The Rockin' A Redesign!

[Alumatube]

Okay, ever since we got our 310 moho in January of this year I have been tossing around ideas of how I would like to redecorate the interior. I wanted something different from the "basic motorhome decor," "Route 66," and "50's cafe" interiors, and something we would both enjoy and be comfortable with.

It finally came down to two thoughts: 1) a northern lodge look, with birch bark, pine cones and woodland critters, and 2) a Western bunkhouse look--King Ranch-style, not kitschy Western. Seeing the Ralph Lauren trailer gave me some ideas, but I didn't want to take it that far.

I finally decided on the Western look, and Brad was fine with it ("Oh well, more work," he sighed. He's SO good to me!!!)

The previous owners had the dinette upholstery redone with purpley-red fabric with speckles (also on the edges of and between the overhead bins and on stuff around the entry), a Southwestern-style on the couch, and a dark green Berber carpet. The below pictures show it as we bought it.





I will add posts as we get stuff/do stuff to it, and I would love comments and suggestions! I don't have it totally planned out yet, but have an overall idea of what I want to do.

Wish me luck!!! Stay tuned for further developments!

Susan

[Alumatube]

There first thing we really needed were front curtains, since I washed the existing old ones and the room-darkening substance on the liner washed right off all over my washing machine!

So I really had to sit down and start putting plans together for what I wanted to do with this thing. Brad gives me free rein in stuff like this--he does the mechanicals and I do the decorating, cleaning and detailing. He's wonderful!

I finally decided on a fabric for the front curtains. Here is a sample. I ordered it two days ago and it is back-ordered, dang it, so I won't see it for a couple weeks.



I then started thinking about the upholstery and what I wanted to do there. I found (but have not ordered yet) a pretty faux-tooled-leather fabric I want to use for the seatbacks (the color is a caramel-y color, somewhat between the two images below):



and a nice full-grain leather for the bottoms in a dark-chocolate color:



I am having a dilemma here - if I do this on the dinette and the couch, which are right across from each other in the coach, will this be too much of the same thing? Should I do one of them differently, and if so, any suggestions as to what?

Thanks!

Susan

[Alumatube]

I found a couple great details that will be fun in the new "Western" coach! One is a cool Tumbleweed Hotel sign to go where the weird pocket door thing (what is that thing for, anyway?!?) is on the left wall as you enter the coach. I am going to remove that door fully, put the sign in its place (the sign is 10" x 16") and frame the remaining space with barnwood. The sayings on the sign are PERFECT for the coach: "Spitting from windows prohibited," "Check firearms at front desk," and "Remove spurs before retiring."



And I got these super-cool "electified" (that's how the seller described them, lol) lanterns on eBay for 99 cents! They will play up to the red in the curtains. I am thinking of making a custom dinette table out of cedar or something, and one can sit on there, and the other will be the bed-side lamp in the back.



I will be removing the purpley upholstered end- and mid-panels from the overhead bins and am thinking about replacing them with cut-to-fit cedar or barnwood. I have always associated the smell of cedar with hamster bedding, but I guess it would help keep bugs away. Any thoughts?

Susan

[Silver Threads]

Sounds like you have a plan. Cant wait to see the end results! Love the colors!

[Roadschooler]

Love the colors and the textures! Keep the pictures coming.

[GT1963]

Originally Posted by Alumatube

....... Should I do one of them differently, and if so, any suggestions as to what?

Thanks!

Susan

Hi Susan;

Great decor "idea layout" - it is neat when a plan comes together....Something to consider - if you want focal points in your MOHO then I would go for the dinette to be different from the couch. All the AS have the couch and dinette the same - and by your inclination you want to be different - so there is your chance.... I think the brown leather would go great for the dinette where you will sit alot - so it will hide the hmmm dirst (what was that dust or dirt!!) and wear well - couch is a little more refined living space thus the nice tooled learther look either one would be really nice. - You can use the same leather for a valance over the dinette.


You have some neat accent pieces lined up too - very cool oil lamps!

Love the sign too!!!

You must keep your reno going here so we can all see the transformation!!

[Marti]

Have a great time decorating it, this is before and after my redoing the inside on mine:

[Alumatube]

Thanks for the support and kind words! I am really enjoying this!

Peter & Sharon: You're right--I think I will do the couch and dinette separately. I did a drawing of the interior and it looks like too much for them both to be the same. Now to figure out which gets what! (And I love "dirst"--you're funny! It's "dirt" and "dust" with a Western accent!)

Marti: Your redesign looks great! It's colorful and fun. Great job!

We had a fortuitous happening yesterday--we were in Little Rock and decided to go home the back way instead of the Interstate. There is a salvage place we like to stop at on the way (building supplies, flooring, countertops, appliances, etc.), so we did, just to see what new stuff they might have. We hadn't really thought about the floor in the coach until then, and were looking through the boxes of flooring when we found the perfect stuff! It's a Shaw (I guess--it's "Irregular" and the boxes weren't marked with anything except the style and color numbers) laminate floor in a milled barnwood pattern. It even has the sound-deadening pad on the bottom! I knew instantly that was what we needed, and we saved a bunch of money by getting it there. The irregularity appears to be from their not placing the pad perfectly on the pieces, but it will work just fine for us with a little tweaking. Here's a picture of it:



The color isn't quite right in the photo--it's a little less yellow and has a little more taupe/grey-ish tone. Perfect for the other colors I have chosen so far!

I will have to search and see what others are using to finish the edges of their flooring--I seem to remember hearing about some flex channel or something...

Crazy thought coming next!

Susan

[Hamb7]

Wow I can see the fun you are having! I can't wait to see it all pulled together.

[Alumatube]

I said I had a crazy idea, and here it is. This is how this topic (and the moho now) got its new name--the Rockin' A.

Is it possible to brand the leather on the driver and passenger seats with good results? I mean really brand, like make a custom branding iron, heat it, and apply it to the seats? If it is feasible, of course I would test on similar leather before I ruin the seats, but what I am after is a "rocking A" brand on the top back of each seat. If not, I can have it embroiderered or paint it or something, but I thought the brand would be the coolest, then I can use the actual brand and handle as the leg for the new dinette table when I make it. Between Brad and myself, we can come up with a good-looking branding iron.

(Note: We will very probably be keeping the same seat leather upholstery and only recovering the arms, so this would be on the original Airstream seat leather.)

Here is a sketch of the interior as I have thought it out so far (excepting the same fabric is on both the dinette and couch, since I realized yesterday they should be different). It shows the brand idea on the seats.

I still have LOTS of other ideas to run by ya'll and see what you think--cabinet doors, wall coverings/paint, valances, etc. And we haven't even gotten to the kitchen/bathroom yet!


(The colors are a little warmer in the actual drawing--the scan made them a little bluer for some reason.)

Thanks for your input!

Cowgirl Suz

[azflycaster]

I think you could do it with real leather, not some of the looks like leather material you see today. If you have a custom saddle shop near where you live, stop in and chat with them about it.

Have you contacted Kevin (kevbo10) regarding this project. When I think of western decor, I think of Kevin. I'm sure he could give you a few ideas.

[Pop Rivet]

Quote "I do the decorating, cleaning and detailing. He's wonderful"

I think I could be wonderful if someone would do that stuff for me

Just a thought - Use scrap leathers to devlope a quilt design for table top under glass or layout 'Airsteam" to frame

[Midamrail]

You have probably already thought of this, but you might want to check out the websites of some of the companies who do living quarters conversions on horse trailers for inspiration. One of the better sites is:

Trailer Conversions by Showtime, For Horse Trailer, Racing Trailer Ect. Middlebury, IN 46540

Most of those companies do a great job with leather upholstery and incorporating western design touches. Some of the really high-end conversion companies produce trailers - sometimes with sticker prices of $150K or more - that are able to blend elements of the American West with upscale features found in the fancy motorcoaches, but their photos can give you some good ideas.

[Alumatube]

Thanks for the info about Kevin, Richard! I'll give him a shout and see what he thinks. Love the pic!!!

Aw, David, you're wonderful already! And neat ideas about the tabletop! I will work on some ideas with this.

Thanks, Ben and Molly! I didn't even think about the horse trailers. They do some AMAZING work with those. I'll definitely surf through the site and see their work.

Susan