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What’s the best way to decide on furniture upholstery?
Most of the time we ask our customers – what does your camping style look like?
The way we travel, camp and enjoy our vans is the best way to dictate what should go into the campervan’s design.
Upholstery makes the interior look good, with a comfy durable finish. It’s where we sit and where we sleep, so it has to be super-comfortable and stay that way. If you’re renovating a vintage vehicle, it can bring the entire project back to life, or just mean you get the best night’s sleep possible.
When it comes to campervan interior design, you could say the “wow factor” is really important to our customers. Campervan upholstery creates a space that feels personal, comfortable, and welcoming. When you open the door it makes you say “wow, that’s my van”.
When should the upholstery be changed in your camper?
If your upholstery is already looking rough, or you are about to have the other fittings like a kitchen installed, it makes sense to have the seats re-covered at the same time.
When your van comes in, the seats come out and they are taken away to upholstered or re-uph olstered by our team. This happens while technicians do all of the internal work in your van to make it all come together asap.
We then store your seating in a safe, clean area until the very end of your van’s renovation. That’s when they go back in.
It makes sense to do it this way around, especially if the speed of your van’s transformation is important to you.
Colour and durability
Our fabrics are marine grade leatherette (the same stuff used in boats and yachts). It’s great quality and are use it in 99% of our vans. Sometimes people opt for leather, but that cost considerably more.
Since opening our upholstery centre many years ago now, we have created some very classic styles and some seriously out there colours, of red, oranges, purple and a mixture of everything!
Durability is important to everyone. Especially if you have young children or pets that join you on your camping adventures. All of the fabrics you see here are tried and tested under “family conditions” haha.
Marine quality leatherette and fabrics that are robust, wipe clean, and designed to last. They have a very convincing leather texture, without the price tag of real cow hyde. It makes for a functional and stylish van interior that will last.
How are van seats re-upholstered?
When we take seats in for work, they are completely stripped down and reassembled with
- brand new 100mm foam
- a 3mm layer of scrim foam
- Leatherette in the colour of your choice
- And piping to finish
There are pre-made seating upholstery options on the market but we find they don’t work for our customers. All of our upholstery is bespoke, so you get seats exactly how you want them with no compromising on colour or quality.
The leatherette we like to use is the Valencia range (it’s water resistance, cold crack and UV-resistant). Spradling’s superior aftermarket coated fabrics mirror a host of OEM vehicles for the automotive sector.
Injecting your personality
Your choice of upholstery dictates the style, personality and visual impact of your van. Some people like to get really funky with bright purples or turquoise. Others prefer to go monochrome, or choose neutral colours that suit the age of the van (oranges and browns are really popular for vintage VW campers).
The extensive range of colours, textures, and fabrics you choose define the character and style of your campervan, helping to make it feel like a true home on wheels for you and your family.
You might also want to mimic a certain style or finish, and upholstery choice will contribute to this considerably. Some of our customers prefer sleek and modern while others embrace earthy tones, rustic finishes, or many opt for bold and vibrant colours.
Some of our customers like to do things like match the piping colour with their pop top canvas, or match the seats to the lighting.
See more of our upholstery jobs here.
About The Author
The Dub Hut are campervan conversion specialists based in Ashford, Kent. Their workshop is a one stop shop for all kinds of domestic and commercial van conversions, supplying upholstery, electrical work, dampening, heaters, solar power, pop tops, rocks and roll beds, kitchens, mobile workshops and more. They have been established since 2018 and operate an open-door policy for all customers. Please drop by during office hours to see vans being worked on in real time or to speak to our team.
www.thedubhut.co.uk Join in on the fun! Facebook | Instagram | TikTok