The best way to wow an Australian looking at your Airstream in a caravan park? Tell them it has a bathtub…

Airstream bathrooms in a trailer this size really had it all – cupboard space, flushing toilet, sink and even a (small) bathtub!

We loved the original bathtub, moulded sink and surrounds and bathtub, so we opted to pull apart, repair and refurnish most of the bathroom.

Cracks were sealed and filled, and the original sink, bathtub, cupboard surrounds were painted with a Tubby bathtub resurfacing kit.  The bathtub cupboard doors were coated heavy plywood originally – so they were replaced with lighter weight opaque plexiglass.

One major piece of reconfiguration was the toilet – in the US, most trailers use black tanks.  In Australia, most caravans now have cassette toilets – which was our preference.  The only problem is that they require a hatch to remove and dump the cassette. After some mapping out, we came up with a configuration where we could use a low profile Dometic cassette toilet, and use the existing trunk hatch to remove the cassette. 

Along with some smart plumbing and the Hepvo waste on the bathroom sink, it also gave us a rear compartment with space for a tool kit and our power cables.

We built a new bathroom cabinet on the other side of the bathroom to house the water heater and provide shelves, keeping the original toilet roll holder, and then it was just down to some time consuming cabinetry around the toilet to create a space for the water heater, and an additional storage spot.

The end result? A flushing toilet, a bathroom with enough space to get changed into, and should we ever need it….a shower AND a bath!