After renovating our first trailer we knew this was something we absolutely loved to do. We just love being creative and styling up these babies as we would any other space in our home projects.

So, when we sold the Triple E trailer last year, we were on the hunt for something new and were frequent visitors of the Craigslist, trailer sale section. When we saw the Boler add we knew we had to jump on it and offered the exact price the sellers were asking and said we could pick up, sight unseen the next day. Now, to get your hands on one of these little trailers you must act fast and usually be prepared to do some work. We were one of over 100 inquires looking to purchase this trailer so we felt super lucky that we were the ones to take it home. So, we knew there needed to be work done but the extent of that work really hit us when we parked it in the driveway.

When we opened the door Brandon and I looked at each other and said, “ok, ok, this isn’t so bad. No, no, this bad. It’s really bad, right? We can fix this up right?”. That only lasted a minute or two as we started to see the potential ooze out of every rusty corner. The backstory of this Boler is that it sat for almost 10 years on the seller’s dad’s property. They were really hoping to fix it up themselves, but they also opened the door and said “ok, ok, this isn’t so bad. No, no, this bad. It’s really bad, right? We can fix this up right?” and alas they decided it was best to pass it on to a new home. I absolutely do not blame them. We have put a ton of elbow grease, hours, and sweat into this little trailer and that’s because we love to do it. It has become our newfound hobby.

We wanted to get started right away and we knew that a ton of remediation had to be done as our first step. Thankfully the fiberglass frame was in fantastic shape (speaks to how well these babies were made) so that allowed us to jump inside. Brandon, in his hazmat gear went in and did several (and we’re talking like a lot) rounds of scraping, spraying, disinfecting, panel removal, carpet, curtain, cabinet disposal, more scraping, more spraying, more disinfecting. This was the hardest part by far of the whole process. Then one day we opened the door and saw light (like, we actually didn’t see any more mold) and thought we’re making progress. Once we got over that hill we started to roll and get into a groove. We replaced the flooring with an oak laminate because it is super durable and easy to wipe clean. We knew we wanted to keep the walls white and light, so we did several coats of Kilz original primer, which blocks out orders and is great at sealing internal surfaces. Once the primer was on, we caulked all the seams between the foam panels with a caulking gun. We let that dry and did another coat a few days later. The second coat really helps to fill the gaps and create a nice smooth surface for paint. We went with Chantilly Lace as our wall colour, it is one of my all-time favorite whites and a top pick at Benjamin Moore. We ended up doing 3 coats of paint to make sure that everything was covered perfectly, we had thought about spraying the inside but ended up using a roller and it turned out really well.

Once the paint was on it was time to start working on the cabinet fronts and the counter top. We stuck with the light and bright theme and opted for a pine slab that was large enough to get the door fronts and counter top cut. Prior to reinstalling the cabinets we gave them a good sand and applied a clear coat varnish on top to protect them and seal the wood. We replaced the original hinges and added new simple black handles to the fronts, keeping the look modern and clean. There is also a closet in the 13’ Boler that is actually really great storage space. That door front also got a makeover with the same wood slab and black hardware, we also added lighting under the cabinets and in the closet.

The sink, fridge and Coleman stove are all original. We knew we wanted to make them black and we tried lots of different paints and primers. We actually found a perfect combo with Protective Enamel Rust-Oleum Flat Black for the sink and the Rust-Oleum mate black high heat spray paint for the stove. We were so happy with how they came out and love that they are original with a modern paint finish. The sink is actually the original hand pump faucet which we definitely wanted to leave in place, they are so hard to find.

As the weather improved and the inside was taking shape we moved on to painting the outside of the Boler. Now, we do own a sprayer and we did spray our last trailer but we decided to try using a roller this time around. We found it worked well and we really loved the texture it created on the fiberglass. We used an oil based primer which was fantastic, it created a smooth base to apply the additional coats of paint to. Like the inside we knew we wanted to keep everything clean and simple so we opted for an all white shell with black trim.

Once the paint was done we replaced all the lighting and bulbs on the outside, which really started to bring it all together. The next thing on our list was tweaking the bunk beds. In these 13’ Bolers there is a bed at the back where the table folds down and in the front there is a set of bunk beds. These bunks could be the cutest things ever seen in a trailer but, they were a little scary and unstable when we first put them together. So, we ended up using black steel piping as our new support beams. The bottom of the top bunk is also supported by the fiber glass lip that is underneath the front window. We ended up replacing the hinges that secure it to the wall to provide more support. I love these bunks so much.

And there you have it, a bit of a breakdown on how the #lshboler came to be. We are so happy with how it turned out and are absolutely loving this new found hobby of ours. This little trailer came to us at just the right time, helping keep our minds busy and calm during covid quarantine. For that, this trailer will always hold a special place in our hearts.