For a 14-year-old, summer is usually spent at the beach watching movies with friends. But Ellie Etter’s summer was quite different. The 14-year-old from Williamstown, West Virginia, spent her summer restoring her 1974 camper, which she bought with her hard-earned money.
Ellie found the camper in a local magazine for sale and bought it for just $200. After saving $500 from birthday presents and babysitting jobs, she decided to spend the rest of the money on refurbishing the camper. “It had been used as a camping and hunting trailer, so it was in pretty bad shape,” her mother, Lori, revealed. It was a job… It needs a lot of work.”
Ellie and her family live on a 60-acre lot, and she wanted the camper to be close enough to the main house to have access to electricity and Wi-Fi. However, in order to make that happen, the camper had to be completely disassembled. After removing all the interior trim, Ellie set out to replace the flooring, re-carpet and repaint the interior. Ellie’s dad, mom, grandpa and grandma all joined her on this project.
Over the summer, Ellie collected lots of vintage and retro-inspired items and turned them into a lovely trailer. She also got some old mannequins and vintage fans. Ellie’s bright and creative personality shows in her design choices.
So, what does Ellie plan to do with the trailer once it’s finished? She plans to use it as a quiet place to spend the night with friends, read books and play the ukulele. Ellie will learn the value of hard work and teamwork as she completes this amazing transition. Well done, Ellie!
After spending $200 on the camper, she spent another $300 to finish decorating it after seeing a sale at a craft store.
Her grandfather did the carpentry, her father did the roofing, and her grandmother helped sew the curtains and cushion covers,” Lori said. I hope she has goals to achieve over the summer, rather than spending all her time on her phone like her friends did throughout the vacation.
“This is my place. It’s happy and positive, and I can literally hum songs from Broadway musicals or sit quietly while I do my homework.” Allie says. ‘That’s why there are positive words, lights and books on the walls.
The success of the project came as no surprise to Avery’s family. However, the family was taken aback when Avery received international attention for her transformation.
‘My mother posted a photo on Facebook and it was immediately shared and stories were being written all over the world,’ Avery said. ‘It was the fourth biggest story on Yahoo!
After Lori’s friends shared the post, the family began receiving contact from sites like DIY Network and Country Living.
‘Her reaction was shocking,’ said Larry Etter, Avery’s father. ‘It was the kind of project our family did, but others found it fascinating.
‘But it was fun for us because it was Ellie who was doing it. She’s always creative and different,’ says Lori. The camper’s popularity is such that we’re considering converting a second camper.
But the current plan for the camper is to extend it outdoors some.
‘Next summer, we want to put down some grass and put up a screen between the trees,’ says Ellie. ‘We’d like to invite friends over and watch movies here.
For now, the camper is housed near the front of the Yates’ home, is in Wi-Fi range and has electricity via an outdoor extension cord.
“When she first brought it to us, we didn’t want to leave it in the front garden,” said Isaiah Yett, Ellie’s 16-year-old brother. At the time it looked like white trash, but now it’s pretty cool.”
image source : itinyhouses
