Fiona was in a really good way when we got her – she was clean, very well looked after and not at all shabby on the inside. In fact after we got her I was half considering leaving her as she was, but I wanted to put my stamp on her and inject a bit of personality (plus the fabric that they use in caravans -what is that all about? Even looking for new ones is confusing as they all look old…)

So the most important thing for us to think about was how to tackle the cushion covers.

Here were my options and problems:

Option 1: Make new ones. How hard can it be? Well actually incredibly bloody hard according to an American man on Youtube. Plus I can’t sew. Plus I have no patience. Option ruled out.

Option 2: Buy new ones. How hard can it be? Well actually incredibly bloody hard according to any website that sells them. And when I say hard I actually mean very bloody expensive. And when I say expensive I also mean not very nice either. So unless I want to spend a small fortune (i’m talking sofa prices) on covers that I don’t like then option also ruled out.

But what I did notice about our caravan cushions is that they are bed shaped – the main sofa area slides together to make a double bed and the side sofa can be effortlessly transformed (with a bit of swearing, scraped knuckles and vigorous sliding) into a second bunkbed.

So I had what can only be described as a moment of genius (admittedly it’s only been described as a moment of genius once, just now, by me) but I thought I could use combination of single duvet covers, double duvet covers and pillow cases to cover the sofa cushions.

This means:

1. With a combination of single duvet covers, double duvet covers and pillow cases I can totally transform the look of the caravan
2. I can change the look as regularly as I like (fairly cheaply if I get a bargain duvet cover)
3. The covers can double up as sheets for us – easy to change and wash and no need to take extra sheets.

I looked for a geometric print duvet cover as the look I was going for was Ikea before opening/cosy cottage that had been converted by millionaires who wear fluffy slippers and have hairless dogs and a wood burner. Niche.

I piled the cushions into the house and was helped (HUGELY hindered) by my four year old who insisted on helping to cover the cushions/use them as an impromptu indoor soft play which is evident in the below pictures of the process.

A quick note that I found bold dark prints were much more effective in the caravan than light elaborate designs which looked washed out. I chose a duvet design that had two different prints on each side which means I can mix up which design goes where AND means I can use two bold designs which I know will match each other.

Using the duvet cover pillows to cover back cushions:

Sofas before:

Sofas after:

You can see the (creased!) other side of the design in the other pillows above but in the photo below is the side bunk covered in the reverse of the duvet:

If you are interested in doing the same thing or want to get the duvet or cushions for your home you can click on the amazon link below. This is an affiliate link which means I will get a small amount of money if you buy it because some idiot (me) thought it’d be a good idea to buy and renovate a caravan.

In my next blogpost I’ll talk about painting a caravan which, spoiler alert, is very bloody hard work and I am pretty traumatised by. After I’ve received counselling I’ll relay why it’s a really good idea to paint your caravan despite said trauma.