renovating our bonair pop-up camper

Last month we bought a vintage pop-up camper off of Kijiji. The ad seemed like we wouldn’t need to put a lot of work into it, and the pictures were few and shot from afar. After speaking with the owner, she made it seem like we would be able to pick it up and go camping right away! How misleading that all was.

My husband went and bought it on a day off and I stayed home in order to take Remy to a birthday party. It was listed for $2000. He told me not to negotiate a price until he arrived, so I didn’t. When he got there, he said that it needed work. He offered her $1000 and they settled on $1500. When I heard how much he paid for it I thought that she was getting the short end of the stick and I felt a little guilty. Then Geoff came home with the camper, set it up, and I realized that $1500 was a more than generous offer.

The owner was not truthful about a lot of things. She said there were no leaks when there were leaks, that the fabric was all in good condition when really every cushion was ripped and had holes, that the canvas was in great shape when it wasn’t, and so on. On top of it all, it was missing the sink and faucets, the propane stove was in hideous condition, the furnace didn’t work, and there was no water tank, among other issues.

Above is a “during renovation” photo. In one month, this is what we ended up accomplishing:

– installed new screens

– curtains + hooks

– bedding

– wall plates

– furnace

– fridge

– cabinet knobs

– hinges

– lighting

– plumbing

– propane tanks

– water tank

– door handle

– stove

– sink + faucets

– countertop

– table

– dinnerware

– rug

– peg shelf

– scraped the ceiling

– mended the canvas

– ccclllleeeaaaannnneeeeddddd

I’m tired from just recounting and writing all of that! But in all seriousness, it was a lot of work. We certainly could never have just picked it up and gone camping with it. However, it was worth it. We were able to keep her vintage qualities and yet make her new again.