Photo: Instagram / Alicia France-Evans
As academic Camille Paglia once said, the number one rule in art is that “can’t” kills creativity. One 18-year-old actress from the UK is not letting “can’t” get in the way of her dreams, so her creativity is boundless.
Alicia France-Evans is a good example of how upcycling isn’t just a way to feel better about minimizing our impact on the environment but also a more convenient means of adjusting to new realities. Her summer project included buying an old trailer and then, on the cheap but with help from her family, turning it into a nail salon or, as she tells The Sun, her own “quirky paradise.”
Because nothing happens these days if it’s not documented on social media (and Alicia is only 18), part of the conversion was documented on her TikTok. Alicia is a self-titled theater kid, so she’s into acting and music, but she’s taking a gap year to develop her business before hopefully going to drama school. To prepare for this, she and her parents looked at options for venues for said new business.
Renting was out of the question, and buying a space even more so. In the end, they settled on a trailer conversion, which they would then set up in the parents’ backyard. The cost of the project was just £1,500 ($1,808), of which £1,000 ($1,205) was the trailer. The conversion itself was very cheap because every member of the family pitched in with manual labor, and they mostly used second-hand or upcycled materials.
The trailer is an Abbey GTS Vogue 417, a 4-berth single-axle caravan (as the Brits call it) from the late ‘90s, judging by the interior. Alicia tells the media outlet that they bought it on a Saturday and had it towed to the property, and they had already started stripping it by the end of the day. That weekend, the trailer was completely stripped, and within two more weeks, the project was finished: Alicia had her own nail salon, picket fence, and all.
Of course, the fact that it’s now a stationary unit helped with the fast pace of the project. The furniture was removed, repairs were done, and new layers of paint and flooring were added. The original GTS Vogue 417 had a washroom with toilet and shower, but it’s unclear whether she kept it. The kitchen was removed to make more room, and the dinette was turned into Alicia’s workstation. The bedroom became a lounge, and Alicia even added a TV and DVD player to make longer waits more pleasant.
Alicia had a vested interest in making the space as cozy as possible, because she will be using it as her own chill lounge when she’s not working. “We wanted something unique and quirky that was not only a space for me to grow my business but somewhere other than my bedroom for me to chill out in,” she explains for the same media outlet.
Because nothing happens these days if it’s not documented on social media (and Alicia is only 18), part of the conversion was documented on her TikTok. Alicia is a self-titled theater kid, so she’s into acting and music, but she’s taking a gap year to develop her business before hopefully going to drama school. To prepare for this, she and her parents looked at options for venues for said new business.
Renting was out of the question, and buying a space even more so. In the end, they settled on a trailer conversion, which they would then set up in the parents’ backyard. The cost of the project was just £1,500 ($1,808), of which £1,000 ($1,205) was the trailer. The conversion itself was very cheap because every member of the family pitched in with manual labor, and they mostly used second-hand or upcycled materials.
The trailer is an Abbey GTS Vogue 417, a 4-berth single-axle caravan (as the Brits call it) from the late ‘90s, judging by the interior. Alicia tells the media outlet that they bought it on a Saturday and had it towed to the property, and they had already started stripping it by the end of the day. That weekend, the trailer was completely stripped, and within two more weeks, the project was finished: Alicia had her own nail salon, picket fence, and all.
Of course, the fact that it’s now a stationary unit helped with the fast pace of the project. The furniture was removed, repairs were done, and new layers of paint and flooring were added. The original GTS Vogue 417 had a washroom with toilet and shower, but it’s unclear whether she kept it. The kitchen was removed to make more room, and the dinette was turned into Alicia’s workstation. The bedroom became a lounge, and Alicia even added a TV and DVD player to make longer waits more pleasant.
Alicia had a vested interest in making the space as cozy as possible, because she will be using it as her own chill lounge when she’s not working. “We wanted something unique and quirky that was not only a space for me to grow my business but somewhere other than my bedroom for me to chill out in,” she explains for the same media outlet.
@aliciafranceevans #fyp #foryoupage #renovation #caravan #nailtech #18 #smallbusinessowner #nailsalon #salon #voiceeffects #project ? Happy and fun corporate music for advertising. - TimTaj
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