bummer.

i found a camper last night that would have been P-E-R-F-E-C-T.  it was a winnebago, sleeps 6, good-sized bathroom, good bones and in good solid condition,  and with a white stove that wasn't ugly for a 70's camper.  only about an hour away and $600, which i would have tried to get down to at least $500, that's my goal.  pay $500 and stay under $1000 for total renovation.

i've done my homework.  i have fabrics picked out, tile for the floor...

got chris on board with it and then..."SOLD." poo.

this....

 

could have looked similar to this... (I want a solid-colored door) and add some red in...


think white and duck egg blue paint...get rid of nasty curtains.



becomes this! polka dotted cushions, bright and airy!!!



with a nice side shelf for decor and storage. and sheer curtains like these....checkered floors, my adorable new vintage picnic basket. ah...can you see it?!

                             

kitchen before... new backsplash (not sure yet), bright, breezy curtain, white paint, i would exchange knobs on stove for vintage red ones, cutesy towels.  this had great counter space!!!



and the bathroom was big too, which i would probably convert the shower area into shelving and make the room more for storage.  most places we would camp would have restrooms and showers and i have a portable 5-gallon bucket with disposable bags and a toilet lid that i would rather use than deal with hook-ups etc.  think skirt around the sink, new curtains, paint and floor.  this is a great space.

this camper was only listed for a day before it sold.  things on KSL go fast, especially as refinishing vintage campers is growing in popularity.  i have some competition to keep up with...

day dreamin.'

obviously a totally random post, when i should be taking pictures of our new pad {er cleaning, so i can take pictures}...but i can't stop thinking about a few things.  it's like i have ADD right now and i'm blaming it all on becoming a renter again.  i'm {mostly} unpacked and decorated.  sure there are plenty of things to do {like make my kids lunch} or {do my scripture study}...but i have these ideas in my head and i have more "free" time right now to daydream?...

i have several short-term goals for the next year or two.  first of all is making a baby...currently halfway done with that process and going good =)  baby boy will arrive sometime mid-september. mommy feeling much better these days and actually not very pre-occupied with thoughts of his  arrival. baby #4 just kind of seems to blend into our lives more...sorry fella but it's just the truth.  we are non-the-less excited, but i got this.  i'm not crazy busy reading birth stories or "how to" books.  i've got pretty much everything i need and there's no nursery to prepare.  this little one will have his claim on a bassinet by my side of the bed and that's all the space he gets here in this little home.

goal #2- get out of debt.  we've been working on this for years, but i'm still not quitting.  after seeing some actual progress during the past 6 months i have new hope and am rededicated to living a lifestyle below our means so we can make this a reality.  by the next time we move i want to be in a different financial situation, free and clear from paying others for things we have.  i just imagine everything we could do and buy and how much we could save every month if we weren't paying more than a double-mortgage toward debt!  oh to be free and clear, free and clear.  you may hear me shouting from the mountaintops when it happens.  this months' motivation is that we will be student loan debt-free next month!  ahhhh....

next up?  i really and super seriously dreaming of a vintage camper restoration.  i forsee us renting for the next several years.  this girl needs a project and i have wanted one for a loooooog time, even before it was the *popular* thing.  when i was a little girl i loved all of the vintage blankets and baubles at my grandmothers' houses and the pretty things my mom had on her china hutch.  as a teenager i began a little obsession with vintage VW buses.  everytime my best friend and i saw one we had to take a picture to add to our little dream scrapbook.  i am still in love with VW buses and would absolutely love to have one some day but hubby does not share the same interest (not even a smidge) and i have decided that acquiring and restoring a vintage camper would be more of a middle ground and quite awesome for our family.

i used to think that people who used campers for camping were sissies.  then i moved out west. camping out west is just a different ballgame.  like, you know- grizzly bears running right through your campsight...yeah, not very fly with me and yes, that actually happened! 

i started scouring craigslist for campers several years ago and was actually quite shocked at the prices for even 70's yucky campers that were just complete eyesores!  enter in my new love for restoring vintage campers.  shasta, serro scotty, roadrunner....there are a ton more, but if it was made in the 60's i love it.  the 70's, well things started getting ugly. so, i really, really want a vintage camper.  i want to pay less than $1000 for one. 

*sidenote:* when brady was 2 years old we actually lived in a camper for 6 months...no joke!

i have narrowed down what i want and it's either aqua or red and white on the outside...

 and that picnic blanket is so beautiful and i love those patio lights as well...

(pictures from here)

i like the idea of having an awning, but not sure i'd ever get around to it and i certainly wouldn't pay to have one made, those buggers are super expensive!!! and i'm pretty sure we would never have a resident flamingo. (original post of this one pic was on a for sale site, but i got the pic from here).

the inside of this camper is almost exactly what i have envisioned!  i would paint the interior a crisp white though and seal it with lots of poly for durability.  the color scheme, polka dots, pennant banner, vintage fan, checked floor and robin's egg blue stove...oh my i love it so much!

 

(pictures from here)

i dream of a black and white checkered linoleum floor just like the above (i like that it has a texture to it) and red, aqua, blue and white accents. think vintage inspired independence day.  quilts and afghans, pennant banners, maybe some baubles {NO ruffles}. yup it's going to be pretty dang amazing. 

and it has to have a full - queen bed for me and chris, an overhead bunk and a table seating area that also transforms into a bed.  i would LOVE either a red, white or robin's egg blue/aqua stove.  none of those avocado green or icky brown stoves...eeek.  i know you can get stoves powder coated but it's also the look i'm going for.  in the 60's everything still had that retro rounded look and then for some reason in the 70's everything became brown or green and angular.

i love this row of hanging mugs over the sink...

last goal, maybe not for the next 2 years.  i'm thinking more like within the next 3-5 years...i want a farmhouse.  yes, i do.  with acreage (not TOO much) but enough to be secluded, have trees, a pond

space to run and play, chickens and children to roam...(gonna be a LOT of convincing to get chickens).  i want to have gardens and fruit trees and an awesome barn and tire swings and flowing water and starry nights.  oh that would be bliss.  i can't do the "see your neighbor" from your bathroom thing.  it doesn't work for me.  there is so much space out there, why do "they" insist on cramming everyone in like sardines.  what a waste.  

love this, but think shutters, thicker siding and chunkier columns on porch and mouldings around windows.  i like a blend between farmhouse and craftsman styles. i'm also not really into tin roofs, but i suppose they last a long time and it does sound cool when it rains...and look at those pendant lights on the porch!

 (pic from here)

am i the only one who can see the amazing potential of this place?!

(pic from here)

or this one? 

 

these places are just going to become dust if no one comes along and restores them. they just don't make houses like this anymore.  i mean, actually it makes me really mad the kind of cheap, builder's grade, slapped together houses that are springing up everywhere.  it's a slap in the face to real craftsmen.

i's sure chris thinks i'm absolutely crazy and he might never, ever concede to an undertaking like these...he almost couldn't fathom the remodel that we did on our 1970's house in IF, but look how that turned out!

a place like this one has a different look with a color scheme i really like.  i'm not sure if i would want color though as i think i lean more towards traditional white and brick...

look at how this 106-year old dilapitated farmhouse was saved and restored back to its' rightful glory!

it had sat vacant for 25 years, and that was after it had been split into 6 different apartment units...

(i definitely would have removed that weird little window that's off from everything else...kind of throws things for me, but what an amazing job!)