Sunday, January 23, 2011

Going Mobile

Wishing I had the vintage car to go with the camper!

After the store closed I spent four days in Atlanta at the Gift & Home Furnishings Show. From Christmas to Spring and many fabulous non-seasonal items in-between, I look forward to the new merchandise coming in and I will feature those items on this blog and on Facebook in the months to come. It seems the closing of Curious Sofa was all the buzz at market among some vendors and retailers; from the airport in Atlanta to the baggage claim in Kansas City, I relived, rehashed and retold my reasoning for closing over and over again.

This week I will finally be moved out of the shop. When we had our final day at 75% off there was very little left, which is good! The small pile of miscellaneous I have for the Goodwill will literally fit in the trunk of a car. I still cannot believe how customers cleaned us out, down to our coffee maker, but that was always my plan. Tomorrow I bring my office to my home as well as boxes and boxes of online merchandise to shoot and shelves of paperwork to store. If it were not 20 degrees here with 10" of snow, I would be really excited but the weather will make the process a little tougher to enjoy. I have the spare bedroom empty and ready, the garage swept and edited and the basement cleaned for isles of shelving. This is the third time I have moved in January and now I think there is something serendipitous about it. It only makes sense to make major changes the first of the year.

For months now I have been searching for the perfect vintage camper to take me into the next stage of my life. From eBay to Craig's List and every trailer site on the web, I have bookmarked and shopped until I am dizzy with possibilities. Some are down right hysterical, some are a little too utilitarian, and some as much as I love them, will look downright silly being pulled by my 2007 soccer mom minivan.

When I say vintage camper everyone pictures me in the Airstream's Bambi:

Airstream Bambi

but that is not my style (too kitsch, too retro). I want something more like these shown below. A canned ham or something from the 70's. Some are in really rough shape and some are for sale as far away as Idaho (not sure I want to drive all that way just to look). I have my eye on one in Omaha and when it warms up, I will make a day trip there.


I hope to find one really cheap ($500 and under); all white or silver (of course it has to be neutral). I may paint a stripe or two to match my van.


And of course I plan to fix up the inside and make it photo worthy! Matthew Mead wrote me to "think Spring" so maybe this will be my contribution to his next magazine. I have checked campgrounds from Round Top to Santa Fe and so far I have a great little file made to prepare me to hit the road. Stay tuned!

Taking faux-finishing to a whole new level, the log cabin trailer.
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