Taste and choice
We have been researching makes and models of motorhome and have made our decision at last. One drawback remains and that is the matter of the upholstery fabrics which we think are unappealing: possibly polite terminology. I wonder why the manufacturers do not offer a simple choice of plain fabrics. Cost is, I suppose, the obvious answer. However, we would be prepared to pay extra for something we like. We hope to get round the problem but, if all else fails, we live not far from a company which offers re-upholstery for cars, boats and home furnishings. We do not relish the thought of living in a motorhome for several weeks in an environment unpleasing to the eye.
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Q, from the AS website.....
"Every Auto-Sleeper comes with a choice of colourways from the latest range of handpicked Belgian 'Catalan', 'Casa Milà' or 'Sagrada' fabrics, providing a luxurious finish for that added person touch"
obviously not what's required...
I thought most of the run of the mill MHs had upholstery upgrades, to leather perhaps?
even some of the crappy German ones do
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Most motorhome manufacturers offer a choice of fabrics although if you are buying from stock already held by the dealer, then you are limited to the dealer's taste when it orders the vans.
When I bought my motorhome, our dealer only seemed to stock light beige furnishings. We put coloured towels over the cab seats [idea from this site] and a throw over the travel seats/lounge. Should we ever decide on what colour trim to have, we will replace but until then, the current approach gives us a cheap option and a variety of colour schemes.
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Seat covers for the cab and throws for the remaining upholstery both protect the original fabric and enable some degree of personalisation. Some of the more "avant garde" fabrics could be difficult to live with.
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Know what you mean Q, mainly beige and boring. Our problem is actually solved by dogs. We always keep our seats and carpets covered, with throws or rugs. Our MH is an older one, the interior probably wouldn't have been our first choice, but given that it's as sound as a pound and all that we need, it was a compromise we could live with. On the upside, the lockers etc... are very nice, not cheap tacky or glossy, quality made as well.
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The colour of the seats for us has always been the last thing that we have had to think about, as we have always had dogs and always taken them with us in the van, so the front seats have always had throws on them from day one. We are trading our present van in next week so who ever has it off the dealer will have new looking seats. Maybe throw overs may work for you and a lot cheaper than having new seats recovered.
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I find there’s generally something in the range that suits. I’m surprised there’s nothing you can live with as there are three upholstery types with 5 colour choices in two of them and 3 in the third.
I think you’ll be looking at big money to change the upholstery covering to the bunks and cab seats and scatter cushions and any edgings to cupboard spaces etc, and don't forget the curtains.
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The upholstery in our MH isn't exactly to my taste, but they were the lesser of the evils available at the time. However, I must admit that over the time we've had it, I don't really notice it now. Using throws is a good idea and they help to keep it clean as well, only the throws to wash! Especially useful when spilling red wine
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We reupholstered our old caravan, doing some of it ourselves, but having other bits professionally done. It wasn't cheap 20 years ago, so I dread to think of the costs now. Having said that, we have seen a couple of older MHs like ours done out, they certainly looked nice, but to us weren't practical, colour choice was too light. Make sure you go for a good quality fabric as well, up to a lot of use.
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Lot of work there AD, but given how much time you spend away, good idea to keep van looking new. Practical as well being able to wash them.
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Our upholstery is a fairly pleasant mix of various shades of beige and brown, but rather impractical, so we have made 2 sets of removable, washable, plain coloured covers for the seat cushions only, the seat backs do not seem to get dirty.
Quite surprising just how grubby the covers do get just from sitting on them, OH blames my jeans. My side is always the grubbiest!
We also have some coloured cushions to brighten the place up.
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The upholstery in our mh was for us one of the deciding factors and one of the reasons we have not traded it in for a new one. We love ours, I do have a throw over the lower part of the seat to keep it clean. No dogs but OH is a pain for putting his newspaper down on it
Qashqai66, you do seem to have a lot of issues trying to fine something to suit, have you thought about a custom made van.
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Custom made in my dreams I think. However, I am hoping for one or two minor alterations when I produce the cheque book! I am of the opinion that if one is spending tens of thousands then it is not unreasonable to have a degree of choice.
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The last caravan we had we asked for a completely different set of upholstery fabric to the two listed. The ones we chose came from another "line" in the production, it didn't cost much more but at least we could live with it! Customised upholstery is very expensive but sometimes there is an alternative.
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I've got my charcoal carpets stored in the loft and replaced them with rubber backed hall runners from our village pound shop. A bit of trimming and taping and I have a set of fitted ones in a blue/black shading to contrast the beige'ish look interior for about thirty quid. Seat covers and throws mean the upholstery will be "as new" when the time comes to sell.
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We’ve never recovered upholstery in our vans, though I’ve made new curtains in early days. The thing that strikes me most about upholstery patterns over the last two decades, is their movement away from the Gipsy styles of cut moquette of vans in the 70s and 80s. Often set off by mock carving burnt into beading which adorned cupboard fronts. In that sense, we’ve never had it so good.
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