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Mum transforms caravan into craft room in stunning budget DIY

A DIY fanatic has completely transformed an old, run-down caravan into a craft lover's dream.

Carmen Blanch, 40, a self-proclaimed DIY junkie, bought the outdated caravan from a friend for $1100 with the intention of transforming it into a sewing craft room for all of her DIY projects.

Caravan after renovation DIY surrounded by plants, painted grey, full working craft room
With just $130 Carmen made herself a stunning private workspace in her garden. Photo: Caters

The full-time mum of two spent just $130 on the renovations and managed to leave the caravan entirely unrecognisable compared to the before photos.

She says she intended to use the caravan as a travelling van but after her husband complained it was too ugly to use, she smelled a challenge.

Caravan exterior white, run down broken windows ugly pre-DIY transformation
The original caravan was deemed 'too ugly' to use by Carmen's husband. Photo: Caters

“I originally bought this caravan to renovate as a travelling van but my husband didn't want it because he thought it was very ugly,” she says.

Carmen decided to turn it into a functional space for her craft projects, and turned it into a craft project of its own in the process.

“So I made the decision to convert it into a sewing craft room; I was using our office as my craft room in the house,” she says.

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Carmen, from Gloucester in regional New South Wales, swapped the outdated brown hues and green sofas for bold prints and statement pieces fit for any craft lover.

"My renovations only cost me $130 and that was for the paint as I already had everything else from my existing craft room and left over materials from other projects,” she says.

Interior caravan DIY craft room
The interior was taken from drab to fab in less than two weeks. Photo: Caters

"My husband helped me remove the existing cupboards and attached a steel plate on the exterior to cover dents but I did all the rest by myself.”

On her DIY Instagram page Carmen explains how she took the caravan’s exterior from the dirty white to the chic grey.

“Before I painted the caravan, I lightly sanded it [and] washed with sugar soap using a coarse sponge,” she wrote. “Then painted it with exterior "woodland grey" paint.”

The Woodland Grey is available from Bunnings, and made up almost all of her renovation budget.

Before and after shot of Caravan dirty and white (left) and chic and grey (right) DIY transformation
The transformation left onlookers stunned, as Carmen turned the run-down caravan into a functional, and beautiful space for herself. Photo: Caters

The renovations took her nine days in all to complete, and once done, she shared the transformed caravan on the DIY On A Budget Facebook page.

The post was met with a string of praise as more than 30,000 strangers liked her post, and Carmen says she ‘loves’ the finished product

"I love my van,” she says. “The interior came out better than I was expecting it to be.”

Carmen has shared a step-by-step guide to her renovation for any DIY enthusiasts buzzing to give their old trailers or caravans a revamp, and after seeing her transformation, who wouldn’t be interested.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

  1. Remove all existing cupboards

  2. Sand, wash and paint the exterior

  3. Repair holes from removing existing cupboards

  4. Build working table to add support to the walls e.g. the sitting bench

  5. Clean and paint the walls and ceilings using a primer first

  6. Add furniture

Reporting by Caters

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