Creative Holidaymaker Buys Caravan For £750 - And Transforms It For Under £200
- Vicky Hibberd, 25, booked a camping holiday in Somerset and Cornwall
- Five days before, she found a caravan on Facebook Marketplace for £750
- She transformed it just in time for £198 using Frenchic, B&M and The Range
If you’ve been undecided for what to do for your holiday this summer given the complications of the pandemic, take a leaf out of this savvy woman’s book.
Vicky Hibberd, 25, a primary school teacher from Stoke on Trent, managed to snap up a bargain caravan from Facebook Marketplace for £750, and set about transforming it herself using Frenchic paints and accessories from B&M and The Range.
Her caravan now looks as good as new - and Vicky managed to totally transform it in just five days for just £198.
Vicky told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "Me and my fiancé are long term campers, and we’ve been wanting an old caravan or camper van for a long time, but all of the ones I’d been seeing were full of damp.
"We had a camping holiday booked for two weeks - a week in Somerset and a week in Newquay, Cornwall.
"The Sunday before we were planning to go away, my mum sent me the link to this caravan on Facebook Marketplace.
"We went to have a look and it was solid: a 1995 ABI two-berth little caravan for a bargain of £750!
"For its age, it was quite clean - we picked it up on Sunday and we were going away the following Saturday - so I had five days to put my stamp on it.
"Luckily, everything worked so it was just a case of making it look nice and homely. My family kept telling me not to paint it, saying that I didn’t have enough time and wouldn’t get finished before our holiday on Saturday, but I did it anyway!
"Luckily, everyone loved it and I proved them wrong. I couldn’t have done it without my fiancé Marcus, best friend Sam and mum and dad.
“I used two tins of Frenchic Swanky Pants, which cost £18 each, and one tin of Frenchic Dazzle Me for £18.
“I bought new handles from Amazon for £25 for 20.
“The accessories are from B&M and The Range and cost around £80 - I bought throws for the seats, cushions and fake plants. I also bought a carpet off-cut for £19 from Carpetright.
“Transforming the caravan cost £198 in total.
"First I gave it a good clean using sugar soap, then I soaked off the wallpaper that was on the cupboard doors.
"I gave everywhere a light sand, giving it a key for the paint to stick to, then sugar soaped again to remove any sanding residue.
"I painted the ceiling first using the Dazzle Me White - that needed a lot of coats to cover the beige colour, I think about five.
"Then I painted the wood, cupboards and cupboard doors using the Swanky Pants Grey.
"I started using a colour called Duckling but it was too blue so I changed it to grey.
"This particular paint needs three weeks to fully cure and go hard - but obviously I didn’t have that long, so I’ve just been really careful whilst we’ve been away."
Vicky is thrilled with her caravan’s stylish transformation, and found that the project kept her mind off the stresses of the lockdown.
"I am absolutely over the moon with it. It’s not perfect, I’ve still got some bits and bobs to do, like recovering the seats and putting in new curtains, but I’m currently on holiday in our little home from home and it’s fabulous!
"Fletcher, our dog, loves it too! No more soggy holidays in a tent - we’ve had our fair share of those!
“My main tips would be to find a solid caravan - be careful of damp.
"Join Frenchic pages on Facebook and Instagram - there are so many wonderful projects that people have done and great tips shared all of the time
"Don’t be disheartened by the first coat - it will look awful but keep powering through!
"I was able to collect my paint from my local stockist following social distancing rules - she lives very close to me so that was lucky.
"Obviously Amazon Prime is a godsend - with the click of a button things just arrive!
"Over the lockdown period, I’ve been experimenting with different up-cycling projects (furniture, chimney pots, an old Singer sewing table) and it really helped me keep my mind busy and occupied in the strange times that we’ve all been through.
"I’ve never been creative, but I used the lockdown period to give something new a go - little did I know it would lead to a full caravan makeover!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Holidaying this year certainly isn’t straightforward, but Vicky’s positive, go-getting attitude means she’s got a gorgeous caravan to use for her camping trip - all for a bargain price!
“There are some amazing bargains to be found on Facebook Marketplace - and you really don’t need to be a pro at DIY to make them look better. Some paint and some affordable accessories, as Vicky proves, can go a long way!"
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