Always up for a battle, Aaron and Amy Carman went to the hunt for a vintage Airstream trailer to set their design and woodworking skills to the test. After scoring a 1971 Airstream Caravel on eBay, this Wisconsin couple spent four summers refashioning its outdated avocado-hued inside into a bright and modern space. Lightweight materials for simple towing — and also a TV and Xbox — helped turn this Airstream in their perfect portable escape. “I always saw it as a fort for grown-ups,” says Amy.
Job at a Glance
What: Complete Airstream redesign
Owners: Amy and Aaron Carman
Location: Milwaukee
Size: 128 square feet
Timing: Remodeled over four summers
Price: About $6,800
Amy Carman Design
The Carmans had planned to gut the inside from the get-go, so that they could have bought an Airstream that was a little worse for the wear. But they wanted their first foray to Airstream insides to be successful, so that they found that a slightly put-together Airstream on eBay that had a design that they could work with and learn from. The design of this particular model had some interesting shapes and silhouettes that easily lent themselves to a more modern appearance.
Here the couple’s daughter stands outside the finished Airstream.
Photo by Doug Edmunds
Amy Carman Design
Both Amy and Aaron had lots of experience working on remodels and insides, but the Airstream’s curved shape and little design presented some conflicts. “It’s not unlike working on a boat,” says Amy, revealed here. “The job was very time consuming”
They stripped the Airstream down to the arrangement, carefully removing every bit so that they knew exactly how everything was put together. The goal was to create the little space lighting, glowing and chock-full of powerful storage. “We set a door or drawer anyplace we can,” says Amy. Extra cupboards were tucked under benches and sinks and over countertops.
Aaron designed the green sculptural wall from the kitchen with Paulownia, a lightweight, sustainable wood from Asia. Each piece was cut to fit in with the others like a mystery. Sherwin-Williams’ Grassland paint ties it with the rest of the interior.
The orange couch converts into a full size bed. At first the Carmans wanted to have something custom made, but instead they came across an ideal and very affordable model in Target’s dorm room collection.
Aaron built the brand new cabinetry, furniture and wall paneling and set up the kitchen countertops. The bathroom countertop is bamboo parquet out of Teragren. Strips of Paulownia line the vanity.
The couple chose Corian countertops as it’s a lighter weight than concrete or stone. A simple bamboo-hued laminate backsplash protects the wall.
Before Photo
Besides the first stove and fridge, little remains of this 1971 kitchen. New Paulownia cabinets with bamboo accents make for a clean and light material palette. The fridge and the stove can be powered by propane or power — one reason that the Carmans chose this specific model.
Adaptive trim and laminate partitions accommodate the curved walls onto the trailer’s front and back. Figuring out how to work with the Airstream’s rounded shape took some work — that the couple had lots of strikeouts before they landed on this particular combination.
Aaron used Teragren bamboo parquet, exactly the identical material as the bathroom counter tops, for this particular custom flip-up breakfast table. The habit Crypton upholstery folds to a bed for the Carmans’ daughter.
Accent cushions: CB2
From this angle, the top of the ceiling round the breakfast nook is observable. Amy and Aaron created a place from the molded plastic treatment for an Xbox, so that they can play games and watch movies on rainy camping days. The TV pops from a panel in the end of the breakfast nook.
The Airstream’s outside was the sole portion the few needed help with. The aluminum siding was treated with a transparent coat widely used on Airstreams from the 1960s and ’70s. Although it shielded the aluminum, the obvious coating had started to rust and peel. The Carmans had a specialist remove the coating and buff the outside to a polished shine, which required about $2,000 of the budget. They keep the Airstream in covered storage through the winter to protect the aluminum, but they can always can have it repolished to remove stains or rust.
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