When Casey and Brandon Smith first learned that a new landlord was taking over the building where their woodworking shop was, they decided it was time to try something new.
Casey and Brandon Smith are both 26 and grew up in New Jersey. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
The couple, both 26, went to the same high school in Bayonne, New Jersey, where they’re from and still live. Casey studied interior design, but dropped out of college, while Brandon has a degree in media studies.
The two of them started their Bayonne-based business Path Design in 2019, where they designed and built custom furniture.
“We did that pretty much for three years straight,” Casey told Insider. “But early last year, in 2022, someone new bought the building our shop was in, and he wanted to use the whole building for his own business.”
One by one, the new landlord started kicking the tenants out, and it wasn’t long before it was their turn.
“Eventually our time came, and that prompted us to think of doing something different,” she added.
The two of them saw this as a good opportunity to try fixing up a trailer and go road-tripping, while they figured out their next steps.
The exterior of the trailer before it was renovated. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
Prior to this, they had already taken two road trips together: One in Brandon’s car, and another in a wooden camper that they built over the back of their pickup truck.
They’ve gotten two dogs since those trips, and they needed a place that would fit the four of them comfortably.
“We were thinking, what would it be like if we did it a little bit bigger this time? Like if we actually had a place to sleep and a place to cook?” Casey said.
With a budget of $10,000 for their entire project, the couple started looking for a secondhand trailer on Facebook Marketplace.
“We were constantly looking, but a lot of the trailers within our price range either had rusty frames or water damage, or some other problem. We found ourselves driving here and there only to come back home disappointed,” Casey said.
After much searching, the Smiths finally came across a 2006 Sun Valley Roadrunner trailer that fit all their requirements. They bought the 19-foot vehicle for $5,000 in February 2022.
The inside of the front of the trailer when the couple first bought it. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
The couple provided Insider with proof of purchase of the trailer.
“We were super lucky, it was about three hours away from us. It was a great deal and there were only two previous owners,” Casey said.
For them, one of the biggest selling points of the trailer was its layout: The couple wanted something that had a sleeping area in the front, with the bathroom and the entrance located near the rear.
“A lot of campers and trailers in that size range tend to be a bit more closed-in, with the bed in the back, and the bathroom and closet opposite the kitchen — so you’re really left just with a little narrow walkway,” Casey said.
Having the bed in the front of the trailer is also good for weight distribution as it prevents the trailer from swaying as it’s being towed, she added.
The trailer came with original fittings, as well as some old items left behind by the previous owner. The first thing the couple did was clear everything out.
A collage showing Casey Smith dismantling all the original fixtures of the trailer. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
There was an old microwave, some hoses, and other small items in the cabinets and drawers, Casey said: “We took everything out, got rid of what we didn’t want to keep, and cleaned the rest.”
As the trailer was over 15 years old, everything inside was dated, she said.
“But we were excited about that because that’s the fun part for us. As long as everything was good structurally, we couldn’t wait to get in there and tear it up,” she added.
The couple rebuilt almost everything inside the trailer. The only things they kept were the cabinets, which they painted over.
Progress photo of the overall interiors. There’s a new bed frame and work desk. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
One of the toughest jobs they had was getting the flooring off, Brandon told Insider.
The previous owners laid down peel-and-stick vinyl floors that the two of them weren’t fans of.
“We had to get those up before we laid our own laminate flooring down,” Brandon said. “But it was very sticky on the bottom. When we took it off, the floor was covered in adhesive and we had to scrape that.”
The gooey adhesive ended up everywhere, including on their clothes and their shoes, he added.
Most of the new furniture, such as their work desk and kitchen countertops, was built using wood pieces that they had accumulated from their shop.Progress photo of the work table. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“Sometimes when we would be working on something, we’d save a really cool piece of wood that we liked for ourselves. We said that we’ll use it someday, and we really did,” Casey said.
Having woodworking experience also gave them an advantage in terms of figuring out the renovation work, because they already had the skills needed to build their own cabinets and shelves, she added.
The duo renovated their trailer while it was parked in the driveway outside of their Bayonne home.The couple worked on the trailer in the driveway of their house in Bayonne, New Jersey. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“We didn’t think that it would fit in the driveway,” Casey said. “But once we got it in there, it went in almost perfectly — from the front of the house to the sidewalk.”
But they didn’t have a way to jack the trailer up when they needed to work on the underside, which meant they were left with about a foot of clearance underneath, Casey said.
“So I got under there, scraped off all the surface rust, and then coated the whole thing to seal it,” she added. “I looked like I worked in a coal mine by the time I got out from under there at the end of that day.”
The couple gave the trailer a new coat of paint and even refreshed the existing Roadrunner logo with a vintage colorway inspired by the desert.
Casey painted on the camper’s exterior. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
The trailer originally came with a bunch of old decals that were already hardened onto the surface due to their age.
“They were stuck onto the ridges on the outside and so we scraped it off little by little,” Brandon said. “Once we got all that off, we primed it, scrubbed it, and then we painted it a slightly off-white with our paint sprayer.”
Once the white base dried, Casey painted stripes onto the facade by hand.
“We used Procreate for iPad to mock up the exterior,” Casey said. “We knew we wanted the outside of it to look a bit more vintage because that has always been what we were drawn to.”
The Smiths started renovating the trailer in June 2022 and completed their project in three months — while keeping all expenses within their $10,000 budget.
The exterior of the completed camper. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
The total cost of the project — including the amount they paid for the trailer — came up to slightly over $9,900, Casey said.
The couple describes the interiors of their trailer as a mix of wood elements and other nature-inspired elements.
A lot of their design choices, such as the color of the walls and the cabinets, were inspired by the interiors of their Bayonne home.
“We were thinking, when you’re on the road, it’s always nice to feel like you can have a bit of home — and so we took some inspiration from the colors that we had in our own house,” Casey said.
Apart from the carpentry work, the couple also completed the plumbing and electrical work on their own.
A before and after comparison of the overall interiors. This is the diagonal view from the entrance. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
They kept the layout of the trailer the way it was, although they updated all the fixtures, Casey said.
Upon entering the trailer, the first thing that everyone sees is the bathroom door, with the bathroom sink to the left.
To the right of the bathroom door is the kitchenette, which is opposite the work desk.
Beyond the kitchenette and desk is the bed, which takes up nearly the entire width of the vehicle.
The Smiths replaced the original full-sized bed with a queen-sized bed and built a new frame.
A before and after comparison of their bed area. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
Seeing the whole trailer come together was incredibly satisfying, Casey said.
“I remember sitting in there a lot in the beginning, and having no idea what direction to go in, just because everything looked so old and it felt like a blank canvas,” she added.
The couple’s water supply comes from a 30-gallon tank that they refill at truck stops. Their trailer also has a battery and generator for electricity.A before and after comparison of their kitchenette. The couple installed new countertops and repainted the original cabinets. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“If you go to campgrounds or RV parks, they have full hookups for you, so you can attach a hose to your camper and you’ve got a constant water supply while you’re there,” Casey said.
The same goes for electricity. Otherwise, their appliances such as the fridge and stove can also run on propane, she added.
The biggest transformation in the trailer is the bathroom, which is now covered in a cactus-patterned wallpaper and has a new shower.
A before and after comparison of their bathroom, which is located by the entrance. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“When we initially got the camper, the bathroom had something like a little bathtub, and it was not functional because Brandon couldn’t stand in it,” Casey said.
Brandon is 6 feet tall and the bathtub was about 8 inches off the ground, but the total ceiling height was 6 feet and 8 inches.
“His head was touching the ceiling when he stood in there. By ripping that out and building our own shower pan, we gained about 4 inches of height,” Casey said.
The couple felt that the bathroom was also a place where they could be the most experimental since it was the smallest corner — which led to their decision to try wallpaper.
The cactus print and the touches of orange paint on the cabinets were inspired by their past road trips to the Southwest, she added.
The couple knew that they’d need a space to work, so they decided to scrap the original banquette and turn it into a desk.
A before and after comparison of the space opposite the kitchenette. The couple took out the original banquette and installed a wooden desk instead. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
Casey creates videos for their social media handles, while Brandon makes music on the side.
“We’re always kind of working on our laptops,” Brandon said. “When we got the trailer, we built a desk so we had a place where we can both work.”
The best part of the renovation was having the creative freedom to make the space their own, without having to worry about the scale of the project.
The Smiths go on road trips around the country with their two dogs, Brooklyn and Cali. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“If you had a whole house that you had to renovate, it’s a big undertaking,” Casey said. “But because the trailer was smaller in scale, we were able to experiment with renovating different rooms without feeling overwhelmed.”
Since they weren’t renovating a house that they were rushing to move into, they were also able to take the time to work on the project, Brandon said.
“We really let the ideas come to us,” he added. “We had the freedom to be able to make decisions on the fly and that’s something that we really enjoy doing.”
Looking back, Brandon says that he wished they paid more attention to the height of the wheels on their trailer, as it limits the type of terrain that they can go onto.
Brandon working on the desk. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“Older campers can be a little bit lower,” Brandon said. “There were some off-grid campgrounds that we couldn’t get into, just because if we did the trailer would drag along in the back.”
Since the underside of the trailer is typically where the water tank and pipes are placed, they might get scraped, he said.
On the other hand, Casey feels that she would’ve opted for solar panels had their budget allowed it.
“I think that’s probably the one thing that I would’ve wanted to change,” Casey said. “Especially if you’re looking to be off-grid more often. It makes you even more self-sufficient.”
The couple has a piece of advice for others who are also looking to convert a trailer: Take the time to look for the right vehicle.The two of them are glad they dedicated a lot of time to looking for the right trailer. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
Early on, the two of them found it difficult to say no to some of the trailers they looked at, even if they weren’t the right fit, Casey said.
“But now, we’re so thankful that we said no to them because we know that we would’ve just been taking on so many problems,” she said.
It’s also important to consider the type of lifestyle they wanted to have while on the road, so they knew how to allocate space for the things they had to have, she said.
“If it can have more than one purpose, that’s great. Like our desk chairs are actually lawn chairs — we sit on them while we’re working but we can also fold them up and take them outside,” Casey added. “We don’t have to store an extra set of outdoor chairs somewhere.”
The couple left on their month-long road trip in August, about a day after they completed their trailer renovations.The exterior of the completed camper. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“I think we took one day to just pack up all of our stuff and then the next day we left,” Casey said. “We were so excited to finally get out there.”
On this trip, they visited places in central California, including Morro Bay, and even managed to stay in Jackson, Wyoming, just outside of Grand Teton National Park, she said.
Road-tripping with a trailer made a world of difference, since the couple can now cook on their trip.
The couple enjoys going on road trips in their trailer. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
“Instead of either having to buy something or make it on a little propane stove outside, we had a stove and a fridge, and were actually able to be in an enclosed space with the dogs,” Casey said.
“We have space to stand up without hitting our heads on the ceiling,” Brandon added.
The renovation process and subsequent road trip allowed the couple to step outside their comfort zone and gain perspective into their next steps.
The back of their camper says “Follow your Path,” a nod to their company name Path Design. Casey and Brandon Smith/Path Design
The goal is to still find a new spot to set up shop, but in the meantime, they’ll be working out of their own garage back in New Jersey to build out their portfolio even more.
“I feel like now we have a lot more experience, and so we’re able to do different sorts of projects that we wouldn’t have been able to do in the beginning,” Casey said.
Source: insider.com
