Rhonda’s Pop Up Camper Makeover

I’m so excited to share another pop up camper makeover with you today.  This one is from Rhonda, who took her dated pop up camper from boring to beautiful on a small budget.  She’s done such an amazing job that I’ll let her tell you all about it.  Take it away, Rhonda…  😀

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I wanted to have a little oasis that we could use while “roughing it,” and a pop up camper was the perfect option.  Our camper was in pretty good shape when I purchased it, but it had been sitting for a while.  After a good cleaning, I decided to give it a little makeover.

First, I chose the color palette.  There are obviously a million options, but when you have your own seamstress (in the form of my retired mother), I had a little more wiggle room for customization!  🙂  I picked all Joann Fabrics and took advantage of a 50% off coupon I had snagged.  My curtain fabric choices came from Nate Berkus & Waverly.  I chose clearance fabrics to cover the seating at $2.50/yard!  The lightweight cotton serves as the lining for window curtains.  (Want to learn more about making your own pop up camper curtains, go here.)

Second, I removed all of the doors and hinges to prep for spraying.  I have a mean index finger with the spray can, so after I lightly sanded everything, I got to work with the primer coat.  It really pays to let that dry well before moving on to your paint color.  I chose a light grey for the cabinets–I wanted to keep it bright and neutral–and black for the hinges.  I used Rustoleum in a high gloss for all paint colors, so I could easily wipe down any spills (we have 3 kids).  With the high gloss, you HAVE to let the paint dry at least 4 hours, maybe longer depending on the weather, especially on that pressboard material they use for the cabinets.  Once dry, it’s as good as gold!  It took 3 cans of paint and 2 cans of primer total.  (For more detail on painting pop up camper cabinets, click here.)

Next, I tackled the floor.  CAUTION: This is not an easy job.  Camper floors aren’t perfectly squared off.  I am handy–to a point–so I didn’t remove the cabinetry to do the flooring.  😉  And I left the original flooring in dinette under seat storage.  An Exacto knife, measuring tape and lots of patience is all you need.  This was by far the most tedious job, for me at least.  I used 20 pieces of the peel and stick laminate in a wide plank from Lowe’s.  I love the results!  What I thought would take me 1 hour, took 2.5 hours for the install, however, I am TOTALLY stoked!

Tension rods hold the bedroom curtains.  I used Velcro for the window curtains and attached them to the old c-clip tracks.  Cute placemats adds some flair to the stove cover.  I think the red accent towel I left in the photos accidentally actually works.  😀

The bedding was from Target in the clearance section.  I used a twin sized comforter for both “full-ish” sized beds.  I designed the pillows with the leftover Waverly fabric I used on the window curtains and ready-made pillow squares from Joann Fabrics.  I purchased 4″ memory foam in full size that I cut to fit the odd mattress. The full size foam was a little wide, so I will had to cut about 2 inches off the side and bottom.  We used with the old Coleman 2″ mattresses underneath, but it was all too thick when packing camper down, so we will have get rid of the old mattresses and go with just the memory foam and some air mattresses.

Lastly, I found some clearance appliques that I used to spruce up the boring door, and the camper was complete!

Here’s the cost of the project:

• Fabric: $179
• Spray Paint: $33
• Flooring: $29
• Bedding and Foam: $300
• Placemats and Appliques: $15

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Look at that before and after shot.  Doesn’t it look amazing?  What an awesome job, Rhonda!  I absolutely love it.  🙂

Do you have a trailer transformation of your own?  Would you like to be spotlighted on The Pop Up Princess?  Learn all about how to get featured here.

 

Happy Camping!