A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Felicia thanking me for inspiring her to give her pop up camper a makeover. I was touched… and completely blown away by her amazing work. 😀 She and her family completely transformed their little pop up camper, which they named “Poppy,” and they did such an amazing job that I wanted to share it here with you all. Here’s Felicia to tell you all about their camper transformation in her own words…
We were lucky to find a large 2003 Starcraft Gemini Constellation on Craigslist a few hours away from home. We were immediately drawn to it, due to the fact it was fairly large and had slide outs for beds and the dining area. It definitely needed a lot of cleaning, though.
We found the Magic Eraser was our best bet on getting the grime off the outside vinyl and awning. The previous owners had traveled with a dog so we spent quite a bit of time cleaning out fur and trying to get the smell out. We knew we needed new mattresses, new curtains, and new cushion fabric, and after seeing several other pop-up renovations on your blog, we definitely wanted to get rid of the flooring.
After thoroughly cleaning the PUP, our first job was to try and pull out the existing laminate flooring. This was the hardest part due to the dining area slide out. We had a terrible time getting the flooring out under the dining table slide out. We eventually used a crowbar to lift the area just slightly so we could get under it to pull out the old flooring.
We primed the floor with Kilz first to make sure we wouldn’t have any water issues. Then, we laid peel and stick vinyl flooring that we bought from the Home Depot for around $70. This color hides dirt really well, and the floor stays pretty during our camping trips.
We removed all the cabinet doors and the hinges for painting. We knew we could reuse the hinges by spraying them with Rustoleum High Performance Enamel in silver. We decided to go with different knobs and chose a basic wooden one. which we painted a cute blue color to coordinate with our curtains. When replacing the cabinet pulls, make sure the ones you choose aren’t too large, otherwise you’ll have problems when you try to close the slide outs. The knobs could damage whatever they hit when you close up the camper.
For the cabinets we chose Amy Howard “At Home One Step Paint”. This requires no stripping, sanding or priming. We’ve used this paint on other furniture pieces with great results. Based on our fabric swatches, we ended up choosing a retro-green color called Dunavent Green. It was $32.50 for a 32 oz can.
While working on cleaning and priming the floor, we made several trips to the fabric store to find the perfect curtains and cushions. At $20 to $30 a yard, all the fabrics we liked were far too expensive. We went on Fabric.com and found several indoor/outdoor fabrics for just $8.98 a yard that would hold up to 500 hours of sunlight exposure, resist stains and be water resistant. This was a huge savings from all the stores I had visited, so we ordered about 8 different swatches and then took them to the paint store to figure out which color scheme we wanted to go with.
I am not a seamstress so I called a local lady who has an alterations business to help with all the sewing projects once we’d picked out our fabrics. She was wonderful to work with. When I took the old fabric off the cushions, I discovered that they were in great shape and did not smell. We were lucky to be able to reuse the foam by covering it with the new fabric. I made sure to order extra fabric just in case we ever have a cushion that gets messed up.
We could not get the curtains back on the little track they were on, and I’m actually kind of glad because we came up with a better system. The valance at the top was put on with Velcro. The rest of the curtains are on rods that are held up with Command strip hooks, which work great. Now we can take them down each season to have them cleaned. I don’t think the previous curtains had ever been washed.
The mattresses were the first things that were put into the trash. We found a foam outlet that was able to cut out mattresses to fit the strange sizes of the bed area. It took less than a lunch hour to get mattresses cut and was around $100 for each side.
We covered our little step that goes outside with carpet and it helps keep the dirt outside. We also found that solar blankets on each bunk end is a must. They keep the camper cooler in summer and warmer in winter and help the older canvas stay water tight.
We still have a lot we want to do, but we love our “Poppy” so far. We have a bathroom/shower unit in this pop-up, but we haven’t ever used it. We’ve always been camping in locations that provided adequate bathroom facilities. We really like the additional storage space that area provides, so we are still looking for some type of shelving solution for that area. We hope to add LED lights and an air conditioner soon, and we also need to fix a few cosmetic issues on the outside shell.
Our boys are currently 8 and 12 years old and camping with them has been the best thing for our family. We have made some wonderful memories by spending a day hiking or playing in a creek and an evening by the fire or around the dining table playing a board game. We’ve also met some great people and had the best neighbors in the campgrounds. One even saved us from freezing by lending us spare heaters on a frigid night when we couldn’t figure out how to get the heater to work. Many of our neighbors at the campgrounds have large campers and say they started out in a pop-up and have fond memories of their first years camping with their family in a cozy little pop-up. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your pop up camper makeover with us, Felicia. It looks amazing, and I am so glad you and your family are out enjoying it! We’ve made some amazing memories in our PUP as well, and it sure makes all the hard work worth it!
Happy Camping!
Love the renovation. We are currently in the process and are taking pictures to hopefully be featured on Popup Princess too : )
I’m not a seamstress either. We are going to order new foam and fabric. How much did this cost for you to have someone make the new covers? We have similar size popups.
HI Felicia,
We have just bought our first camper this summer, and it is the same at yours. We camped all summer , and after discovering this site we are doing a make over. I have it currently stored for winter and I was wondering if you remember how much fabric you bought for your cushions and curtains. I wanted to start looking for and purchasing fabrics. I would appreciate any advice. We will be doing the cushions and valance in one pattern, and curtains in another pattern. Thank you, Lyndsay
I have a similar sized starcraft and used one set of king sized sheets (high tread count) and both sides of a queen-sized duvet (a fun plaid pattern) to make new bed curtains (the flat sheet -the fitted one goes on the bed), slip-on covers for the seat cushions (the plaid) and the valance (plaid). I used the old curtains as the pattern for the new ones and re-used the gliders from the originals.
I’m so glad I found this site! Now I might try to replace the flooring!
Hi.
These remodels are incredible and inspired us to remodel ours. We are planning to do a remodel of our popup, it’s a smaller one (2003 Viking 1706). My husband and I were wonderings, what is a realistic time frame for the interior painting and floors? With the season coming to an end, we plan to paint this fall and work on the curtains, cushions, etc. over the winter and be ready to hit the road in the spring.
Thank you!
Renee
It really depends on how much work you want to put into it, Renee. We (and by “we” I mean Mr. TypeTwoFun 😉 ) knocked out the flooring in a day. The cabinets took a little longer because I worked on them a few at a time due to lack of adequate work space. That took me about a week, working on them on and off. I would have to say my biggest project was curtains and cushions. Those took me a couple of weeks to finish, as I had to create a pattern and work on them as I had the time. If you’ve got a lot of time on your hands, the work goes quickly.
Best of luck with the remodel. I can’t wait to see it! 🙂
We recently remodeled our kitchen, so the flooring should be easy…for my husband! We are debating if we should cover the existing (cheap) linoleum or rip it out. It’s in great shape but we don’t intend to remove the cabinets. With any luck we will have great weather here in Michigan for painting this Fall.
Thank you again for your advice and when we are done, I’ll be sure to send pictures.
Renee
I have a Viking 2006 camper that I am restoring so we need to share the pain of restoration. I did purchase that great green color that she used and can’t wait to cover all the brown in the camper. I am also going to put new foam in the dining area as ours is worn out. Sailrite has a great video for replacing or recovering rectangular cushions and it looks like it won’t be too difficult. I’m getting my foam from them also. Good luck with your remodel!
Great renovation. Love the name. Our youngest daughter is named Poppy. We just purchased a 1992 Fleetwood Pioneer are excited to get started on our renovation. Larissa, your web site has shown us that what we have in mind is possible!
Beautiful job. Glad to see you painted the cabinets as I am planning to do that next. I have seen other posts where people didn’t think that it was a good idea. And thank you for the idea for the curtains. I made mine but could not get them to stay up. I had put the original tabs on and tried hot gluing them to the tabs above the window. I didn’t take up the old flooring but used peel and stick tiles over it. It’s been there a year and still working well. I also recovered my cushions. I am happy to find this site because when I started this project I couldn’t find any site that glamped up pop ups. Thanks for all the hints and enjoy
Can you tell me how approx many yards of fabric you used? We have the same camper and it’s closed up in storage currently but I found a great deal on fabric. I want to make sure I buy enough.
This looks awesome. I am getting ready to embark on this experience. Other than the doors, did you pull your cabinets out to paint or did you just paint them inside the pop-up? Are your cabinets woods or that particle board/laminate stuff? Thanks, Wendy from Durango
Could you share a bit more about the paint you chose for the cabinets? I watched the manufacturer video for the process and she described it as a flat, chalky finish, but I don’t see that in your pics! Also, she said it definitely needed more than one coat. Did you find that too be true? If we have to do more than one coat anyway, we ma be better off (cost wise) with an oil based paint and primer…just not sure 🙂 We need to make sure whatever we use will be easy to wipe clean, as we’d like to use a lighter color, but have lots of children’s fingers that will be touching the cabinets, lol!
Thanks so much!
I’m not sure Felicia checks in here, AJ, so I’ll do my best to answer your question. I’ve never used the Amy Howard brand, but I’ve used Annie Sloan chalk paint. It does dry to a flat, porous finish. If you want a finish that is easy to wipe clean, you are going to have to apply a wax finish to the paint. Wax is a lot of work. You apply, and then you have to buff it. If you are concerned about little fingerprints, I’d stick to an oil based paint. 🙂
I love how shinny your ceiling is! Was this way when you got it or did you do something to it? The whole camper is beautiful!
I love the way that you have fixed up your little popup!!
I was wondering if you could tell me where you purchased the kitchen table? It looks like something that I might like to try in our travel trailer. I think it would give us more leg room and easier access to the seats on either side!
Looking forward to hearing from you!!
We have a Starcraft, too and that is the dining table it comes with. The white legs fold down and the table then gets stored (or used for a bed) in between the two benches.
WOW! Did you really avoid priming those cabinets? That sounds right up my ally. Did you paint the inside part of the cabinet door? No one ever shows the cabinet when it is open.
You can use chalk paint without priming your cabinets, but you should probably clean them well and scuff them up a bit first. I also wouldn’t recommend using chalk paint without a top coat of some sort. Most people use wax over chalk paint. It makes it more durable and stain resistant. 🙂
Gorgeous job!!!! Would love to know about the kitchen table, that is our next project! Thanks!!!
Love the redo. We are in the process of remodeling a 2007 fleetwood niagra. Fortunately, it was in great shape to begin with and just needed to burn the musty curtains and put up new ones. I love being inspired by all the post.
We have a 2000 Coleman Niagra with a slide out dining area. How did you paint the area that slides out for the dining area? It is such a narrow space and I don’t know how I can get in there.
Felicia – Did you have trouble getting the flooring to stick well right where the dinette slides in and out? The few pices on ours aren’t seeming to stick very well at all and because the slide out is there, you can’t really get under there to press it down…
We just bought Poppy from Felicia’s family and are quite excited about it! They were ready to move into a hardside camper. We’re fixing some of the inevitable age-related problems…vinyl tears, broken plastic thingys 😃, new rollers for the slides, lubricating dry slides, etc…next week ac! I noticed paint comments above and it does seem like the chalky finish will need some wax. We have a 3 and 7 year old and already smudgies and stuff are stuck. All in all…super psyched to get out into the mountains with my little family and Poppy! Love your site…it is proving very valuable to a newbie PU owner…thanks very much!
We have a Viking Pop Up much like yours. We purchased it new in 2007 and time and wear have left their mark. After viewing all the great Pop Up Princesses out there I am finally ready to jump in. We live in Florida so we mostly camp in the winter. Even though our camper has an A/C unit it’s just not enough to fight the Florida heat. I love the color you chose for your camper. Ours is all boring browns. The curtains are in excellent shape, but again a brown pattern. Also the elastic around the top of the camper to hide the joint is now sagging, so I am going to follow your instructions to fix that issue.
I appreciate all the ideas you have given me and will probably have some questions as we proceed. BTW, you are so lucky to have a handy husband, mine isn’t so much, but he tries hard. 🙂
I found this great website for fabrics and they have some wonderful ones for us outdoorsy types. I am purchasing my fabric from them as their prices are great! Locally it would cost me double and I don’t have the huge selection that Fabric.com has and they will send you swatches so you don’t have to go by the little tiny photo on their site.
Sailrite.com has great foam and videos on how to recover cushions and make pillows for those who are sewing challenged.
I have a similar sized camper and need to cover my cushions any idea about how many yards I’ll need to get? Did you use out door fabric?
Thank you for sharing I might do more than just the cushions after seeing how well yours turned out! Love this Page!
Felicia sold her camper, Rebecca, so I am sure she isn’t checking the comments section anymore. You can find info on recovering your cushions here. There is also a fantastic yardage calculator on the SailRite website. You can find that here.
Can you tell me how much it was for the seamstress to make the cushion covers? I just want to have a ballpark idea! Thank you, and beautiful job!
It is so nice to see cabinets painted a color other than a white. What a neat idea!! I was thinking of painting my a soft butter yellow. Thanks for the inspiration! Ours also has a slide out dinette, I’ve wondered about the flooring. Awesome PUP!
Hello everyone
I just love all the pop up redos and your ideas have been wonderful. I just finished my 2008 pop up redo and i just love it cant wait to take her out on her maiden voyage lol♡. I am thankful to all of you for your beautiful ideas I could not have done without you. Larrissa, thank you so much for your website your the best ♡