Moon's Renovation
WE WILL BE POSTING A VIDEO ABOUT MOONS COMPLETE RENOVATION WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS :)
We are currently finishing hand painting designs on all of our cabinet doors, sewing new material on our cushions and front seats, and figuring out the solar power! So stay tuned :) Oh! I almost forgot! We have a wonderful new mattress to put into our sweet moon also, which we are pretty stoked about.
We are currently finishing hand painting designs on all of our cabinet doors, sewing new material on our cushions and front seats, and figuring out the solar power! So stay tuned :) Oh! I almost forgot! We have a wonderful new mattress to put into our sweet moon also, which we are pretty stoked about.
Here is a front picture of our moon. As you can see, it was still a little snowy in Orillia during the month of March. Our winnebago looks a little cold and dirty here. In need of some tender loving care, and a little cleaning...
'Moon Warrior' is a 21.6 ft 1992 Toyota Mini Winnebago Warrior. We were originally thinking about trading our truck for a smaller van to convert into a travelling home, however, we saw this deal on kijji, and Matteo travelled to Hamilton for a closer look. Before we knew it, moon was ours and Matteo was cautiously driving her back to Orillia. Moon has a V6, 3L engine, with 111,000km, and probably a bunch of other things that I do not quite understand. Regardless, our trade was a little sketchy, as the more we renovated and deconstructed the interior, the more water damage, mould, and mechanical problems we found. Luckily, we have valuable friends and family who are assisting us on this project, and we are determined to complete all of the necessary designs and work by our own hands and good will, prior to leaving out West for the summer. Regardless of the necessary work that is involved in this project, we couldn't be happier to have purchased our future home together, to learn throughout this project, and create home wherever we may travel.
'Moon Warrior' is a 21.6 ft 1992 Toyota Mini Winnebago Warrior. We were originally thinking about trading our truck for a smaller van to convert into a travelling home, however, we saw this deal on kijji, and Matteo travelled to Hamilton for a closer look. Before we knew it, moon was ours and Matteo was cautiously driving her back to Orillia. Moon has a V6, 3L engine, with 111,000km, and probably a bunch of other things that I do not quite understand. Regardless, our trade was a little sketchy, as the more we renovated and deconstructed the interior, the more water damage, mould, and mechanical problems we found. Luckily, we have valuable friends and family who are assisting us on this project, and we are determined to complete all of the necessary designs and work by our own hands and good will, prior to leaving out West for the summer. Regardless of the necessary work that is involved in this project, we couldn't be happier to have purchased our future home together, to learn throughout this project, and create home wherever we may travel.
As you can see, the inside of Moon was a little outdated and in need of a serious clean on the inside. We initially thought that we could simply take out the cabinets, paint them, lay floors and backsplash, and simply paint the walls. Oh how we were wrong. Moon has serious water damage and mould, and we found more and more as we peeled back the walls. Still, I look at the Moon the same way that I did when I first saw her, envisioning our lives within these thin walls, hearing our laughter, and seeing our friends and family also enjoying this space. Moon has now been completely stripped into an empty shell, little is left of the interior, the floors, the walls, and the bathroom. It is an empty canvas, a playground all to ourselves to dream, envision, and create. What more could we ask for?
Below is a picture of our bed, located above the driver and passenger seat. This is something that we think is super cool, and love the cab look, and also love being able to see into the driver section and out of the front window. The top cushion lifts off to create more space while we are driving. One thing that we keep uncovering is how efficient we can make some aspects of Moon, to be unique yet functional.
Below is a picture of our bed, located above the driver and passenger seat. This is something that we think is super cool, and love the cab look, and also love being able to see into the driver section and out of the front window. The top cushion lifts off to create more space while we are driving. One thing that we keep uncovering is how efficient we can make some aspects of Moon, to be unique yet functional.
Here are a few pictures of our bathroom. We have quite a large shower, and we are deciding to keep the large mirror to the side. Unfortunately, the bathroom is an area of Moon that had extreme water damage and mould. One of our friends Dylan, who you can see in the slideshow has been such a help to us so far, and we truly cant thank him, and Dan (Matteo's brother) enough already. Im sure there will be a few cases of beer and a little party in the future to show our gratitude and appreciation for all of the support and much needed help.
The date as we are writing is March 26th 2017 and the below pictures are what Moon currently looks like, completely gutted and stripped to her core :(. The first picture is our bathroom, and the second picture, you can see where our countertop and kitchen used to be. We were originally planning on installing the backsplash and our hardwood floors this weekend, however, water damage and mould abruptly halted our plans. We have quite a lot to contend with over the next few weeks with having to ensure that our sweet Moon is sealed properly and that future water damage will hopefully not be a problem. There are so many design plans in our minds that we are itching to start decorating the interior, however, we know that Moon needs a strong foundation, a solid structure, and we are dedicated to giving her as much love and attention as she requires.
Monday March 4th 2017
So far Moon is still an empty shell, and we are still finding more water damage. Although our progress is slow right now, our sweet moon is progressing into something special. We have completely stripped the ceiling, most of the walls, and our bed section. It took a lot of scraping, and sore shoulders but most of the water damage and wood has been removed and ready to start laying our structure for the floors and the walls. The most water damage that we have found so far is our above bed area in the cab. We have sealed the back section of Moon by our bathroom and closet to ensure that no more leaks threaten Moon's foundation. As soon as we got excited about the warmer weather here in Orillia, it of course started to rain (oh well, our grass and flowers need it), so we are currently waiting for the rain to subside so we can start sealing the roof (as there are a few leaky holes). Within the next few days we are hoping we are hoping to get the floors and roof sealed, lay the structure for the floors and walls, and start laying our beautiful laminate flooring and painting the walls. Back and forth to Home Depot we go!
May 1st: Moon's update
Well folks, we have walls! We have floors! Our sweet Moon is finally coming together and we couldn't be more excited. We have spent the last few weeks restructuring the walls and the floors, from ripping out water damage and just plain gross things, to finally being able to lay our underlay and floors make it really start to feel like home. We started from an empty shell (after a complete demo) and reinstalled the insulation and rebuilt our walls and our bed to ensure safety, structure, and overall look. We used thick wall liner as wallpaper to cover any seams or gaps (we aren't professionals after all) and then painted the walls a beachgrass colour to match our cupboards and the rest of our furniture. We used new brackets to structure and support the bed and the roof, and we have painted those bali bliss, balsam green, and another beautiful neutral green (I am currently forgetting the name of the last paint) to match our kitchen cabinets. We also spray painted our window surrounds the other day when it was nice and sunny with a dark grey to break up all of the neutral colours in Moon. We have a special thanks to Dylan for spending all of his hungover Sunday with us in the pouring rain and freezing cold to ensure that our floors were completed correctly and in a speedy fashion. We sure do owe you buddy! Today is Monday May 1st and even though its a little drizzly here in Orillia, we are hoping for it to be a little bit warmer and start putting our fridge, shower tub (which we sealed leaks and sprayed with a tub and tile acrylic spray paint) and some of our furniture and cabinets today. We are also heading to fabricland to pick out some fabric for our couch, little sofa's and bed cushions. We do not have a definite leaving date set because we do not want to pressure ourselves with a time line and be disappointed if we do not reach it, but we are optimistic that within the next few weeks we can finish Moon, as well as the mechanical side and start our adventure outwards and onwards to the great West. Oh, I almost forgot! We also took a beautiful scenic drive to Freedom Canoe and Kayak just on the outskirts of Barrie in beautiful farm country to check out some bike racks for Moon that we had seen online. For anyone looking for a canoe, kayak, or bike racks, Freedom Canoe and Kayak is the place to go, the owner is an awesome guy, super friendly and helpful. Its also nice that the business is run out of their house and garage (a gorgeous house and garage may we add) because it's adds that personal feel. Even though the original bike rack that we wanted was sold out, we found an even better 4 bike rack for Moon for an absolutely great deal. (now we have enough room for our two bikes and a little bbq and rear storage)
May 12th: so close!
Our desired departure date is getting closer and closer, and we are so close to finishing our sweet moon. We have been working morning, day, and night and only have a few things left to complete. All of the cabinets and drawers have been installed, as well as our love seats. Our bathroom is almost complete, we just need to add the toilet and install a new shower head and hose, but the shower basin is installed and I decorated the seals in our shower with shells. One of our neighbours was kind enough to give us a beautiful ocean shower curtain that we just need to sew to fit, and install. Our fridge has been giving us a little bit of trouble but we have almost completely rebuild our walls and structure around it, and just need to hook it back up. The arm rests and passenger seat have new beautiful blue fabric and we are just waiting for one of Matteo's friends and his grandmother to finish our couch, love seats, and bed (we are absolutely useless with a sewing machine). Our kitchen is almost complete, we finished cutting the hole out for our sink and stove out of the countertop last night. We also added a little mural onto one of the walls, and of course a cute little bottle opener by the front door. All of our different colours are starting to blend together, and I (Lauren) absolutely freakin love it. We have a few lights and light bulbs to install also, but we are hoping that within less than a week we will be ready to head out West. I haven't taken many pictures this past week but I will try and take some pictures today to show our progress. While we have been working on Moon we have both been trying to learn as much as we can about different things, this past week we have smoked our own jerky and fish to bring with us on our travels. We have pickled cucumbers, eggs, carrots, beans, and other vegetables, and tonight we are preserving our own jams and fruits to bring with us. We are also having a craft and garage sale tomorrow (Saturday March 13th) so if you live in the Ontario/Orillia area head over to Maple Drive between the hours of 9-4 as we have tons of crafts, electronics, furniture, clothes, and etc. Also, funny story.. we recently found out that Moon is actually older than we had first thought (and had been told) and that Moon is a 1991 Toyota Winnebago, not a 1992. So now I guess I have to go back through all of our posts and change it as to keep Moons authenticity! :)
Side note (Lauren): Despite the challenges and the hard work, there are so many things that I love about this project and our Moon. We have tried our absolute best to be conscious of the materials and resources that we are using. Everything that was salvageable, we saved, sanded, painted, and restored. We are still using the same fridge, toilet, sink, cabinets, mirrors, drawers and furniture and despite having to restructure and replace water damage, I believe that we have re-used a vast majority of Moon. We are also installing solar panels within the next few days and our inverter (just need to figure it out...). The other thing that I absolutely love about this project is that I didn't think it was possible for Matteo and I to get much closer, but Moon has already brought us together more, and helped us understand each other more. I know that at times it will be difficult living in an RV, and such a small tight space together at times, but I am just so excited to start this adventure with Matteo and Beanz.
Side note (Lauren): Despite the challenges and the hard work, there are so many things that I love about this project and our Moon. We have tried our absolute best to be conscious of the materials and resources that we are using. Everything that was salvageable, we saved, sanded, painted, and restored. We are still using the same fridge, toilet, sink, cabinets, mirrors, drawers and furniture and despite having to restructure and replace water damage, I believe that we have re-used a vast majority of Moon. We are also installing solar panels within the next few days and our inverter (just need to figure it out...). The other thing that I absolutely love about this project is that I didn't think it was possible for Matteo and I to get much closer, but Moon has already brought us together more, and helped us understand each other more. I know that at times it will be difficult living in an RV, and such a small tight space together at times, but I am just so excited to start this adventure with Matteo and Beanz.
We had a super cool experience this past weekend driving out to Ramara to work on Moon. Just a few minutes away from Matteo's parents house we were stopped by a female moose and her calf just wandering down the road. The road isn't exactly busy as it is further out in the country, but we do know a few cars that drive extremely fast down this street so we were a little apprehensive. We sat in our cars and watched the mother and her quite big calf take a stroll, have a couple sips of water from the ditches and the creek and then meander back into the thick bush. Matteo and myself venture to Algonquin Park whenever we get the chance and the past few times we have gone, we haven't seen much wildlife, so this encounter with the moose by Bluebird street in Ramara was absolutely amazing and we both couldn't quite believe how lucky we were to be able to sit and appreciate such beautiful beings for such an extended period of time. It was truly a gift. Matteo or myself shall try and upload the videos that we took soon, as they are way better than the quick pictures that we snapped.