I’m going to be honest with you… I’m a bit of a pop up camper snob. I’ve seen truck pop up campers in the campground before, but I’ve always written them off. They can’t be real pop up campers, right? I mean, they are so tiny. How much room can they really have in them? I could not have been more wrong! When Amber sent me pictures of the truck pop up camper she and her parents remodeled. I was stunned. It is absolutely gorgeous. Come on… I’ll show you.
This is what Amber’s parents, Rick and Sharon, started with. They were headed out on a two-week road trip vacation, but they really didn’t want the commitment of scheduled hotel stops or the inconvenience of towing a trailer. They purchased this 1985 Northstar as an alternative. Amber had been a Pop Up Princess reader for while now, but she hadn’t purchased her own camper yet. She agreed to help her parents with their remodel as a sort of “warm up round” for her own camper someday. 🙂
The first thing Rick and Sharon did was remove everything from the camper so they could prime the walls. They enlisted Amber’s help for this. Then they picked out an “off-the-shelf” white Valspar paint to paint all the walls and cabinetry. While they were at it, they used the tutorials from the blog to clean their canvas (you can find that HERE) and windows (HERE).
Instead of buying new latches and hinges, Rick and Sharon gave the cabinet hardware an all new look with a fresh coat of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. I love the contrast between those clean white cabinets and the dark hardware.
Rick and Sharon spray painted the stove and furnace cover with a heat tolerant spray paint. They also gave the fridge a coat of chalkboard paint, so they could write or doodle on it if they wanted. Doesn’t it make everything look brand new?
The counter and table top surfaces got a new coat of Rustoleum countertop paint in Light Ash. For extra protection and durability, they sealed it with a couple of coats of Polycrylic.
Those cute curtains are Eclipse Samara Blackout Curtains from Walmart. The color is called Sea Glass. Sharon cut them to size and hemmed them to fit her camper. She also got the gorgeous cushion fabric from Walmart. To cover the cushions, Sharon used a tutorial from Jezze Prints (found HERE), however, instead of the buttons called for in that tutorial, she simply sewed the corners together.
And how gorgeous is that flooring? Amber enlisted her husband’s help to lay a peel-and-stick vinyl cottage plank flooring her parents purchased at Menard’s. It really makes the space, doesn’t it?
To make their bed more inviting, Rick and Sharon followed our bedding suggestions (found HERE) and added memory foam to the top of the mattress. They were so glad they splurged, as it made the bed much more comfortable. Doesn’t that bed just make you want to cozy up with a good book? 😉
To round out the remodel, Rick painted the inside of the camper door white to match the rest of the decor. The camper also had some hail damage on the roof, so he gave it a few coats of elastomeric roof coating. All in all, Rick and Sharon were incredibly pleased with the outcome. Amber told me that it cost them less to purchase and remodel the pickup camper that it would have cost them to stay in hotels for those two weeks. 
And really… who can argue with that? Rick and Sharon will have lifelong memories of their special two-week vacation in their new little camper. I’m absolutely blown away. I’ll never look at truck pop up campers the same way again. Nice work, Rick and Sharon… and Amber, too. You’re all ready for a pop up makeover of your own now. Thanks for sharing your parents’ remodel with us. 😀Happy Camping!
I have always loved the idea of a truck camper after having had a Toyota motor home and the pop up IS THE way to go! What a great remodel. And what a great adventure! Great job Amber! Happy Campering, Rick and Sharon!
Thank you!! We were pretty impressed how it turned out too! Thanks for the sweet comment!
This is so awesome, yes, I would love to curl up with a good book, sooo COZY!!!!!
Thank you!
I’ve never seen one of these, looks great though. ..
Thanks!
I am blown away! It is gorgeous!!! 🙂
Thank you so much!!
The remodel is amazing! I love the colors and how bright and cheery everything looks. I’ve never seen the inside of a truck camper before but have always wondered about space. I’m quite impressed!
Wow! I never even knew what the inside of the truck camper looked like. What a beautiful job!
Amazing job!! I wish I had the confidence to try stuff like this. I wish u would post more pics, love to see how it looks outside down & the popped up & more inside pics from different angles. Just a beautiful job!!
I agree! would love a pic of the outside, down and popped up.
Hi! Did the roof coating cover the hail damage? How big of a bucket did it take to cover? Looking to cover the roof of a pop up camper. Your camper came out awesome!!
This is amazing! Definitely my inspiration for remodeling our pop up! 🙂
Nice job. I am in the market for a used pop up camper. Whole point is to not stay in a hotel and I agree, Used is the way to go!
I have this same camper ( acquired recently) I just finished the remodel and now the one side (the side with out the bracket to hold it up) keeps falling down when it is popped up. Have you had any issues similar to this? If so, what did you do to fix it?
In the process of remodeling a truck camper and I love the flooring you picked! Can you please let me know the color that you picked from Menards?