At the time of writing, we have just said goodbye to one van, which we love dearly, and are thinking about the endless possibilities of a new build. Doobry has been a really special build. He was built alongside Frida during the first lockdown of 2020, giving us something meaningful to do on the weekends, and taking our minds off the fact that we could not take the trip of a lifetime that had been so long in the planning.
Popular layouts
We had just finished building quite a few vans with fixed beds along the back, a side kitchen, and fairly small seating areas in the space that was left. These were lovely, and seemed to be the popular choice among our commissioning customers. You can see examples of some of these over here
Doobry seemed to demand something completely different from us….he had a lovely organic, curved shape, which just cried out for special treatment….and before we knew it, he had a beautiful, curvy arched ceiling, which looked absolutely amazing!
We couldn’t bring ourselves to spoil the shape with top cupboards, so we dreamed up some underfloor storage in place of it. Huge drawers pull out from the side door. We built the kitchen at the back, fitting a full cooker, a beautiful Mexican sink, and a deeper, more practical hidden sink on the other side. We sent to Mexico for some lovely mosaic picture tiles, and to Turkey for some Kilim cushions. Fairy lights, Moroccan lanterns and hanging lights add to the magical feel. And the storage space is phenomenal.
This van went on through a strange set of circumstances to travel Scotland with the Outlander stars, Sam Heughan and Graham MacTavish, for their spinoff series, Men in Kilts. He is my absolute favourite van so far, and it was a wrench to lose him……I found myself curious and also a little anxious to find out where his adventures would take him next!
And so we move on to a new project. Once again creative sparks will fly, and a new campervan will begin to take shape. We never know how they will evolve…they just make their own way into the world…..seemingly independent of us, as we allow the beautiful wood to tell its own story………I’m pretty sure the other builders of rustic vans among us will know exactly what I am talking about!
Rustic Simplicity ......The Story Behind The Name 