Designing a modern icon

While the exterior of the Warwick Knight is restored to its 1950’s glory, we wanted the interior to suit our very modern family. Everyone needs their own space, there needs to be plenty of space for belongings, a cosy fire place, somewhere to cook, somewhere to relax together.

Figuring out the lay out was tricky. The whole family would pace around the cavernous space. “We want bunk beds!”, said the boys. “I want to wake up and look out across the fields”, I added. “Can we climb into bed like we are rock climbers?”, the boys shouted excitedly.

We all lay in places on the floor to figure out what was best to go where, and played make-believe houses to figure out how to navigate the space.

Back and forth to the drawing board we went, before striking on the final perfect blueprint.

At the rear of the caravan is a big double bed surrounded by three windows. It’s wonderfully serene and flooded with warm light all day long as it occupies an open position in our orchard with views across the Gloucestershire landscape. My peaceful idyll was made real.

In the centre of the caravan are two spacious bunks – and yes, they are accessible by a small climbing wall – a dream for little adventurers off to bed.

A clever, and compact kitchen runs the right-hand length of the caravan. It has an oven, hob, sink with fresh running water and ample work surfaces, made from flooring from our house renovation – ever the upcyclers!

The original wood-panelling runs the length of the caravan before turning into an ingenious living room with comfy bench seating that hides beneath storage panels and pull-out draws to hide away all our essentials. And in the corner, a wood burner – what caravan would be complete without a fire to get cosy around?

In a small space colour and comfort are everything. We have used a pale grey blue to maximise the open space of the caravan and a selection of carefully curated fabrics which take the eye from blues and yellows in the living space, and fading out to a silvery blue in the double bedroom. We chose fabrics with a faint echo to the Warwick’s 1950’s past and lovely cosy textures for the sleeping spaces.