The Pop Up Princess

Adventures of a Pop Up Camping Princess

Erin’s Pop Up Camper Makeover

Pop Up Camper MakeoverI’m so excited to show you the latest makeover from one of our readers.  Erin and her husband had recently purchased a pop up camper, and she was excited to give it a makeover of her own.  Her husband didn’t want to make any permanent changes, however, so painting the cabinets and putting in new flooring weren’t options.  Erin wasn’t deterred, though, and jumped into the project with both feet.  With a few simple projects, Erin was able to completely personalize her camper, and you’ll be amazed at how her little changes had such a huge impact.  Here’s Erin to tell us all about it…

Erin’s Pop Up Camper Makeover

Pop Up Camper Remodel

When we bought our Coleman Santa Fe, it had a musty/moldy smell to it.  I took a couple days to super clean the inside.  We used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and the ceiling went from yellowish to bright white…. It looks brand new now!  I noticed the smell was a little better but still lingered.  When I finally realized it was coming from the dinette cushions,  I took the covers off but the smell was still in the foam.  I was planning to make envelope style cushion covers to go over the original fabric, but with that awful smell, I decided I’d better do a complete cushion makeover.  In an attempt to salvage the foam, I sprayed it with vinegar and let it dry.  I repeated this process until the musty/moldy smell was gone.  It worked and I didn’t have to buy more foam!

Pop Up Camper Makeover

I covered the cushions in a Waverly fabric called Ooh La La Fiesta.  I bought it at JoAnn when they were having a 50% off sale.  I purchased black upholstery fabric for the backs of the cushions, because I knew they would take some abuse from being slid around.  I didn’t think the lighter fabric would hold up as well, so I only used it on the fronts of the cushions.  I bought inexpensive pink bias tape to make my own accent piping and a covered button kit from Walmart to tuft the cushions.  This video was extremely helpful in teaching me how to properly tuft the cushions.  For the zippers, I used a 5 1/2 yard zipper kit from Amazon, and it was exactly enough for all four cushions.

Reupholstering Pop Up Camper Cushions

To make the camper drapes, I used shower curtains.  I did this for several reasons.  First, it was a lot cheaper than buying home decor fabric (especially if you’re trying to line up the repeat in the pattern on each curtain, which can waste a lot of fabric).  With shower curtains, the repeat starts at the top of each curtain, so it is easy to line the pattern up.  Shower curtains can be found fairly cheaply on Amazon (which is where I got mine) or at discount stores.  I really liked the pattern of these shower curtains, and I wanted to use something a little more neutral in color.  Now, if I ever want to redo our pop up someday, I might only have to redo the cushions instead of the curtains, too.
 Pop Up Camper Curtains
Another reason I used shower curtains was that when we bought our pop up there were three curtain panels in place to cover the large window on the dinette/galley side.  When I took the original curtains down, I LOVED the view from the large window.  I didn’t want an additional curtain breaking up that view, so I only wanted two curtains on that side.  Home decor fabric is 54″ wide, however, and I needed much more than that to make two panels large enough cover that window.  I didn’t want to piece the fabric together with a seam, so I starting thinking outside the box.  Shower curtains are 72″ wide, and that was the perfect width!  I bought twin flat sheets from Walmart ($5 each) for the lining.  I started each shower curtain at the top (folding it over a little to attach the lining) so that the repeat of the pattern was the same across the whole pop up.  I made them a little taller than the original curtain because I wanted to cover up the track near the ceiling that the original valance was attached to.  I also made them a little longer than the the original curtains to cover up the bed track on the walls when the curtains are closed.  I reused the netting portion of the old curtains across the bunkends to maintain good air circulation.  The tricky part was making sure the repeat in the fabric still lined up with the rest of the curtains even though I inserted the netting.
Pop UP Camper Curtains
I purchased 1/4 yd of cotton fabric at Joann’s for the tie-backs and attached some yo-yo’s out of a coordinating color.  The yo-yo’s were super easy, and you can find tutorials online to show you how to do them.  I just bought cheap buttons at Walmart to add to the centers.  The valances made me feel like the camper was closed in, so I decided to skip them.  Instead, I made a pennant bunting for over the bed ends.  This keeps the rest of the ceiling space clear but still adds some fun and color to the space.  I bought five different fat quarters at Joann, and I used the same pink bias tape from my cushion piping to string the bunting together.  I already had small hooks attached to the ceiling of my pop up where the original valance was hung, so I added small plastic drapery rings at the ends of the bunting so I could hang the bunting from those hooks.  I also made a short section of bunting to hang over the door.
Pop Up Camper Curtains
When I made the new privacy curtain for the toilet area, I reused the netting portion from the original curtain.  This made it easy because the snaps that attach it to the ceiling were already on there.  The width I needed was exactly 72 inches, which is the width of a shower curtain.  I found a very cheap pink shower curtain on Amazon.  I always look in the “used” category and often find opened box items for much cheaper, even though they’re still new.  I also bought a cheap white shower curtain at Walmart to line it with.  It probably wasn’t necessary to line it, but I wanted the extra privacy.
Pop Up Camper Remodel
The wire shelves above the toilet were made using the tutorial here on your blog!  We have a reuse center in our area, and we were able to purchase the shelves, a long slotted bracket that we cut in half, and triangular shelving support brackets for around $20 total instead of closer to the $100 it would have cost us at a big box store.  We were super thrilled about that!  The blue fabric bins I purchased at Walmart.  I love them because they are huge, fit a lot of stuff, and they fold up and take up very little space when not being used.  The rectangular baskets I already had in my house but no longer used, and the two hanging baskets over the toilet area were on clearance at our local Lowe’s.   I have them hanging from the wire shelves with S-biners.  We already had some plastic shelving, which we used to hold the microwave and toaster oven.
Pop Up Camper Shelving
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your website and Facebook page.  Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you, Erin!  You guys continue to inspire me with your originality and talent.  I’m so amazed by how those little changes had such a big impact.  I get e-mails every day from readers who want to personalize their pop up campers without making any permanent changes.  Erin’s makeover is proof that it is totally possible!  🙂
Pop Up Camper RemodelCheck out those BEFORE & AFTER photos.  Didn’t she do an awesome job?  Have you given your pop up camper a makeover of its own?  I’d love to see it.  Click here to find out how submit your photos for a feature on the blog or our Facebook page.
Pop Up Trailer Remodel

Happy Camping!

Larissa

Comments

  1. WOW, great job! It’s amazing what you can do to make a pup your own. Can’t wait to finish our own pup makeover! Again great job Erin!

    Reply

  3. Hi from the not so great state of California.
    Do you know of an effective MEK substitute?
    Like many time saving products MEK has been banned from here.
    Thanks
    Ralph

    Reply

    • Welcome, Marie! If you are asking about the pennant banners, Erin made them. We made one for our girls’ bunk, and they are perfect for using up leftover fabric scraps. They are quite easy, and you can customize them to your liking. You can find easy tutorials all over the Internet, but here’s one that Erin used. 🙂

      Pennant Banner

      Reply

  7. Question: if the pop-up cushions were musty smelling was the mattresses also? And if so are mattress salvageable if they are moldy or mildew smelling? Or should I just replace? Great job on the redo! I just got a musty smelling camper which is an otherwise good shape, but I needs a really deep cleaning.

    Reply

  8. Hi! Question: Where does the privacy curtain live in between potty visits? I don’t see it tucked away while still attached to the ceiling in any of the pictures. Thanks.

    Reply

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