Hey Everyone! Yesterday was a wonderful first day and Anthro. I got to organize my very own art room, get acquainted with the lovely ladies who work there, and get the run down on everything I will be in charge of as the DC (Display Coordinator). It was a fun filled first day and I am so excited about this opportunity! Now, I just have to get used to that 5:00 am wake up call!
To help me out during this transitional time, I am having a fabulous guest over to keep your interest! Last week, a lovely lady left a comment and mentioned that she lived in a restored airstream. I immediately clicked over to read her blog and was instantly smitten by the lifestyle her and her husband are living. So, today Tiffany is going to take us through the renovations of her vintage airstream (which they’ve named Eddie) and tell us a little bit about living in 175 square feet!
Hello! I’m Tiffany from wandering airstream and I am so happy to be here with Kara today!
We love all of the inspiration that Kara & Tim put out there for everyone… and as a Southern girl,
I gotta say, she had me at the mason jar. Serious genius at work on that chandelier.
And that’s just one of the many things that I enjoy about Kara and her blog.
So thank you so much for asking me to guest blog and share a little about eddie & our life on the road.
Today I’m sharing before & after photos of eddie, our little painted Airstream,
and what the renovation process was like. When you buy a vintage trailer that isn’t restored you don’t always know for sure what you are buying into. This was the case with eddie. We knew that overall the Airstream was in good shape, the shell was not dented or with any major default and the inside, as seen in the (one) interior before picture, was in decent shape.
Before (inside)
Before (outside)
As we looked at vintage Airstreams we saw a lot that were nothing short of scary when you stepped inside them. So, we knew a pretty good thing when we saw it and jumped on it.
This is not to say that we didn’t have some surprises along the way, we did, and this is something that I don’t think you can avoid if it’s an original trailer 20-40 years old.
First up were obvious things like the big cut out job someone had done around the back rear light. (see below)
Many Airstream models have bathroom plumbing that is very hard to get to and therefor very hard to work on. Someone along the way had taken a short cut with eddie and chopped up the rear corner and then put it back together with massive amounts of caulk and no thoughts to aesthetics. It was a multi step process to restore but now you can barely tell the difference.
The paint job was probably original, cream is one of the main colors of painted Airstreams.
However, it was dull and in need of a pick me up and same with the forest green trim
that wasn’t shouting out at us either.
We did all of the prep work for the paint job but not having a garage or building to do the actual painting meant sourcing this job out. We went with an all over bright white that we love.
Before
After
Other projects on the exterior included new tires, having the old rusted tire rims professionally sandblasted & powder coated. We highly recommend powder coating for any of your “accessory” items, it gives them a high gloss finish and is a great way to restore vintage metal versus tossing it and replacing with new.. we also had the entire awning mechanism powder coated, as well as the letters spelling out Argosy (the model of Airstream).
Things you can’t see in the pictures that were overhauled were many… the entire plumbing system and water lines had to be replaced, as did the gas lines, the sub floor had to be replaced, a new water tank was installed, new gas tanks, multiple cables, the drainage system, and more that I am sure I’m forgetting.
The interior was a major overhaul, while at the same time trying to maintain as much of the original as we could. We, and especially me, love vintage and didn’t want it to look new, instead wanting a “freshened” up 1973 look. This meant keeping all of the faux wood cabinetry ( I love faux bois, so this thrilled me.. this is faux bois before that was even a thing!).
Some of the wood was paper thin and water damaged so we did replace some panels, like where the buffalo painting is and the ends of Seans bed. The interior of the closets were long gone and was another place we put in new hardwood, stained to match the original as closely as we could.
Interior Before
You can see in the before picture that more chopping had been done to two of the wood walls, we tried to source this faux paneling, but to no avail, so we went with what we thought looked as if it could-have-been original and this was aluminum. Airstreams have a lot of aluminum (obviously!) and eddie had aluminum trim running all throughout so it was a natural fit.
Speaking of aluminum, when it comes to eddie specifically, the number one question we get is… “Why did you paint your Airstream?”
Painted Airstreams are rare, they were only made for 7 years during the 70’s, so a lot of people haven’t seen one.. thus the question. The big difference with an Argosy is the two end “heads” of the trailer are made of steel. Silver Airstreams are all aluminum. This makes the Argosy tougher, able to withstand more, and also makes them heavier. So it isn’t a silver airstream underneath the paint, think steel + aluminum combo instead.
Before I leave the subject of painting, we had to paint the entire interior at least five times, it had 35+ years of yellowing and it took many a coat to erase that (after cleaning all the walls with vinegar & water).
The floors were another project, whatever had been in originally was gone, with just a cheap piece of linoleum resting on the sub floor, we rubberized the base floor, and laid down a faux western cedar that complimented the cabinetry without overdoing it.
The beds were original and we said no thank you! on keeping those, but used them as a template to have new cushions made. The hubby also made my bed into more of a day bed, this is one of the only things we did that completely changed how it would have been originally. It is also one of the best things we did and will do in future models that we renovate.
Before (This actual picture is not from Tiffany’s Airstream- but it is very similar to what was there before the couple gave the space an overhaul.)
After
The detail stuff was fun to pick out & get moving on, especially after much sweat labor had been done. Things like the butcher block countertop, a deep sink with a heavy duty full size faucet, powder coating the stove in strawberry pink (also the color of the Argosy letters on the exterior) new curtains that I designed and then had sewn.
A very dear friend painted us this buffalo picture. We absolutely love it and couldn’t imagine not having it with us. So, we took a picture of the original and had it sized to fit the side of our cabinet perfectly. There is not a lot of wall space for art in an airstream, so this was the perfect solution.
Some of the renovations were just fun and figuring out what we wanted and some was fun to pick out and then Sean had to make it into a reality for us. He is 100% the mastermind behind all of the work that went into making eddie the restored beauty that we have today. He does all carpentry, electrical, plumbing, you name it.. that was his half of our business prior to us taking off to travel full-time and after renovating our Airstream, he is turning these skills over to full-time vintage travel trailer restoration. I helped wherever and whenever I could, I am not handy like he is when it comes to skill saws, plumbing and the like, but I can paint, clean, be a helper at the ready, and envision what to do with the trailer and then lay it out so Sean can mastermind it. So think vision + skill and you have us.
We picked an Airstream because I had grown up with and around them, and liked the iconic nature of them. There is also a feeling of being part of a group bigger than you, a group of travelers that have been on the road in Airstreams for many years before and for many years to come.
We picked an Argosy because they are the only vintage (pre-1980’s) that have panoramic windows across the front. We like how this window brings the outside in with you, and makes our little space seem much bigger than it is.
I have tried to cover lots about the process of buying & restoring a vintage trailer and I hope it gives you a picture of what this entails. It was a big job, but totally worth it! We love eddie, and every time I look at how it all turned out I am so excited that it’s ours. If I didn’t answer something about renovating or the before & after that you are curious about, pop over to www.wanderingairstream.com and give us a shout!
Thanks for this! Just in time for my yearly flare-up of rv envy.
What a fantastic project! Thanks for sharing. We are the proud owners of a 1979 31′ center bath twin Argosy which we bought new in 1979. We traveled extensively when our daughters were pre-teens, but haven’t in the last eight years. Now that we’re empty nesters, we are ready to hit the road again, but the Argosy needs some TLC first. Your article has given us the motivation we needed to get going with needed repairs and updating and back on the road again. Thanks!