one word: curtains. Well, it actually started with a good friend of mine purchasing a camper and asking me to sew curtains. Curtains, you say? Okay. We both agreed that we would look at the Pinterest to get ideas on a color scheme for her camper. That there, my friends, was the beginning of the end for me. Once I logged on and saw the miraculous world of Glamping and fixing up old campers, I knew I had to jump in. After getting lectured by the hubby that he wanted to buy a camper years ago (sure, sure babe – but, no, really he did) he was on board, and with gusto, might I add. The man was a camper researching machine and we soon found ourselves going from Rv show to RV shows. By the way, I recommend going just to meet the super friendly and awesome people you will encounter there!! 

Pop-ups, teardrops, A-frames, high-lows, and hybrids were all thoroughly researched. Hubby wanted something with walls; I was really into a pop-up!! Hubby had his sites set on an A-frame. I must admit, they were pretty cool, but I was holding firm on my pop-up! One RV show was fun but only showcased the large and in charge (and OMG expensive) campers and RVs – so that was a big nope. The second show was located near a RV museum – yes, please! That was so much fun!! Interesting to see the evolution of the camper and RV from a plain canvas tarp placed on the ground to the canned ham (my favorites) to the campers and RV we know and love today. They also had RVs and campers for sale, but alas, the pop-ups and even teardrops they had were either too new or too expensive to renovate. 

Enter a camper and RV dealership and sweet Mik. I, of course, rammed my way into speaking first and stated that we were interested in pop-ups; which he showed us. One was nice and then the other was definitely a “fixer-upper”. Funny side note: After standing in the camper for a solid minute, the three of us looked at each other with confusion on our faces as we asked ourselves, “is that buzzing/beeping coming from this camper?” Yes, yes it was, by the way. At this point, Hubby looked to Mik and said, “Do you happen to have any A-frames?”.

CUT SCENE: The Heavens opened and a chorus of angels began to sing as Mik’s face turned from normal to awed. He stated in an amazed tone, “You’re not going to believe this, but we just got one in yesterday. A-frames don’t last but a week, if that and a lot of the guys here are eye-balling her to purchase her.” Well, looky that! 

The minute we saw her, we fell in love with the sweet, little A-frame. It had the hard walls that Hubby wanted and the big, open windows that I wanted; the perfect compromise! Aaaand just like that we got her. Yeah, we were a little shell shocked at the purchase too. LOL. But she was beautiful and perfect! Apparently the stars had aligned and God had willed it, for this A-frame was meant to be ours. I mean, how can you ignore that? You can’t! 

We Got It, Now What???

Yes, now is the organizing part of the glamping. Which I find to be just as much fun, if not more fun than the renovation itself!!! I love to organize things… it’s my Type A. Some people are more computer inclined, while some us love our notebooks. LOL. I, of course, am part of the latter group. However, I do like to record what we have spent on the computer (only because it adds everything up for you!). Get your notebook or computer program and get ready! I research and compare prices on the internet for products that you will need to get this renovation done! It was nice to have the Hubby helping, because I would bounce ideas and prices off of him. And of course on the weekends, I went to the physical stores to take pics and see what products they had on their shelves (as opposed to what the website said they had). As I researched various glamping projects on the Internet, I took notes in my notebook to remember what worked and did not work for them. As you can tell from this photo, I also took my research and placed them into folders. When renovating, I typically follow this format:

• Clean
• Flooring
• Paint cabinets/any wood
• New fabrics
• New or painted hardware

If you think I missed something let me know! As I went through each stage of the renovation, I would record what products I was wanting to use, where to find the products, and the differences in cost from store to store. I also researched each product I was interested in using customer reviews and asking around. I looked for coupons or sales, and when I was finally ready, I went out and purchased my items. On this post, I am simply going to focus on the products I bought. In other posts, I will explain how I used them! 

Cleaning – I simply went to the Dollar Store and purchased cleaner and degreaser to make sure all surfaces were spick and span! Especially with us putting in new flooring and painting cabinets. Whatever cleaning products you prefer, use them! 

Flooring – We went with a peel and stick flooring that mimicked the look of hardwood in weathered gray. The only place I could find that specific color of peel and stick was at Lowes. But that might have changed bow by now. 

Painting the cabinet and/or any wood – I will never use anything other than this product ever again. Ever. For real. I have used this stuff on a bookshelf, the cabinet in the bathroom and now the cabinets in the A-Frame. Easy to use, and, I think, fool-proof. Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations. And I did a TON of research on this. I LOVE this stuff!! So easy to use!! Get the kit, and then ask the person at the store to tint it to the color you would like. Easy cheesy! 

Fabrics – Okay. You will soon learn from some of my other posts, but I am also a sewer (okay, I have to tell you that the hubby looked this word up. It is a word, but another word I could have used was sewist – fancy). I’m not magical or anything, but I get the job done and I really enjoy it. Sewing calms my nerves (most of the time). LOL. Yes, there are brick and mortar fabric locations. However, I have a confession to make. I typically get most of my fabric from an online vendor. I love them. I love their fabric. However, they are expensive. Like, very expensive. So, I save up my money and ask for gift cards when I know there is a bigger project that I want to do. But, go to your go-to fabric place, if you want to make new curtains and cushions. If you don’t you can skip this part. 

Painting hardware – I kept the original hardware on the cabinets, but decided to paint them. I used a regular spray paint (for plastic or metal) and then used a spray on clear coat to protect them. Again, I researched the pooh out of “how to paint hardware” to see if it could or should be done, and what procedures to use!   

That’s it for now! Just introducing you to the wonderful world of glamping and trailer purchasing and the steps I take to organize myself! Look for other posts on how I painted, sewed, and placed the new flooring! Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a great day!!

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