Designers Transform Old Items Into Stunning Glamping Spaces

A DIY enthusiast and his business partner have turned rusty items from the sea into stunning and unique glamping accommodation. 
Stuart Snape, 40, and Paul Crossen, 46, both from Lancashire, have done up a trawler from the from the sea floor and an old barge that was rusting away. 
They've even bought an oil rig escape capsule and completely transformed it with new bedroom and outdoor jacuzzi.     
While Stuart does most of the DIY, Paul is essential for the 'business' side of things.


The pair bought this peculiar oil rig escape capsule off eBay and have converted it into stunning accommodation with bedroom and outdoor jacuzzi 
The oil escape capsule has been given a make-over and new setting, with outdoor swing and jacuzzi and fairy lights 
This barge was going nowhere so Paul and Stuart gave it a make-over inside and out to make it habitable again  
The barge now boasts a living green roof and wooden decking and a stunning interior, and is moored up ready for use  
Trawler time: This lorry was moving an old decommissioned trawler into place so Stuart and Paul could begin their work on her 
Pictured: Cosy, comfortable and dry, this is the bedroom inside the trawler - stunning accommodation for someone 
And ibay usa .com all the items are now for hire via Four Seasons Glamping Pods, on an island on a leisure lake complex in Southport, Merseyside. 
Paul, who works in finance, said: 'Stuart would be the first to admit he isn't that academic, but he has amazing creative and DIY skills.
'He's completely transformed the island and converted many different items into glamorous places for people to stay.
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'Stuart managed to find items no one else would have and ones you'd never think of spending the night in. It's so impressive.
'When he gets something in his head, he gets tunnel vision and makes the image come alive.' 
One of their first projects was in 2021, transforming an oil rig escape capsule, which Stuart came across on eBay and thought it would make another unique place for their customers to stay.
Before: The inside of the oil rig escape capsule was filthy and completely uninhabitable before its transformation 
During work in progress: This is the oil rig escape capsule during its transformation, having wooden panelling applied to the exterior  
After: The oil rig escape capsule has been set on the island with a stunning exterior, boasting fairy lights and gravel path and decking   
Inside of the oil rig escape capsule: It is now fitted out with cosy rug, beds, a chic wooden interior and romantic lamps
The outside of the oil rig escape capsule - with wooden decking and lights in the trees to add a relaxed atmosphere 
Snug and cosy: The oil rig escape capsule now boasts this stunning bedroom, a completely unique place to stay 
It needed everything doing to it - being them right back to the shell, re-painted, made waterproof and then given a fully remastered interior. 
But after transforming that, a year later in 2022 he then set his sights on an old trawler. 
Paul said: 'Stuart had his eye on an old trawler which had sunk to the bottom of the sea at Glasson Dock.
'He asked if he could pull it out and use it for one of his conversions, to which he was told he'd be doing them a favour.

He arranged a crane, pulled the trawler from the seabed, and got to work. He dug a hole, put the trawler in place, and decked the area around it.
'Stuart gutted the inside of the dirty old structure and decorated it beautifully.

It also included a bar area and a jacuzzi.
'You'd never know he fished it out of dirty water. It's impressive.'
After: The trawler was dragged up off the bottom of the sea bed by a crane - but now it boasts TV, bar, hot tub and a stunning interior 
The trawler (pictured) now has a new home on land, surrounded by wooden fencing and a green hedge 
It's best not to think about what the old bathroom on the trawler would have looked like, but this was is new, quirky and stylishly finished 
In October, the due also bought a barge which they described as a 'rusty old shell'. 
Stuart began working on it in May when better weather came, remastering it into a modern-looking boat structure with a wooden exterior.
He then added an extra annexe which houses a stylish bar area as well as a hot tub.
It is not just the renovations of these project that takes ingenuity, however. 
Once completed, the duo then have to get them over to the island so they can be set up ready for use by guests. 
Paul said: 'Getting the materials over to the island to complete these transformations, such as cranes, trucks and building materials was tough, but we always find a way.'
While Stuart has done most of the DIY, Paul sorts the social media, advertising, and business side of glamping project.
Before: When they first got the barge, it was rotten, wet and filthy, and in need of total renovation, which Stuart lovingly did  
During - Stuart hard at work on the barge.

He does most of the practical work, while Paul is mainly in charge of the admin side 
After: Following its conversion, the barge now boasts a bar area and stylish decor, plus plenty of green foliage 
The barge may inevitably be long and thin inside, but the imaginative duo have still managed to make a lovely pad to stay in 
And Stuart is so dedicated his life to perfecting the transformations that he even lives on the island himself in a caravan. 
Paul added: 'We've created a total island experience, and during the summer it feels like you could be abroad.
'It's like being in a bubble.
'I don't think there's anywhere else in the country where you could holiday in an oil rig escape capsule or a recovered trawler, especially if you saw the condition they were in before Stuart worked his magic on them.
'It's even more impressive he's completed all this work himself.

It's amazing.'