Camper - Vardo

Built this custom camper after the Vardo style. All good materials (exterior is cedar, interior is knotty pine walls with bamboo floor and stained glass windows). Fully insulated throughout. Has electricity, water, kitchenette and fridge, entertainment center, desk, fold out couch to sleeper with storage under that. Interior size is 8 x 11. The hardest parts were the slanted and angled walls and the round roof.

Basically build a frame that fits onto the trailer that will support the structure and insulate it. All green treated lumber at this time for sure.

Used 2x3 for the wall studs so a little lighter. Roof joists are cedar 2x6 - I wanted them to be decorative so that is why the cedar. It would have been easier to attach the roofing if these were wider lumber but wider cedar is expensive so went with the deck board lumber.

Luann plywood, then glued and screwed insulation, then tar paper, then the copper colored steel roofing (not pictured here). Tar paper on the exterior walls, then the siding and trim. Trimming the rounded areas in the over hangs were a challenge cutting them to fit tight. Would have been easier if I embedded the trusses into plywood but it looks nice all cedar.

Pre-finished knotty pine, I think it looks nice but not the lightest material. Flooring is click track bamboo I had left over from our basement floor project. Hand made dutch door (a often used door style for vardos). Custom built stained glass windows. The normal windows were basic windows from home depot, ok but not style making.

My wife got involved and thankfully, so the interior started looking nice with hand made window treatments, quilt, nice gypsy pillows, beads. The stained glass was her concept also. I was ready to put stencils over plexi glass but there would be none of that cheesiness. Electrical outlets throughout running off one main GFI. The sink is hooked up to outside water via hose and a 5 gallon removable drainage container.

Not very gypsy without planters. They go inside the vardo when going down the road for obvious reasons. I may hand carve some wooden flower/plants that could stay all the time eventually. Am concerned they might get ripped off though. Another thought would be removable plastic covers over the plants.

I added the baffle to the front (it is removable) since the front over hang seemed to be catching air when over 40 miles an hour. It really helped the aero dynamics (an important thing when trying to go 70 mph) down the freeway that everyone expects you to go! The unit gets allot of attention on and off the road that is sometimes a little much but I have already met allot of nice people because of it that I would never have met before. One guy followed me for 5 miles through a town until he could get my attention and asked to see it because he was planning to build a vardo himself.