My top 10 vintage caravan styling tips

Taking on a vintage caravan project is fun and rewarding, here are my top tips for getting the best out of your baby:

1.Enjoy yourself. Decorating can be fun!  Doing up your caravan gives you the opportunity to do something different from what you would do at home.

2. Assess carefully before you rip anything out. In my caravan the original 70s orange/brown plaid heavy weave upholstery fabric isn’t exactly up my street but started a train of thought for a grooved up 70s retro look. Similarly, if yours is a gorgeous old Carlight, aim to restore rather than replace, and get advice where necessary from professional restorers.

3. Fix things first. Give the caravan a serious clean, repair any leaks and carry out any interior and exterior repairs. Then, take time to track down any missing bits and bobs such as hub caps, indicator light covers, etc. This will give you a good canvas to base your styling on.

4. Use your imagination. As much as  vintage florals & bunting are in fashion there is a world beyond!

5. Find an inspirational item to start with. For me it was the upholstery, but an unexpected item like a chandelier or a picture can inspire a look.

6. You don’t have to follow the crowd. The 1950s are currently a cool vintage style, but that isn’t the only one. Follow what you like.

7. Pay attention to flooring.  Unless your caravan is just a ‘showhouse’, you’ll want flooring that will withstand regular use. Flooring must be easy to clean, and to use this as a strong design feature usually pays off (see the black and white checked flooring in Diddy in ‘my cool caravan’, pictured above).

8. Add in an iPod or radio.   Idle days, rainy evenings, relaxed breakfasts… you’ll have more time than usual to listen to things

9. Add some books.  That literary classic or modern blockbuster that you have been meaning to read, short stories and quiz books all have a place on those lazy days, too.

10. Make yourself a simple sunshade.  Something that’s quick & easy to put up means that you can enjoy seeing your retro caravan, rather than covering it up with an overpowering full on awning. It also means you can get those nice stripy vintage camping chairs & table after all!

Jane’s new book My Cool Shed is now available! Order your copy from Amazon now.

My cool… endpapers

When I am writing and art directing/styling a book, there comes this truly lovely moment when the main photography is shot, and the copy has been written, that allows me to take a step back at look at the project from a distance.

The sharp eyes amongst you will have already noticed that the end-paper of the my cool… books have a particular design approach. For My Cool Caravan and My Cool Campervan, I researched and obtained  vintage models of caravans and campers and used them to create an wallpaper-like design from images of the models.

Each of the quirky and individual cabins featured in My Cool Shed are unique and individual spaces – there are no standard models to be had. So it wasn’t initially clear what was the best approach to pursue with regards to the end papers. However, I find inspiration often comes from seeds of ideas cast long ago, and just left on the ‘back burner’ to do their own thing.

Vintage ephemera has always been a secret passion of mine.  I have a hidden stash of it at home. I absolutely love it and buy when I can. These are delightful items of little monetary value but are representative of the very small details of everyday life.

Ageing Ordnance survey maps are a particular favourite, especially when they were printed on that fibrous canvas material. Old handwritten letters, preferably written in fountain pen, still in their envelopes and stamped are also treasured. Each of them tell a story, from the style of the curly script handwriting to the fact that they were important enough for someone to keep them.

Thus the idea came to me to make our own miniature cabin models using vintage ephemera, and link the subject matter of them to each chapter in the book. To tie in with the theme of each chapter (writers, artists, gardeners, etc.), cabin models were carefully designed and made from handwritten musical scores and letters, vintage seed packets and maps. The cabins were handmade by my very clever film art director friend Louise Begbie, with photography by Richard Maxted.

I hope you enjoy them, and also hope that, as in most things, a closer look often brings its rewards.

Click here to pre-order your copy of My Cool Shed – out on May 16th!

Dale Chihuly at The Halcyon Gallery

Like all Londoners, I generally spend my time, when I’m out and about, viewing things at eye-level. Shop windows, people, signs, etc., all get the best of my attention. However, this changed somewhat a few years ago when, on a visit to the V&A in South Kensington, I chose to look up instead.  In the entrance of the V&A is a massive glass sculpture by American glass artist Dale Chihuly. I was stunned by its beauty – and its sheer size – the work is 30 feet tall.

As things tend to go in life once they appear on your radar you start to notice them all over the place.

Shortly thereafter, I found myself in the very smart tea room of Claridges, where another Chihuly sculpture hangs as a sort of alternative chandelier. Then, on a trip to the US, I spotted one in a  minimalist art gallery in Palm Desert. Its delicate, curvy and brightly coloured pieces looked like something from a deep ocean – an exotic coral or an anemone gone beautifully crazy.

Driving up Park Lane earlier this year I was stunned to see yet another one being assembled in the central reservation outside the Dorchester.

Dale Chihuly has an exhibition on show at the Halcyon Gallery in Bond Street, which I popped along to this weekend. I had a bit of fun asking about the prices, and dreaming on! Most of all I enjoyed looking at the gorgeous, swirling organic shaped pieces and beautiful colour palette he achieves with every piece.

The show is free and is open until 21^st April. That’s only another week so do hurry along!

My top glamping tips

Further to my glamping inspiration post last week, here are my own top 10 tips for ‘glamping’:

1. Always make a friend of the site owner and your camping neighbours – you’re bound to need practical help or advice at some point.

2. Make your own entertainment. Bring short stories, quiz books or great speeches of the modern world, and enjoy dipping in and reading aloud to family and friends.

3. Fairy lights look magical when used outdoors, so let them twinkle.

4. Make it easy for friends to join you. It adds massively to the fun and you have the time to talk far beyond your normal agenda.

5. You’ll figure out the small things in life that make a difference – a decent tea mug, a sharp knife, a wind-up radio, a goose-down pillow, a lovely old crocheted blanket.

6. Get some comfortable chairs – and a means of wedging them level on uneven ground.

7. Don’t forget a fly-swatter.

8. The details of life really do matter. For me, it’s condiments, a nice bottle of wine and a box of plastic wine glasses with stems.

9. Gather your most attractive blankets – you’ll find they have a never-ending list of uses.

10. Apply the same principles to your own garden and move your dining table as far away from your house as is practicable. The distance just ‘does’ something to put you in a different mind-set.

This article was written for The Gardener magazine’s Spring/Summer 2012 issue. The Gardener magazine is available from The Garden Centre Group at http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/

Sleeping under the stars – glamping inspiration

This article was written for The Gardener magazine’s Spring/Summer 2012 issue.

I am not a natural outdoorsy person. I love concrete under my feet and all mod cons. My love of the outdoors, the countryside and fresh air has only recently been acquired.

I grew up in the very last street in Brighton, where the town meets the South Downs. You had two choices: look towards the town or over the back garden towards the beautiful Sussex countryside. I wanted both.

Like many other families in those days, we didn’t travel much. Our holidays were a Hillman Minx, packed to the gills with tinned and packaged food, a tent and the bare necessities of civilised life. We set off with no particular plan. The map of Europe was opened up on the Formica table of the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry with the magical words, “Well, kids, where shall we go?” Over the years our travels took us to Barcelona, Venice and the French Riviera.

None of this really entered my mind until decades later, when I was a self-employed working mother living
in the city. I was lucky: I had some latitude to arrange my time but the long school summer holidays flummoxed me. How on earth do you fill the time in a relatively economical and flexible way?

Then I had an idea. Let’s go permanent camping. Find a nice site an hour from home with a kindly owner, pitch the tent, blow up the air beds and create your own poor man’s holiday home and beat a path there whenever work allowed and the sun shone. Of course, a large garden would work, too.

This is when the ‘glamping’ bug took hold and, a year later, a guilty pleasure overcame me. I saw an old mustard and brown caravan. It looked like a little loaf of bread but I bought it anyway. I replaced the pale blue fitted carpet with cork tiles and added authentic 1970s vinyl wallpaper.

And that was the seedbed for My Cool Caravan: true-life stories and pictures of people and their vintage caravans. My Cool Campervan came next and I learned the joy of the journey – the packed lunch, taking
the slow road. Later this year comes My Cool Shed I think you get the picture.

I adore the idea of escape, especially when it is stylish and inexpensive. Whether it is in a tent, a vintage caravan or a shed, a yurt or a tepee, your local park or your own back garden, it doesn’t matter. All can provide that precious sense of escape.

Later in the week I’ll post my top glamping tips!

The Gardener magazine is available from The Garden Centre Group at http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/

My Beach Hut Inspiration

I always seem  to want to write and style books that are a stylish look at individual design. A look at the small things in life that on first thought are not very significant. Caravans, campervans and now sheds. And I like design that says something about the owner… that has some context.

Last week I received an advance copy of my new book ‘my cool shed’.. . Publication seemed an age away at the time of submission, last Christmas, but now, review copies are being sent out to the press, and the release date is only weeks away. It is available to pre-order on Amazon, the publication date is May 16^th.

It was such a fabulous project to work on, the summer flew by… I was totally absorbed. It took Tina Hillier and I on a trail up and down the land, to Scandinavia and mainland Europe, and we sourced US based photographers for the shoots there. The balance of sheds, hideaways and workspaces that we shot are amazing. From two identical ‘his n hers’ tiny superstore bought sheds that now are used to repair & renovate stylish vintage items to an amazing architectural mini masterpiece on the beach, to an LA garage now converted to a very stylish artist’s studio.

Deadlines are great in that it truly means that you get on with it and have a focus. And it’s  great when a project is put to bed… you can look afresh at your inspiration. Looking back at my reference files I came across some very early images of mine  that had caught my eye. They conveyed a sense of what was behind the unassuming structure of a shed. These simple pictures served as a source of inspiration and understanding to what ‘sheds’ was to be all about..

This row of structurally identical Southwold beach huts was charming but the huts were classic wooden identical huts. A closer look and you see the touch of the individual. The idiosyncratic paint colours, the candy coloured striped banding on some, and most especially poignant to me was the choice of names  that spelt out a very clear message. Have fun, escape from life, have a rest, feel carefree.

The New Book.

There aren’t many things in life that are as exciting and consume your attention as much as your own new book project.

It is a strange mixture of enthusiasm nearing obsessive levels and total pre-occupation. Something wonderful for the creator and hopefully engaging for the rest of the team involved. Other things in life and work tend to get sidelined, the journey of creating something from a germ of an idea but an otherwise blank page is without doubt all consuming.

This time the journey took Tina Hillier our photographer and myself up and down the country (more than once), interspersed with trips to shoot across Europe and the US. We came across some incredible places, with incredible talented owners…. it was a privilege in many respects.

‘my cool shed’ an inspirational guide to stylish hideaways is published on 16^th May and is available to pre-order on Amazon.  It features 35 sheds, cabins and beach- houses from around the world where their owners can work, think, chill out and escape.

My aim was to inspire and delight, both in terms of lifestyle and as a design piece and I am excited to be emerging from this amazing creative period and to be getting ready to share this with you…

Last post of the year

It’s good this time of year to reflect and think about the influences and inspirations that we been lucky enough to have come into our orbit over the last 12 months.

Book Three has just been submitted. It was six months of travel, art directing and writing. A journey which was an enlightening look into some amazing spaces, and a privilege to meet some truly inspirational people who have found means of creative working in some great little spaces… more about that over the next few months.

Tina Hillier was my photographer of choice for the project…. as one of the most talented emerging photographers around it was a joy to have her on this journey with me. Book projects are special in that they are long enough to tell the whole tale, rather than in just one image. Her talent whether in book photography or the single image is further recognised by the National Portrait Gallery, this year she has an image in the Taylor Wessing Photography Prize at the gallery. Quite something to accomplish from an entry of over 2,500 photographers work.

For me, Styling/Art Directing for a living isn’t a static thing, it is a journey of its own, incorporating new influences, looking forward, and enjoying the benefits of creative collaborations.

Thank you all for your support this year, Thank you for your kind words about the books, and especially I have loved hearing about your own restoration/styling projects and being able to feature some of them here.

Best wishes to you all for 2012.

Mid Century Design 1930-1965

The Los Angeles County Museum of Arts have an exhibition

‘California Design 1930-1965:Living in a modern way’ running until March 2012.

Displayed in the opening section is this rather wonderful, absolutely gleaming 1936 Wally Byam Airstream known as the ‘Clipper’ with it’s super polished and sleek lines.

The show covers the whole range, photography, film, fashion, furniture, graphic and industrial design, ceramics and jewellery. It looks at the incredible evolution of mid century design across all the arts during that period, not just conceptually, but designs put into production… all this was fuelled by the booming economy post war, and the social impetus created from the California modern lifestyle.

The designs strike a chord with modern sensibilities.. they are stunningly modern and fresh including the life size re-creation of Charles & Ray Eames living room case study house #8 , to Raymond Loewy’s Avanti sports car, and notice too the art direction of the displays… gorgeous, balanced, art themselves in the mid century style. Very clever.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Arts have an exhibition

‘California Design 1930-1965:Living in a modern way’ running until March 2012.

Displayed in the opening section is this rather wonderful, absolutely gleaming 1936 Wally Byam Airstream known as the ‘Clipper’ with it’s super polished and sleek lines.

The show covers the whole gambit, photography, film, fashion, furniture, graphic and industrial design, ceramics and jewellery. It looks at the incredible evolution of mid century design across all the arts during that period, fuelled by the booming post war economy, and the social impetus created from the California modern lifestyle.

The designs strike a chord with modern sensibilities.. they are stunningly modern and fresh including the life size re-creation of Charles & Ray Eames living room case study house #8 , to Raymond Loewy’s Avanti sports car, and notice too the art direction of the displays… gorgeous, balanced, art themselves in the mid century style. Very clever.

Read more here:

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/seeing-things-california-design-1930-1965/?src=tmcolum

The exhibition catalogue is available from here, as is digital version is.

http://shop.lacma.org/products/california-design

Highly Recommend.

Real life airstream restoration project

Finishing your own restoration project is a joy that just cannot be beaten. It has to be one of life’s great pleasures to take on a beautiful wreck and transform it so that it loses the ‘wreck’ and  is just beautiful.

It’s my job as a stylist/art director to create and tweaking all sorts of wonderful images for people to enjoy looking at and hopefully to get inspired by. I love producing the books, styling the shoots and writing the copy.

All the stories we feature in the books are from real life  ……  and there there is the inevitable wondering what on earth you have taken on, we have all been there… had that horrible moment of serious doubt… struggling to find the part that you are missing or even when all the major work is completed not being quite sure  just how to do up the interior.

I love seeing some-one else’s restoration project take place, and to see it in a step by step fashion, more or less from start to finish.

Laila Smith is one of our ‘my cool…’ followers. She’s a busy girl by anyones standards. Aside from the day job running jewellery and mosaic classes from her workshop on the South Coast. She has just about finished restoring and decorating a lovely 1961 Airstream Overlander.

Earlier this year she kindly emailed me with a link to her blog, documenting the process.  http://airstreamintheuk.blogspot.com/

I followed it with interest. She had found our book ‘my cool caravan’ an inspiration.  It has been such a joy following her progress.

She found our facebook site pretty useful  as a forum for practical advice. The sourcebook on our website good too as they are genuine recommendations of places that I have used to source vintage finds and general good contacts.

But most of all, we can all enjoy looking at Laila’s pictures… what a great job they have done! The vintage airstream looks great, It has been a big project, but she is now able to take  the time to sit back and enjoy that effort, and the courage that taking on any similar project requires.

For Laila and her boyfriend, a big well done from me, their airstream restoration adventure is complete. It has a new lease of life and I am genuinely happy that the book with its lovely stories and images has contributed a source of inspiration along the way.

http://www.crossstreetworkshop.co.uk/ http://www.bluebirdjewellery.co.uk/