Horse Trailer Mobile Bar: Phase 1

Phase 1: Demolition

I first got interested in woodworking while going through my divorce in 2019. I would stay up late watching countless YouTube videos about people transforming RVs and sprinter vans into full blown tiny homes. It captivated me!

I started my woodworking journey in hopes to one day build out one of those sprinter vans. 

So when a local small business (The Hive AZ) reached out to me to see what I could do with her horse trailer, my answer?

SAY LESS.

I had zero experience in renovating anything other than my own home, but do we let that stop us? Absolutely not.

Bridget purchased an awesome, used horse trailer with the intention of converting it into a mobile bar for her business.

She paid someone in the summer of 2020 to make the conversion. That remodel served her well, generated great business, but started to show some wear and tear after a year of being in the Arizona sun.

In comes me!

My job was to renovate the work that had already been done.

Bridgette had a new vision with the direction she wanted to take her business and a new look she wanted to reflect. I could not have been more stoked.

She parked HONEYCOMB in my driveway, and I completed this renovation in the middle of AZ summer within 2 weeks. Clearly working off pure adrenaline and excitement, lol

I’ll walk through this entire process with you in phases since it was a pretty hefty remodel.

The first phase was demolition. I did not do anything to the exterior of the trailer because again, zero experience. But I felt comfortable with the interior! So I started by gutting it.

I removed the cabinets, shelf, and faux tile.

Then removed the drywall, which exposed the studs. 

A lot of them were in pretty rough condition, so those came out too.

The cabana door was barely hanging in there by two hinges. The current set up involved tying a rope across the trailer the hold it open. That had to go. 

Lastly, I removed and disposed of the floors.

Now we had a blank canvas.

The 2×6 boards on the actual horse trailer were still solid. Those stayed as-is.

Now that we had a blank slate, it was time to get to werk.

Bridgette was a saint to work with, allowing me creative freedom and just provided basic needs for the layout.

She wanted the “U” portion of the trailer to be pretty. She utilizes this trailer for events which are constantly photographed so the primary goal was to make it Pinterest worthy. She needed a solid shelf to display her drink options, and an area to hang personalized signage.

While my mind was racing with ideas, I just tackled this reno step by step.

Once demolition was complete, I moved onto phase 2: adding a new subfloor and walls.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list and YouTube channel so you can follow along on this makeover.

Have you ever renovated an RV or trailer before? Do you own a small business and have dreams of making it mobile one day? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!