A couple who bought a broken caravan and transformed it into a luxury home for £1,000 have said they’re going on six holidays this year – all in the UK.
Catherine Daly and her family decided to deck out a motorhome to make holidays in England a little bit easier as lockdown measures made the prospect of jetting abroad seem increasingly unlikely.
In October last year, the domestic violence worker, together with husband Karl Daly, 36, bought a caravan for £1,500.
But the cheap sale came at a price – with the kitchen and bathroom in a run-down state and barely habitable.
"Basically, we knew lockdown was on the horizon and holidays would be difficult this year,” Catherine told The Echo.
After being quoted £1,500 for a professional repair and renovation job, the family decided to do it themselves.
"We'd done houses so decided to do a lockdown project with a caravan,” Catherine added.
She said daughter Ruby, 6, has been hard at work painting the interiors as the countdown to summer gets underway.
"Ruby has been helping with the painting, she's the best painter! She's even neater than me!"
The family spent £1,000 in total, redecorating, furnishing and fixing the caravan they bought on the cheap.
"It's lovely seeing the before and after, it's the during that's the hard part.
"If you're going to do one up, I would say when you're feeling fed up stop and go back the next day. Don't rush it."
The family have named their new project Caravan ROCK after each of them: daughter Ruby, cat Oscar, Catherine and Karl.
They even had a special piece of artwork made which is proudly on display in the caravan, showing each member of their family.
Photos uploaded to their dedicated caravan Instagram page show a modern kitchen area with sleek white tiles and a 'gin bar'.
They used their social media account to document the hard work that went into the project, from stripping the caravan down to fiddly paint work and reconstructions.
Now that they have completed their caravan transformation, they're excited to take it out on the roads.
Catherine said: "We're taking it out next weekend! We have six different holidays planned all around the UK!"
“I can't wait to be sitting there with a gin somewhere beautiful."
For anyone thinking of getting a caravan themselves, Catherine urges them to get a damp reader before you buy and check the chassis underneath to make sure that it is safe and stable.
