Over the course of our project, the design of the interior evolved as we came up with new ideas. During this process, Lou tracked down suppliers of various pieces so we had them ready. One example is the wallpaper.
As our plan moved towards giving the interior an art deco feel, Lou wanted wallpaper that reflected this influence, and it took two years to source a pattern that fitted the bill. She wanted a fan pattern, small enough to look right in the confines of the caravan, and not too garish in colour. Having found one and imported it from France, she then found another, also in France. This was bought too, and would be used in the toilet compartment.
Lou had discovered a company who will print any design onto material and she came up with the idea for curtains with a pattern incorporating dancing couples and music staves. We dance lindy hop so the original idea was based on this, but as the art deco theme developed, the figures changed to suit. After a couple of false starts that didn't produce the required result, my daughter, Hannah, was called in. Lou already had some images to base it on, and an hour at the computer with photoshop resulted in a roughed out version depicting a couple dancing, with staves swirling around them. The image of the dancers was reversed to give some variety in the pattern, and the colour scheme was chosen to complement other details in the caravan such as the toilet window.
In the weeks before our trip to France, Lou spent many hours at the sewing machine, making curtains from the roll of custom printed material. She also bought a pair of curtains from a charity shop, to cut up and use as lining. It was difficult for her to calculate the required drop until the curtain track was fitted, and this was one of the last things to go in, so our inaugural trip was with unfinished curtains.
The curtain track is a Fineline product, made from aluminium, and in an antique brass finish. We needed a bendable track to cope with the corner windows, and plastic tracks are all white, which just wouldn't look right. We bought a five metre track which came with brackets, gliders, two ends, and a joiner as the track is delivered in two 2.5m sections. I cut 9 inches from each section for the kitchen and toilet corner windows, and the remainder of the track was fitted in a continuous run from one side window, across the front and over the window on the other side .
The track is also supplied with a "bending tool"; actually a couple of strips of plastic, but when inserted into the runners of the track, they prevent the runners from crushing when bent. I bent the track over a butane gas bottle which seemed to have a similar curve to the corners of the Viking.
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| Lounge |
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| Closet |
Luck was on our side once more when I found four new old stock chrome vent covers on e-bay, and these were snapped up to fit on the upper vents inside our Viking.
Lou had discovered a company who will print any design onto material and she came up with the idea for curtains with a pattern incorporating dancing couples and music staves. We dance lindy hop so the original idea was based on this, but as the art deco theme developed, the figures changed to suit. After a couple of false starts that didn't produce the required result, my daughter, Hannah, was called in. Lou already had some images to base it on, and an hour at the computer with photoshop resulted in a roughed out version depicting a couple dancing, with staves swirling around them. The image of the dancers was reversed to give some variety in the pattern, and the colour scheme was chosen to complement other details in the caravan such as the toilet window.
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| Plan |
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| Initial image |
Hannah then worked hard going over the graphic pixel by pixel to ensure the image was sharp, ready for submission to the printer. On the final version, the notes on the staves are the opening bars to our song, "Sentimental Journey" - talk about attention to detail! The PDF file was sent off and Lou ordered a 10 metre roll of material plus a pair of roller blinds for the kitchen and toilet. Unfortunately, when the items were delivered, the blinds had the image printed upside down at the top.
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| Wrong! |
The company said this was standard industry practice and argued that it says on their website this will happen. However, it did not appear at any stage in the ordering process, nor in the proof they sent us for approval. They reluctantly refunded Lou for the blinds, and she found another supplier (Order Blinds) who had never heard of such a practice, and supplied two blinds exactly how we wanted.
In the weeks before our trip to France, Lou spent many hours at the sewing machine, making curtains from the roll of custom printed material. She also bought a pair of curtains from a charity shop, to cut up and use as lining. It was difficult for her to calculate the required drop until the curtain track was fitted, and this was one of the last things to go in, so our inaugural trip was with unfinished curtains.
The curtain track is a Fineline product, made from aluminium, and in an antique brass finish. We needed a bendable track to cope with the corner windows, and plastic tracks are all white, which just wouldn't look right. We bought a five metre track which came with brackets, gliders, two ends, and a joiner as the track is delivered in two 2.5m sections. I cut 9 inches from each section for the kitchen and toilet corner windows, and the remainder of the track was fitted in a continuous run from one side window, across the front and over the window on the other side .
As this is a domestic curtain track, we discovered the curtains needed three inch header tape like domestic curtains. We had used two inch tape but could not get them to hang right, so some unpicking would be required at a later date.
Dozens of material samples were obtained for the seating upholstery, but none were the desired colour, and Lou almost resorted to having a roll of material printed in the shade she wanted. An internet search of the hex colour code used in the curtains produced one potential result. Whether the shade was close enough, or whether it was because we were running out of time, I'm not sure, but a ten metre roll was ordered. Due to our pressing deadline, Lou took the material to an upholsterer (http://www.windowseatcushions.co.uk/) to make the seating. They were extremely helpful with advice and did a fantastic job. They were even able to accommodate our tight schedule, having the seat cushions ready for collection the day before our departure.
Despite the mad rush over the previous couple of months, even fitting parts on the evening before we set off, we did actually make it to France for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. It wasn't the maiden voyage we had planned, but it was a great success. We had bare plywood floor, no kitchen, no gas or water, the fridge (running off of mains hook-up) was held in place with a ratchet strap and a couple of wooden blocks screwed to the floor, and the curtains were all unfinished, but we had a great week and a steady stream of admirers giving us positive feedback.
We hadn't put up the awning for over two years, so it took us a few goes before remembering our routine. The awning turned out to be a great success as it didn't leak, and didn't come apart at the seams, plus it gave us somewhere to set up our borrowed field kitchen.
Dozens of material samples were obtained for the seating upholstery, but none were the desired colour, and Lou almost resorted to having a roll of material printed in the shade she wanted. An internet search of the hex colour code used in the curtains produced one potential result. Whether the shade was close enough, or whether it was because we were running out of time, I'm not sure, but a ten metre roll was ordered. Due to our pressing deadline, Lou took the material to an upholsterer (http://www.windowseatcushions.co.uk/) to make the seating. They were extremely helpful with advice and did a fantastic job. They were even able to accommodate our tight schedule, having the seat cushions ready for collection the day before our departure.
We hadn't put up the awning for over two years, so it took us a few goes before remembering our routine. The awning turned out to be a great success as it didn't leak, and didn't come apart at the seams, plus it gave us somewhere to set up our borrowed field kitchen.