December 10, 2014

Farmstream Updates: Painting & Backsplash


A few weeks ago we made it back out to Lockhart Family Farm to continue working on updating the 1976 airstream that our friends, Josiah and Jocelyn, recently purchased to house on the farm. It's set up as a camping-style AirBnB rental where guests can come stay on the farm through their travels.

The camper was bought in its original state and we've been helping to slowly update the interior as time permits over the past several months. The last time we checked in was back in the summer, when we started painting the walls a bright white, gave the refrigerator a chalkboard facade and found a few hidden surprises in and around the airstream (read that full post here).

What's funny is, we actually hadn't been able to make it back to work on updates for a while since "The Farmstream" (our official name for the camper) started to book solid ever since launching on AirBnB! This is actually great news, but definitely caused us to plan around a timeframe where the camper was un-occupied. We've also decided to plan around more bite-sized updates we can complete in a morning or afternoon as not to disrupt the rental schedule. With that background, the main goals for this most recent trip were to finish the final painting along the camper walls and install the faux tin tile backsplash in the kitchen area we'd mentioned in our last update.


Upon arrival at the farm, we were greeted with the new fire pit the Lockharts made that sits out in front of the camper. Can't you just imagine striking up a fire, cracking open some spirits and enjoying a crisp evening around this homemade pit? 


Before getting to work in the camper, Josiah walked us around the land to show us all the new and familiar heritage breed animals, including baby piglets, goats and turkeys that were gearing up for winter around the farm. The farm is always so beautiful, no matter the season, but we have to admit — late autumn was pretty spectacular:


As mentioned above, one of our main priorities with this visit was to complete the final coats of paint along the walls, resulting in a bright white base to build and decorate around. I worked in the back bedroom space of the camper to brighten up the walls:


This process went pretty quick with the help of a paint roller and we loved the fresh feel we were left with: 


Mary and I both worked to paint the walls in the hallway leading into the bedroom. There is an ample amount of veneered wood finishes around this area of the camper, so the white helps break things up a bit:


We ended up leaving the sliding hallway door the original wood finish to add in a little contrast and have plans to paint the cabinetry and closet doors a neutral shade of gray or blue in a future update. Here's a view of how we shaped up after these final coats of paint:


Josiah and Jocelyn had recently returned home from a trip to England, Scotland and Italy — so we had fun hearing all about their travels and enjoyed a chance to see and taste some of the goodies they brought home, like this sculptural horse, made entirely of cheese:



Isn't that something? Josiah also poured a tasting of mead from their travels, which was a nice way of transitioning from painting into a couple other updates we had planned for this trip.


One of the smaller updates we made was sanding down & re-installing the wood panel that would have originally fit into the end of the upper kitchen cabinet shelf:


This end cap was originally covered in soft padding — the wood panel underneath was a bit of a hidden discovery for us that tied so well back into the updated feel we're going for. To give you an idea, this is what the end cap looked like before, with all of it's 1970's original padded glory:


Next up, the backsplash! We were able to fully install a faux tin tile backsplash in the kitchen, and can't believe the difference it makes:


Here's how it all went down...

We'd come across these faux ceiling tile sheets made of plastic at the hardware store and immediately thought they'd make a unique backsplash in the camper. The material is flexible, which works to our advantage since the airstream has curved walls. To get started, I removed all the window hardware and framing from around the kitchen window:


We then held the tile sheet up against the wall, tracing around the window to mark where we'd need to make cuts. Fun fact — those are goat hoof trimming sheers we used to make the cuts (when on a farm...), ha!


Once the measurements and cuts were made, we used double-sided tape made for use with these backsplash sheets to adhere them to the kitchen wall:


We were actually surprised at how simple the installation was — before I knew it, I was reinstalling the window frame so we could stand back and take a look at the final outcome.


It was amazing to us just how much the updated backsplash changed the look and feel of this little nook:


With that, it was time to call it a day. Here's a final look at how things are shaping up after our last visit:



The shot above is the camper view from standing in the front, looking back. Below shows the view of the front of the camper while standing in the kitchen:


We're really happy with the progress and will be excited to continue working to make updates to the camper moving forward. We've loved watching all the stories from travelers who've come to stay in the farm camper roll in on AirBnB.

See the full background on where we started with the Airstream in this post and see some of the original "before" shots in this post. Keep up with our airstream progress by following @FarmStream on Instagram and Twitter.

Discover More:

Post a Comment

© 17 Apart. Design by FCD. Privacy Policy.