Did I tell you that Ben and I have stopped in Dubbo for a while?

We’ve decided that we’ll stay here for a couple of months, find some work, some accomodation and buffer up the kitty a little bit.

Speaking of work… we’ve just bought a drone! Ben’s learning to fly it, and with the help of our good friend (a videographer) we’ll get a couple of jobs to get us started and see what we can pick up.

This was literally our first photo:

Yep. :-O

So aaaanyway… the reason we want to stop is so that we can

1. get some money back in the bank, and
2. save up to buy a caravan.

I was getting a bit disillusioned about how on earth we’re going to afford the caravan that we want (which is ever changing, BTW) but whatever caravan I decide is the winner, it’s in the vicinity of $45k-$69k. Whaaat!

That made me seriously start looking at buying an older caravan and renovating.

I’m totally nervous about that idea. So I’ve started looking for other caravan renovations here in Australia. (I can find HEAPS in the US, but I need some reassurance that it’s done here in Australia.)

Love looking at caravan renovations? We’ve got more over on our Caravan Renovations page.

Since I was looking them all up anyway, I thought I’d document them all here for you as well. So here they are:

The Stylist Splash

From a dark and dreary (and unliveable) caravan to a light, airy and comfortable beachside holiday house.

This renovation is by Yvette, check out all the photos and story on her website, The Stylist Splash.

Cedar & Suede

Michael and Carlene from Cedar+Suede can usually be found renovating homes and consulting on home interiors. But in their spare time (!) they’ve also done a fabulous job of renovating an old caravan… and making it look stylish and functional. Go on over and have a look at their site to see all the pictures and find out all the details. Cedar+Suede

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Grandish Designs

Before Grandish Designs got a hold of this tired caravan from the early 70’s, it was home to a man travelling around Australia following work. It appears to have been functional, but definitely not stylish, and it doesn’t look particularly comfortable to me either.

 But Belinda & Simon were able to turn this 16ft caravan into a little home on wheels for them and their family. You can see all the photos and details of the renovation on their website: Grandish Designs.

Organising The Four Of Us

Leanne and her family were going on a holiday with the grandparents. Rather than having everyone squash up into one caravan, Leanne and her husband decided to buy one of their own and renovate it.

Even though they were under time constraints, look at what they managed to achieve! They’ve lightened up the space, added bunks for their boys and by sticking with a black and white theme it looks uncluttered yet relaxing. Have a look at the photos on their website www.organisingthefourofus.com to see what the other end of the caravan looks like, and the cool exterior paint job.

Dave & Charlotte

Dave & Charlotte are wedding photographers from Western Australia, and they’ve shared their own vintage caravan renovation. It looks like they’ve made minimal changes and just spruced the whole thing up… a lot. See all the pictures over at Dave & Charlotte

Online Help for Caravan Renovations

While I’ve been able to find some general information on renovating caravans, there’s not heaps of info out there. These couple of articles are helpful, and will hopefully start you on the right path to asking the right questions of the people who actually know the answers. (i.e. not me).

• How to restore an old caravan
• Vintage Caravan Rebuild – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

As I said at the beginning, I’m nervous about this whole process, so I’ll be getting all the help I can find! (And I’ll share it with you) But so far, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information available online for the Australian market.

Caravanning Forums

The best place I’ve found so far is caravanning forums. For example, the Caravaners Forum has a whole section dedicated to caravan renovation projects. I gotta say though, it’s a bit of a drag having to trawl through pages and pages of people talking about the tiniest details (and the weather :-/) in order to get to some relevant information.

But on these forums you’ll find people who are actually doing the work, and then generously sharing their progress and the problems they encounter. Here’s an example of a renovation of a 23ft Viscount.

Have you done a caravan renovation? Please share with us all in the comments below!