How a Cork caravan tiny house became a glamorous getaway
Model Amber Jean Rowan in the shoot for Apparel by Audrey Hamilton at Erica Bracken's caravan-turned-tiny-house cabin.
When Erica Bracken turned the handle on the door to the ultimate in garden cabin getaways, it opened up more possibilities than she could have dreamed of. That was two years ago, and the yoga teacher and marketing consultant had just transformed an old caravan into a sleek, chic retreat.
But bijou as it is, it’s proved a Tardis. “As a hybrid between a caravan and a cabin it definitely veers into the tiny-house territory,” says Erica.
Since she and her family started to enjoy the extra living space the cabin has offered, not only as a home office and indoor-outdoor entertainment spot, this former house on wheels has also glided into the little black book of fashion stylists.
“It really has many roles — the most recent hosting a photoshoot,” says Erica.
“An Irish fashion brand, Apparel by Audrey Hamilton, got in touch last year. They were looking for a unique location for a fun summer photoshoot. It was surreal having a whole team visit — models, hairstylists, makeup artists, and photographer.”
Packing bags to go on location is something Erica does in the course of her own work too, spending summer months in Portugal — but back in Cork, she opens her laptop at her desk in this “office” at the end of the garden of her family home in Glenville. “The cabin is in a little wooded area in a field, so it’s a lovely quiet spot of the Cork countryside,” she says.
“I’ve been based at home in Glenville since the pandemic. I retreated here from Dublin and I’ve yet to leave!
“I travel quite a bit so this is a great base I can come to and from. I’m based in Lisbon for all of May and June.”
The cabin is “a retreat where you can really switch off”, adds Erica
“It’s just a two-minute walk from our house, so while it’s really close to the house, at the same time it’s completely immersed in nature. It’s also a wonderful place to go if you need to focus on something without any distraction — for example, a work project.”
Of course, it’s not all work and no play. “My dad loves nothing more than heading down there after work, lighting the outdoor fire and unwinding on one of the deck chairs. It’s also the ultimate playhouse for my niece Alice and nephew Conor.
“My parents get as much use from it as I do and did a lot of the work restoring it. We love hosting get-togethers with friends and family there too.
"We have a big table on the decking outside. We light the outdoor fire pit, put up bunting and fairy lights. It’s an instant good vibe and we always have a great night.”
Erica bought the caravan in May 2020 and “did the bulk of the work over a two-month period until the end of July 2020”, she says.
She and her family decided to transform their purchase “from the sorry state it arrived in” into a luxury glamping-style cabin” she adds, concentrating on the project at weekends and after they logged off work. “I took lots of inspiration from ‘tiny houses’ on Pinterest when deciding how to style it,” says Erica.
“My brother Sam and sister-in-law Natalie were visiting from London for a month at the beginning of August 2020 so that gave us the motivation to get make it into something really special in time for their stay.
“While we thought we were finished at that point, we were still tipping away for all of 2021, adding more features and facilities, enhancing the caravan itself and the area surrounding it.”
They added a roof and blocked off the area around the caravan to keep it sheltered from the elements.
“There’s now an outdoor toilet and tool shed, and we’ve planted trees around it too. There’s also a pathway leading down to the caravan through the woods, making the walk down to the cabin more magical.”
And while it comes into its own in summer, the retreat is in demand all year round. “The caravan is well insulated during the winter so we can use it during the colder months, but as the weather gets warmer, we definitely get more use from it,” says Erica.
What was the van like when she first saw it?
“Messy, musty and dated: Think of the caravan you holidayed in in the 80s or 90s; it was exactly like that, bunk beds and shower included, except it had gone into complete disrepair over the years,” says Erica.
Now the caravan interior is “somewhere between Bohemian and Scandi”, says Erica.
“We kept things bright and fresh with a clean palette of white, and accents of green, wood, brown and golden yellows in the soft furnishings.
“The exterior is inspired by black-clad Scandinavian cabins, so, when it came to the outdoor toilet, I wanted to do something a little different and unexpected. I was thinking maximalism to contrast the minimal caravan interior and exterior — something I probably wouldn’t have done in our house, but with the caravan, this was my opportunity to do something fun.
“I knew I wanted to do a feature wall and scoured Pinterest looking for ‘tiny toilet’ and mural inspiration. I eventually landed on leopard print.
“As it’s an outdoor building we couldn’t use wallpaper for fear of it getting damp, so we painted the walls gold and, now here comes the tricky part, I hand-painted the black leopard print. Every spot! It took me hours, over a number of weeks, to finish but I’m delighted with the result.”
“The dogs love hanging out on the decking. We have three big dogs and it’s our oldest dog Omar’s (a golden retriever) favourite spot.
"Most days he’ll wander down there on his own and lie out on the decking in the sun in the peace and quiet," says Erica.
"My (smaller dog) Fig is the only one allowed inside — when her paws aren’t too dirty!”
“We treat our caravan like a cabin, so it’s always in place and not out on the road. We wanted it to be as comfortable and cosy as possible so we added insulation.” Enamel paint “You can’t paint a caravan with any old paint. You have to use enamel paint like you’d use for a car. It’s really tricky to apply and nearly broke our hearts but we got there!
“A simple solution to update the old walls was to cover them with beauty board — it’s the material you’d use most often in a bathroom, affordable and widely available. Once it was up the place was instantly freshened up and the walls didn’t need to be painted.”
"We stripped out the bunk beds and shower but kept the old kitchen and overhead shelves. It’s part of its charm.”
“We kept costs down by using things we already had at home, like mirrors, cushions add bedding.
"We fitted an old microwave and a family member donated a mini fridge they weren’t using. We also tried to upcycle where we could — for instance, the metal planters outside were shelves being thrown out at a hardware store.”
Finally, says Erica: “Make it a space that’s unique to you."
“Pinterest and Instagram are a great source of inspiration when decorating but if you copy something to the letter and buy everything new from shops full of ‘trending’ pieces it will look like any other place. Instead, use things you already have, be creative and trust your own unique sense of style.”
- Instagram erica_bracken
- Yoga classes at ericabracken.com
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