If you've got a spare £500 in the bank, maybe you don't think it could buy you somewhere to live, but a resourceful couple might make you think again - they now live in a caravan that they have lovingly transformed from dated, dingy and damp to a surprisingly spacious and stylish home.
But Emilie and Jon James are no strangers to being brave enough to push boundaries, having sold their home and bought an abandoned caravan park in Llanelli for £90,000 in June, 2022, with the aim of renovating the site and replacing the rotten vans alongside living a completely new lifestyle.
It might be unconventional, but the couple are embarking on an epic experience with the goal of living mortgage free so even all their belongings were sold online to give them a grand total of £132,000. They paid off their mortgage and bought the park - but where exactly were they going to live?
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After paying off their mortgage and using savings to pay for the caravan park, the couple were left with just £500 in the bank - it was time to get online and see what the last of their money would get them. Turns out, it gets you a £400 dilapidated caravan and £100 left for paint, fabric and materials - gulp. But the couple threw themselves into the project and recorded their hard work via video.
The video that covers the steps they took to drag the van out of the 1970s and into a world of pretty and practical interiors and fix the nasty surprises lurking inside has had 325,000 views on social media platform Tik Tok - so far.
The couple, both aged 33 and with Welsh roots in the Gwendraeth valley and Swansea, have renovated the van around their day jobs as wedding photographers, videographers and online retailers, which have also helped to support them as they continue to develop their new lifestyle. Find out about the couple buying the caravan park here.
The first step to making the caravan their home was to rip out the dated decor and upgrade the facilities but, of course, when you start peeling back the layers of an old property, or in this case a dated caravan, it's likely you're going to come across some nasty surprises.
Jon noticed the laminate flooring was bouncy and online research found that this is quite a common issue with an old caravan, and when the laminate is removed yucky black mould is found underneath - so a floor problem is the first to be tackled. Again, research found that one option to fix the issue was to use a specialist caravan floor delamination repair kit which they spent some of their budget on but at least now the floor in the kitchen area is not bouncing anymore.
Emilie discovers that the curtains are all attached with Velcro, so although unexpected, this is a handy positive as a few minutes later, they are all down to be replaced by simple and more sleek and modern blinds.
The mono interior design scheme the couple chose to bring the caravan into the present is surely inspired by dog Maggie, who looks on with interest as her mum and dad create a peaceful and calm home for all three of them.
Everything that could be painted, was - and it took a very long time to prepare the areas and then multiple coats of specialist paint to ensure a hardy as well as slick finish. Emilie said: "The painting felt never ending as every surface needed four coats - two primer and two top coats, so if we were to do it again we'd invest in a paint spray gun, to speed up the process!"
But it was the toilet and shower room where the biggest headache awaited the couple, with the back wall of the shower room so sodden with water and damp that Jon could pierce it with a screwdriver. It was a surprise that the couple weren't expecting but was also a learning moment.
Emilie said: "If we could go back in time, we would do some research about what to look out for when buying a caravan second hand! Even though the sellers said it was damp free, we shouldn't have taken their word for it! If anyone is buying a caravan, make sure to feel the walls, as ours were so rotten, they felt like sponges! If we would have known it had that much damp, we wouldn't have bought it."
Emilie also suggested that pre-planning how you wanted your caravan to look at the end of the renovation project was vital, and so was being realistic about how much time it would take to get all the jobs done and fully complete the transformation.
She said: "It may feel like you don't know what to start first, but really planning out what look and style you are going for first, really helps. I did a moodboard, which really helped make sure the caravan flowed and wasn't mis-matched and I didn't just end up buying random things that didn't go together. Also, make sure to shop around as it's amazing what you can do within a small budget.
"The job also took longer than we thought as we weren't anticipating the amount of damp we would find, and having to rip out the whole shower in the back room and having to reskin the walls."
The first night sleeping in their new caravan home was a landmark date, putting their work to the test - could they live comfortably in a van for however long it now takes to renovate the caravan park and beyond?
Emilie ha no regrets at all. She said: "It was so peaceful, we were surprised how comfortable the bed was and even the size! It works out to be a super king, so we had lots of room!" As the project continued the couple grew in confidence as well as experience and both thought it was definitely worth the risk and the effort.
Emilie said: "We really enjoyed renovating the caravan, it was so satisfying to see it change bit by bit and channelling ourselves to do it within a small budget, showing that you don't need to spend much to make something look good. We really enjoyed learning new skills and bringing it back to life, so it was so satisfying seeing it finished and actually getting to enjoy it now!
"We feel very proud! As we are living in the caravan full-time, we really wanted a space that was fresh and homely and somewhere we wanted to actually spend time, so doing it in a style we loved, really helped make it feel like a home rather than just somewhere we have to live as we couldn't afford anything better."
One aspect of the renovation that might not have gone unnoticed by viewers of their YouTube channel, called Camp Out West, is that since the bathroom has been remodelled, there's a new toilet, but where has the shower gone - in its place is a dressing room. To ensure the caravan does not get overwhelmed by damp again in this room inside the van the couple have, of course, been creative and built a shower cubicle outside.
And with this DIY project too Emilie and Jon have been resourceful, using the money generated from selling the abandoned cars at the old caravan park for scrap to fund the purchase of an LGB gas hot tap unit that is powered by portable bottles.
The pair have pretty much thought of everything, including using electric toothbrushes and the hairdryer charged via a solar-powered mobile mini-generator which also gets used as the source of power for the string of bulbs strewn over the shower unit, so a wash in the evening is also an option - and rather atmospheric too.
But maybe the biggest test of any renovation project is the sometimes brutal truth from members of the family and friends, but there's no worries there for the couple - their support network is so impressed with the job these novices have done that many have asked if they can borrow the caravan for holidays when it is totally done.
To find out more about Emilie and Jon's epic caravan and park adventures, check out their youtube account - Camp Out West here. And don't miss the best dream homes in Wales, renovation stories, and interiors - join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter, sent to your inbox twice a week.
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