I’m excited to be sharing a new pop up camper makeover with you this week after a brief little hiatus. If you follow The Pop Up Princess on Facebook, you’ll know we headed out on our annual summer trip and also that we had a few unforeseen circumstances arise. If you’re out of the loop, you can catch up on all that here. Just know that we are slowly getting back into the swing of things, so we appreciate your patience with us and all your kind words. You guys seriously rock! If you’ve emailed or messaged us, we’ll be in touch shortly. It’s going to take some time to get things all ironed out, but we will definitely be sharing all your remodels as soon as we can. 🙂
This week’s feature comes to us from a reader named Amy. I just love what she’s done with her camper. If you are anything like me, you’ll want all the details, so… here ya go! Amy’s camper is a 1994 Jayco 1207. She bought it last summer and had been chomping at the bit to get started on her remodel after finding some fabric that she wanted to use for her color scheme. The camper itself was in pretty good condition, but all the counters were chipping pretty significantly on the edges, and the faux wood paper was peeling off the cabinets in certain places.
Amy used wood putty to fill in the crumbling edges of the countertops. She used Elmer’s wood glue to try to tack down some of the peeling paper. After that, Amy lightly sanded the surface of the countertops, primed them, and painted them in a light gray color, which was a free sample at Ace.
A friend of Amy’s had resurfaced her bathroom countertops using Rustoleum American accents stone texture spray paint and had good results from this, so Amy thought it was a good alternative to the $200 kit she had considered purchasing. She did a light spray of the stone textured paint to cover the surface of the countertop, including the side edge, and let it dry. Then Amy took a sanding block and just lightly knocked off the biggest bumpy areas. Amy used Triple Thick polyurethane gloss (about 10 coats!) as a topcoat. She reports that it has held up pretty nicely and is so smooth, with a lovely finish.
Next, Amy primed and painted all the wood, which she says seemed to take forever. She applied one coat of Zinsser primer and two coats of paint. Amy used Ace Hardware Cabinet, Door and Trim paint in the color Frost. She also took off all the hardware and hinges and spray painted them with Rustoleum metallic spray paint in oil rubbed bronze.
Amy kept the existing curtains on their tabs and measured and sewed fabric directly over the top of them. Amy had never used a sewing machine before this, so it was quite the accomplishment! 🙂 She took down the old valance last summer and tossed it, so she didn’t really have any reference for a new one. She says she just sewed some fabric into sections and stapled it to the roof. She tells me it’s not the most fancy solution, but it works!
For the cushion covers–again, Amy doesn’t sew at all–she just safety pinned new material over the top of the cushions and did a folded envelope-type edge. Amy tells me this also took some time and finagling, but she is happy with the end result.
Her husband’s major contribution was to put down the flooring for her. They used some leftover vinyl planks they had used in their kitchen this past year. They are from Menard’s, a pretty easy-to-use peel and stick called Carefree vinyl planks in the color “cottage plank.” Amy reports that it’s super scratch resistant, and she has loved it in her house as well!
Let’s take a look at that end result again. Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous remodel with us, Amy. I love how it turned out. Simply gorgeous.
Keep those camper makeovers coming. You guys are so creative and inspiring, and I love seeing what solutions you come up with.
Happy Camping!
Stunning! Live the simplistic install approach and how ‘put-together’ the whole package resulted. The flooring is a perfect compliment with texture and contrast. Just lovely!!
Love this! We just bought an ’05 Jayco 1207 and I can’t wait to get started on it! I love the white cabinets and bedding – – so crisp and clean!! Beautiful job!!
Wow! So inventive and creative! I love the finished product.
I am always so impressed with these makeovers! Another fabulous job! Thanks for sharing!
I love it I might have to really get working on ours. My hope is to actually use the two $1.00 quilts I bought at a garage sale this year, plus possibly sew some new cushion covers and curtains this winter.
Sounds awesome, Lara. Can’t wait to see it! 🙂
Love this blog! The make pver stories are really interesting and amazing to see how creative everyone is. Loving all the pics! The tips on best glamping accessories are awesome and I have started a wish list. We just bought a 1999 JAYCO Eagle 12 which we plan on slowly doing a remodel on. Must add the porta porty first thing! So glad I found you!
How did you secure the fabric after using the envelope method on the cushions?
I love seeing Jayco 1207 makeovers. I just finished my own remodel of our 1996! Nicely done 🙂
My hubby and I just purchased a 95 coleman Columbia. It has no curtains are valances at all. It looks like there is an aluminum piece across the top of the window. I can’t tell how anything was over the bunkends. Do you have picturs for references ?
I have a 1994 Jayco 1207 and have replaced the curtains and started painting the cabinets. I am unsure about how to paint the plastic edging. I worry it’ll just chip off if I paint it. What is everyone doing about the trim in theirs?
Sherry, I wouldn’t recommend painting the plastic t-trim. We tried it, and it just didn’t hold up. It’s better to replace it if possible. You can read all about how we did ours here:
PAINTING OUR CAMPER CABINETS
Best of luck with the remodel, and take lots of pictures! 🙂
How do you replace the fabric above the bed?
Love your design on the pop up. We have a 1986 Coleman, which is in great shape, just outdated, and I can’t wait to get started on redesigning. I am going to try my hand on Roman shades, but I love your idea of stapling the valances and the way you painted the cabinets and countertops. I was just going to use the vinyl contact paper on the tops, but your idea is soi much better. Thanks.
I love this! I’d love to include valances in my pop up camper. When my husband made mine for our home it was on the heavy side, so I’d like to know what she used to make the valances.
What type of material did you use for cushions and drapes?
I have a question for Amy- I am redoing my jayco 1207 and I actually have the same “cottage plank” flooring. The problem is, it seems too tall to be able to use the big pull-out drawer near the front of the camper. How did you get around this? I am considering making an access door under the cushion. If anyone knows how to remedy this, I would appreciate it!
This makeover makes my day! We just bought a 1996 Jayco 1207 and my head has been swirling with inspiration from this blog. Our counters and cabinets are peeling a bit too and I was feeling intimidated about the sand/paint/prime project, but this helped assuage my fears. It’s even more exciting to see a transformation with the exact layout as ours. Thanks for sharing!