A stunning coffee table book for DIYers, interior design lovers, as well as vanlife and tiny homes enthusiasts, This Old Van is the complete how-to guide to plan, renovate and style your own vintage van to give it a second life.

We have received countless emails from keen renovators around the world asking for advice on refitting a vintage van or RV. So we’ve compiled our tips, tricks, and the wisdom we have learned on our own projects and distilled it into one helpful and beautiful book. Learn what to look for when purchasing a second-hand van, follow detailed information on planning and construction, and discover plenty of design and styling tips, alongside beautiful photos of our many van conversions to help provide further inspiration.

For many, a van or RV is much more than just a holiday home – it’s a vehicle for freedom and adventure, or might even be your permanent home. We address every consideration from budgeting and spatial planning to colour palettes, so you can create your dream home on wheels.

Shop an exclusive signed copy from us of This Old Van here.

SHOP YOUR COPY NOW.

After 4 years under our house patiently waiting for her moment in the sun, our 1970’s vintage Viscount, Goldie was our chance to take what we learned from our previous 4 vans and create something truly just for us.

Goldie’s colour scheme feels like a step back in time and pays tribute to golden hour, our favourite time of day and when the Gold Coast is at its best. We used the Taubmans Coloursmith app to come up with some seriously special paint colours, in White Knight Paints products that are designed to withstand small space living, life on the road and everything that comes with van life.

Painting the interior

Unlike some of our other vans, Goldie was a full strip out. There was nothing to be rescued inside so we used the opportunity to come up with a completely new layout that served our lifestyle and the way we like to use our vans. We lined all the walls and made all the cabinetry with light weight, bracing plywood, which was cost effective, durable and brings loads of warmth.

We sealed the top half of the walls with a polyurethane sealant and the rest we painted we primed with White Knight Renew Tile and Laminate primer before following with White Knight Renew Tile and Laminate paint. We could have used a standard interior wall paint on this surface, but we know from our previous vans that this paint is designed to be incredibly hardy and can take the knock about lifestyle that comes with small space van living. It can also be tinted in any colour. I came up with an earthy, dusky pink colour that I created with the Taubmans Coloursmith app which complements the timber as well as the exteriors colours.

Goldie’s interior colour Coloursmith QR code.

Painting the exterior

Before we could get to the fun part of getting colour on the exterior we needed to prep and paint the chassis. We got rid of any loose rust and painted the steel with White Knight Rust Guard Hammered finish in Charcoal. It’s anti-corrosive, super durable and is also ideal for disguising stone chips that comes with van life.

Coming up with the colour scheme for our van exteriors always feels like a big deal. It sets the tone for the entire scheme. I wanted Goldie to feel like you’ve been transported to the 70’s, warm and toastie like a sunset and little bit different from what we’ve done in the past.  I used the Taubmans Coloursmith app, I came up with two unique, complementing colours that I can only describe as sort of peach and sort of berry. The colours contrast each other but still feel part of the same family and therefore keep it feeling tonal which, I love.

Coloursmith QR code: Goldie’s exterior bottom colour

Coloursmith QR code: Goldie’s exterior top colourPainting metals

There is always a few metal surfaces to address when it comes to our caravans. As we’ve done with all our caravan windows, we painted Goldie’s windows with White Knight Squirts which is perfect for fine metals like this. And we opted for the colour Mocha which helped the windows blend rather than pull focus.

Then there is our fridge. Rather than squeeze our food into a caravan-specific fridge when camping, we use a small domestic fridge which sits under our awning but the black was not going to fly with our new van colours so we painted it with White Knight Rust Guard Epoxy Enamel tinted in a Taubmans Coloursmith colour that complements the van. There is no primer needed for this when used on new or only slightly rusted metal, so it was as simple as wipe and paint.

Another vintage belle ready to hit the road!

Carlene 

This blog was brought to you by White Knight Paints. All words and ideas are my own.

Images by Mindi Cooke.

Four different material boards created for Ausmar Homes aimed to inspire the home selection process.

European

A tonal colour scheme, rich in materiality.

Panels
Batten 25 – Surround by Laminex

Laminate
Natural Teak – Laminex
Peruvian Clay – Laminex
Porcelain Blush – Laminex

Paint
Eggshell Pink 1/4 – Dulux

Metal
Living Rustic Bronze – Sussex Taps

Carpet
Lisburn Collection in ‘Cambric’ – Bremworth

Wallpaper
Grasscloth in ‘Safari’ – Porter’s Grasscloth

Fabric
Tan Suede – Warwick Fabrics
Boucle – Warwick Fabrics
Leather – Wortley Group

Stone
Fieldstone Aspen – PGH Bricks

Brick
Morada Ares – PGH Bricks

Tiles
Urban Atelier Marfim Gloss (Powder pink) – National Tiles
Stucco Square Cotto Matt – National Tiles
Cuccaro Arena 600×600 – National Tiles

Hardware
Pembrey Bar Handle 320mm Bronze – Furnware

Australia

Inspired by our rich, unique Australian landscape.

Panels
Batten 25 – Surround by Laminex

Laminate
Seed – Laminex
Possum – Laminex
Burnt Ochre – Laminex

Paint
Still – Dulux

Metal
Living Rustic Bronze – Sussex Taps

Carpet
Galet Collection in ‘Sienna’ – Bremworth
Galet Collection in ‘Sage’ – Bremworth

Wallpaper
Cheyennes 73850172 – Unique Fabrics

Classic

A broody, sophisticated approach to a traditional interior.

Panels
Heritage 150 – Surround by Laminex

Laminate
Elegant Oak – Laminex

Stone
Luna Concrete – Essastone
Grigio Novello – Essastone

Paint
Namdji – Dulux

Tapware
Posh Canterbury – Reece

Carpet
Ripples Collection in ‘Ohau’ – Bremworth

Flooring
Venture Vinyl Plank in ‘Ironbark’ – Andersens Noosa

Fabric
Tan Leather – Warwick Fabrics
Leaf Pattern (on black tile) – Unique Fabrics
Stripe (under black tile) – Unique Fabrics
Amalfi Zebra (under marble tile) – King Living

Tiles
Colosseum Castro White Honed Tile – National Tiles
Carva Borghini Satin Tile 600×600 – National Tiles
Byron Marquinia 195×195 – National Tiles

Hardware
Pembrey T-Knob Polished Nickel – Furnware
Black Handle – Kethy

The renovation of this classic 1920’s Queenslander home demonstrates how a home can be modified to respond to modern needs of a young family of 4, whilst being sympathetic to the home’s origins. We met local businessman Matt and his wife Vali at the airport while grabbing that all neccessary pre-flight coffee. Matt struck up a conversation with us as an employee of his had been one of the electricians on The Black in Melbourne. A few months later, he reached out to us to design their full home renovation of their gorgeous 1927 Queenslander home.

The beauty of the job was its proximity to our own house, located in a semi-rural pocket near Currumbin. The area mostly comprised of acreage properties, with mature trees and grassy paddocks populated by cows and horses, all under 15 minutes to the beach – encapsulating the best of both worlds = heaven!

Matt and Vali had purchased the 1.4-acre (0.56ha) property in 2015 after years of living in a very modern home. It was love at first sight for them and their two young children, mainly because the two-storey Queenslander had the family feel they’d yearned for. They were surprised to learn that the house was originally built in the heritage area of Ipswich and relocated by the previous owners.

We were given the following brief: to renovate the interior in an architecturally sympathetic way. Often the integrity of these old buildings is lost during the update, so we were excited to show how this house could be transformed while celebrating its history.

Find below our resources guide for this classic Queenslander with a few of our favourite pieces that brought this project to life.

Dining

Natural light wasn’t in abundance in this house, so we added skylights to the kitchen and dining area.

Dining Table – ‘Parquetry’ Elm Dining Table

Dining Chairs – ‘Provincial’ Chairs from Village Stores

Pendant Lights – Vintage

Artwork – Kimmy Hogan

Floor Rug – Hypnose in Blue from Decorug

Paint colour – Resene Half Wan White

Entrance

Opposite the front door on the first floor is a nook for coat, bag and shoe storage.

Cabinetry – Polytec Ultra White

Cushion Fabric (built-in seat) – Stippled print from These Walls

Multi Hook – ‘Geo’ with antiqued brass finish from West Elm

Paint colour – Resene Half Wan White

Living

The living room has my heart. We worked with the moodiness of the house by opting for a rick, saturated wall colour that feels like a warm hug and allows the art to pop off the walls. I also love the floor-to-ceiling bookcase. My favourite aspect, though, is one I’m not responsible for – the beautiful stained-glass windows at the entry.

Sofa – Upholstered in Warwick Fabrics ‘Husk’ fabric in Steel from Molmic

Armchair – Upholstered in Warwick Fabrics ‘Axella’ Denim from Molmic

Side Table – ‘Ink Round‘ from Early Settler

Floor Lamp –  ‘Calais‘ in brass from Emac & Lawton

Artwork (pandanus and kangaroos) – Kara Rosenlund

Artwork (foliage) – Kimmy Hogan

Artwork (jar with nasturtium and jug) – Elizabeth Barnett

Wall Panelling – Easycraft VJ Panelling

Paint colour – Resene Wedgewood

Master Bedroom

Bedhead – Custom made by Heatherly Designs

Paint colour – Resene Wedgewood

Wall light – Pottery Barn

Art – Kara Rosenlund

Bed linen – I Love Linen

Bedside Table – Pottery Barn

Lamps – West Elm

Kids Bedroom 

Bed – ‘Willow’ from Fantastic Furniture

Quilt Cover – ‘Creature Features’ from Target

Bedside Table – ‘Elise’ from Provincial Home Living

Artwork – By the eight-year-old occupant works perfectly in this cool green space

Paint colour – Resene Spring Green

Bathroom

Basins – Abey Australia

Taps – Abey Australia

Floor Tiles – Burleigh Tiles

Bathroom

The bathroom is a family-friendly space where Murphy the mini labradoodle is also welcome!

Paint Colour – Resene Half Truffle

Bath – Abey

Basin – Abey

Floor Tiles – Burleigh Tiles

Towel – Nikau Store

Alfresco

Lush tropical surroundings are the drawcard here, so we utilised this with the openness of the verandah.

Sofas – Sonoma Sofas from GlobeWest

Coffee Table – GlobeWest

Dining Chairs – GlobeWest

Cushion Fabrics – 3Beaches

Pizza Oven – Zesti

Bar Table – Custom made

Bar Stools – Interiors Online

Deign and Styling: Cedar and Suede

Editorial Styling: Sarah Ellison for Australian Homes and Garden

Photographer: Mindi Cooke

Carlene xx