Guest post by Tammy Donaldson

   I guess we are what is commonly described as 'Vandwellers'. My 13 year old son Demarco and I love small (or 'cozy' as he calls it), functional spaces. We love to travel (via van transportation!), find new adventures and desire to learn of life- from life! We are currently in the process of remodeling our newly acquired rig, a 1985 GMC Vandura 2500, and are anxious to get it all done so we can hit the road. The van was in pretty good condition when we bought it about a week ago and it hosts all of the original features we were looking for. 

   There is a small sit down shower, a toilet, a kitchen sink, a propane fueled 3 burner stove top, a refrigerator, lots of storage space, a fold out sleeper sofa, an overhead twin sized bed and two captain chairs- which Demarco was very excited about! Generally, the motor, septic- and electrical system are in good running condition, but there are some minor issues, such as an old water damage around the overhead windows, an old funky rug that needs to come out and some outdated cosmetic features that we want to tend to before comfortably using the van full time. So far, we have part of the old carpet ripped out, which proved to be very difficult, since it was laid prior to having the cabinetry installed.

  Demarco has been working on removing the plastic-like dated wall paper covering the kitchen and bathroom walls. Once the carpet and wall paper are removed, and the damaged walls are replaced, we will paint the walls, stain the wood cabinets, lay new carpet, tile the kitchen and bathroom walls and finally: start decorating. Guess we're saving the best for last!!

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About the author: Tammy Donaldson was born and raised in in Nuernberg, Germany and she believes that her heritage has a strong influence on who she is as a person. She loves to laugh,paint, sculpt, cook, read and sing. An adventurer at heart, she is currently studying home remodeling and repair and plan on using that skill to build and remodel campers for a living.