Before our RV bedroom makeover, our old cornice box, headboard and wallpaperI freaked out when I saw the inside of our RV for the first time.
On the surface, it seemed so dated, so in need of a refresh. It took Eric a while to convince me that everything I saw could be replaced, and that the “bones” were what counted. So we made sure the batteries and tires were new, and that the roof looked good and there wasn’t any water damage.
In the year and a half that we’ve lived in Meriwether, we’ve done some projects here and there. I painted our dinette cushions and living room trim, and reupholstered our living room cornice boxes with a little help from our friends.
It wasn’t until after those projects that we decided on a nautical theme for our RV, plus our kitten tore up my gorgeous cornice boxes, so the living area is in overall need of attention. But the good news is that we hadn’t touched our bedroom, except for investing in new bedding, so we were able to build on a blank slate as we took on our RV bedroom makeover.
Our friends Dan and Lisa Brown of RV Liberty recently joined us at Haggard’s RV Campground in Pueblo West, CO. If it wasn’t for their knowledge and reassurance, we wouldn’t have been brave enough to take on this makeover. We’re indebted to Dan for his handiness and Lisa for her sewing and design skills. Thank you both for your patience and time!
Painting the Headboard
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with our headboard, but it couldn’t stay the way it was once the walls were painted and our new curtains were hung!
I considered removing it, but Eric was nervous that I would damage the wall. Plus, it does serve a purpose by sitting flush with the bottom of the window frame and keeping us from bumping our heads at night. So it was decided that I would upholstery paint it, the same way I did our dinette cushions and living room trim.
If you’re interested in more of the details about upholstery paint, read my previous article.
Painting the Walls
Though I’m sure there’s some way to remove wallpaper in an RV, that was beyond our skill level. Aside from a little bit of bubbling from minor water damage, our wallpaper was in good shape and we were able to paint over it with no trouble.
Supplies for this project were standard:
- Painter’s tape
- Paint
- Drop cloths
- Wet rag for mistakes (this is standard, right?)
- Narrow roller with replacement brushes
- Paint brushes in various sizes
- Paper plate to hold paint
I did need a tiny paint brush for touchups–the kind you might use for an art project. The corners and crevices I had to get into were pretty crazy.
Hanging New Curtains
This is the part of the project we couldn’t have done without Dan and Lisa! After my three coats of paint dried, Dan helped Eric to hang the curtain rods. We needed to buy a stud finder that could also find metal, in order to secure the rods securely.
After Photos
We couldn’t be more happy with the way our RV bedroom makeover turned out. It’s amazed what paint, curtains and some accessories can do to change the feel of an entire room.
We repurposed accessories we already had to prettify our bedroom counter area.
A touch of elegance can make a big difference. We found these distressed rods at Tuesday Morning.
Love the way the light shines through, and I get to see this when I wake up every morning!
We were able to complement the bedding we already had.
Our new bedroomThe only addition we’ve talked about is new hardware for our cabinets. With 24 pulls to replace, I think we’ll be saving our pennies for a bit!
-B
Great job. The bedroom looks so beautiful now. What a nice choice of fabrics for the nautical theme.
I really appreciate the kind words, @Trisha_jean:disqus! As soon as I saw that map fabric, I knew it was the right one. From there it was just a matter of finding a good accent color.
Really looks great!
Looks great!!!
Thank you, @theuramblers:disqus!
Great job, may have to try painting the wall paper at some point! We have a 2003 class A, and have the identical bright brass light sconce (plus had bright brass pulls, hinges, etc). We updated our RV last year before we went full time, and one thing that made a huge change was taking down the brass and painting it to be oil rubbed bronze (Rustoleum spray paint from Home Depot). We the pulls were replaced, but the hinges, lights, and even the bedroom closet mirror frames were painted. Very cheap, but took some elbow grease, and made a huge difference.
Awesome Jason. Got pictures to share with us? Would love to see it.
I’ve got a few pics, but let me get them organized and get back to you.
Looking forward to it Jason!
Hi Eric, I organized a few pics on our blog. The main blog is pretty out of date, but we always have plans to add more. https://xreich.wordpress.com/rv-renovation-history/
Nice Jason! Looks great, I’m wondering if you had any problem taking off the hinges and then putting them back on as far as tearing apart any cabinetry? Any insight there?
Hi Eric, no real problem. We did track each hinge to each door/cabinet (as best as we could) to try to avoid misalignment, but everything worked pretty well. For the flip up doors, we’ve had a couple broken rivets in the mechanisms, but I’m not sure if they were tied to the removal and reinstall. We bought a couple matching hinges from an RV parts supplier. In any case, no problems with the woodwork, and the removal and reinstall was very easy.
Thanks Jason! That is encouraging. It is one of our projects down the road. Appreciate all the feedback.
I love the USCG pillows!! Are you guys prior USCG? My husband is currently active and we have decided to retire in 2 years and live RV full time. Right now we are in the process of finding and purchasing our RV and plan on living it in it from now until retirement date to save and watch our savings act grow before our adventure begins.
Eric is a retired Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer. 20 years of service. Congrats on the decision to RV full time. If we can be of any help let us know! Semper Paratus
A fellow Coastie <3 It's awesome to meet you. When my husband retires he will have served 27 years…. so needless to say we are READY! I'm working on setting up our blog (what website did you guys use?) and today working on setting up our social media accounts. Gypsy Four Wandering 🙂
Such an exciting time, @erinhantzmon:disqus! Eric served 20 years. For our blog, we use WordPress (self-hosted, not WordPress.com) and a Genesis theme by Studiopress. We actually do blog consulting for a living, so let us know if we can help you with anything!
When did Eric call it quits? Okay so blog advice… basically Im just wondering which host we should use. Im assuming I can import my wordpress into that? Excuse for I am a virgin blogger LOL
E’s retirement was in July 2010. 🙂 How about you shoot me a note through our contact form, and we can chat blogging via email.