30 Easy RV remodel ideas on a budget that make you feel at home (before and after pictures)

Are you searching for Camper decorating ideas to make your Travel Trailer, Motorhome, or 5th Wheel more like home?

How can you make your camper feel more like home if it looks old and not very inviting right now?

From dark and dated to bright and inviting! You need to see the before and after pictures of this small camper remodel. It is incredible what you can make out of a dated-looking Camper by adding just a little paint and decor.

If you are not sure about the right color scheme for your RV, check out my best 6 mood boards for RVs for your camper remodel.

Then decide on your colors and start with a mood board. Or, if you are not sure how to move on from there, I make you a mood board, especially for your RV.

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Easy RV remodel ideas on a budget (before and after pictures)

How do you update an older RV and make it feel like home?

Well, first you start with cleaning the Travel Trailer, Motorhome, or Campervan and decide if the furniture is still in good condition or if you want to replace any furniture.

The second step is to decide on a color scheme. I always recommend going with bright colors on the walls, as this makes your RV look so much lighter and fresher.

The third step is to decide what you want to update and then get all of your material (make sure you know what paint to get) and start working from top to bottom.

Before and after picture of my 18 ft. travel trailer:

Let’s look at the best RV decorating ideas

1.) Add a lot of throw pillows to the bed and sofa

That is very easy to do. If you want to brighten up your space, select bright and happy colors. If you want to add to your color scheme, select the right patterns that fit.

How can you copy this look?

You can find many pillow ideas on Amazon (very reasonably priced too). Just order a couple of them and decorate your sofa or bed with these beautiful-looking pillows. You can take the cover off if they need to be washed. So just make sure you have enough of the right-sized inserts.

2.) Bedspread and Throw Blankets

My camper is small and you can see the bed when you are sitting on the sofa. Therefore I love to decorate my bed with pretty blankets or throws. Depending on the season I use bright colors or more muted fall colors.

How can you copy this look?

I love to shop in my own house first and bring along whatever fits my color scheme in the RV. Once in a while, I get something new for the camper. Especially if I exchange my decor for fall or spring.

Here are some tips for funky bedspreads from Amazon:

When it gets colder I love to exchange the bedspreads with faux fur blankets. That makes the look of the RV even cozier.

3.) Curtains or new blinds

Wow, what a difference new curtains make. I removed my ugly brown and dated-looking valances and added new curtains. It was so easy to do and what a big, immediate impact it made. If you want to know how to remove valances easily, here are a lot of tips and ideas.

How can you copy this look?

Remove the old valances and get lightweight curtain rods. Measure the size of the window before you buy anything. I used the holes from the valances, to mount the curtain rods. Tension rods might also work on certain windows if you want to keep your valances.

Here are some blackout curtains easy to order from Amazon, also check out Walmart, Michaels or even Target has very cool patterns.

4.) More curtains for the entry door

If you love a little boho decor in your camper, I love these string curtains that I hung up at the entrance door. Especially if you have a family that runs in and out all the time, and you leave the door open but have some kind of cover with these string curtains.

Here is how to copy that look:

Just make these string curtains yourself with rope and get creative by adding beats or pearls. If you don’t have a creative hand, here is where to get them:

5.) Update your headboard with tapestry

It can be so easy. If you have a window behind the bed or even a curved wall and you don’t know how to decorate it, this is an easy solution. Hang up a tapestry. You can do this by using pins or velcro. Whatever makes you feel better and actually holds on the wall.

How can you copy this look?

This is an easy update with a tapestry if you want to add a little color inside your RV (there are many more designs available right here):

6.) Colorful pictures / Artwork

I know there is not a lot of space in an RV to hang artwork, but still enough space to add some photos or decor. It makes you feel at home if you surround yourself with pretty things. If you want to print out a quote or a simple artowrk, I have a lot of different choices in my free resource library, so go and check it out.

Or bring some family photos and tape them onto the walls with pretty masking tape. If you need more ideas about how to hang decor on Camper walls, here are lots of tips. How to hang decor on RV walls

7.) Add a peel and stick backsplash

If you don’t want to paint your cabinets, a good choice is to add a pretty backsplash to your kitchen wall. Easy to do if you get peel and stick tiles from Lowes, Home Depot or even the Dollar Store. Select a pretty pattern and make your kitchen look pretty.

How to copy that look:

How to apply peel and stick tiles: Just remove the window frame, take the wallpaper border off and clean the wall with a deglosser. Use a measure, a utility knife and a level and start adding the tiles from the corner out.

Make sure to decide on the pattern and the end of the tile before you start glueing them on to the wall.

8.) Add Rugs everywhere

Yes, especially if you like to camp in cooler temperatures. A rug adds comfort and softness to your camper.

There are so many different styles you can choose from. I love my rug from ruggable, because I can wash it easily and don’t need to worry about the dog making it dirty all the time.

How can you copy that look

Either check out ruggable, they have awesome patterns, or go to Amazon and choose from thousands of different patterns. I especially love these patterns.

9.) Paint your cabinets

Well, this is not so fast and not so easily done. I also wouldn’t consider it a decor item. But if you want to change the look of your kitchen or bedroom cabinets, you should think about painting them.

Here is an easy article on how to paint cabinets without a lot of sanding and priming. It will make a huge difference in the look of your RV. But maybe start with your bathroom vanity first if you have never painted before to get a little experience with painting cabinets.

10.) Add greenery

I love to bring my herbs. Basil, rosemary, thyme look and smell good in my camper. And they add a good smell and life to the inside of my camper. The pots are not huge, therefore they are easy to bring along.

I keep them on my kitchen window. If you don’t want to bring herbs or plants, how about a fake plant?

They look really pretty too:

20 more best RV Makeover Ideas

1. Repaint the interior – get rid of dark and dingy colors and make your RV more inviting with bright and fresh colors like white, grey, beige, light green, or blue. A brighter interior makes your RV feel and look so much larger.
2. Add shiplap on your walls – either make shiplap lines with a sharpie or spruce up your space with wallpaper or colorful planks.
3. The furniture is old and uncomfortable? Get a sleeper sofa, a fold-down table, and a shelving unit to place your TV, baskets, or clothes.
4. Do you love the farmhouse look? Add some reclaimed wood around your slide, and use a butcher block for countertops or tables.
5. Remove the old valances and add new blinds or curtains. Black-out blinds will help you to keep the heat or the cold out of your RV, and adding white curtains on top will make the look fresh and clean.
6. If the linoleum shows signs of wear and tear just add peel and stick vinyl planks right on top of it.
7. Update the interior lights with new LED light bulbs or add new light fixtures. Or if you want to be super creative just cover up the old box lights for a more modern look.
8. Update your RV bathroom with an oxygenics shower head and a new faucet.
9. Does your toilet and bathroom sink look yellowish and sort of gross? Spray paint it white with appliance spray paint from Rustoleum to get a fresh new look.
10. Do you need more space for yourself and your pets? Remove the dinette and add a folding table and bar stools. It is lightweight and easy to move out of the way in case you need more space.
11. How about new countertops in your kitchen? Either paint the old ones with milk paint and then add 3 coats of top coat for protection or cover them with marble self-adhesive film for a more modern look.
12. Update the old kitchen cabinets with budget-friendly paint. Use Heirloom All in One paint or Milk Paint for best results. If you like a boho vibe, maybe consider painting the cabinets in bold green or slate blue, or even bright orange.
13. Add a foldable kitchen island if you need more counter and storage space.
14. Add a decorative backsplash with peel-and-stick tiles or a bright wallpaper.
15. Do you need space for pets? Build a bunk for pets under your dinette seat or sofa. or find a designated space for the crate or bed.
16. Don’t forget to decorate the interior with blankets, pillows, rugs, and wall decor. Need any ideas on how to hang them onto the RV walls? Here are all the tips you need to make your wall decor stay.
17. Add a little greenery. Fresh herbs are great for cooking and it also gives the interior of your Camper a fresh and natural look. Adding greenery makes the interior look so much happier.
18. Add a rug. It is absolutely necessary to add rugs everywhere during winter camping to warm up the interior. Furthermore, you can hide an ugly floor and/or add some color inside your camper. Stacking rugs are great if you have similar colors and patterns.
19. If you don’t have an awning, get a tent in front of the entrance. This is the perfect space to leave shoes and outdoor furniture covered in case of rain.
20. Get an outdoor rug. The best accessory ever if you don’t like to clean the inside of your RV all the time. The kids can play on it, the pets can sit on it and you can store your grill underneath it.

RV updates anyone can do – Easy step-by-step guide on how to update an RV

There are so many easy tips on how to update an RV, Travel Trailer or Motorhome:

1. If you don’t want to paint the walls, you can just add a peel-and-stick wallpaper and make one cool accent wall that draws all the attention to it. Or you hang a colorful tapestry on a wall to add a pretty pattern or quote.
2. In order to cover the dark linoleum floor, add a pretty colorful rug to hide the dated look of the old floor.
3. If the Jack Knife Sofa looks really bad, get a slipcover and pretty pillows to cover the ugly fabric. There are so many different sizes, fabrics, and colors to choose from, and this makes it easy to update.

RV remodel pictures before and after

Here are more pictures of renovated RVs:

Summary of Easy RV remodel ideas on a budget (before and after pictures)

It is so much fun to see the transformations from dark and dated-looking to bright and modern with just a couple of updates.

The biggest impact of course is when you paint the walls a bright and fresh pastel. This is huge to make the look of any RV brighter, whether it is a small Travel Trailer or a pretty big Motorhome, a 5th Wheel, or a Camper Van.

So start with step one and work yourself to the fun part of decorating your RV. And then, of course, show it off and take it traveling all over this beautiful country.

Let me know what your favorite camper decorating idea is. I would love to add it to this list.

See you on the road

Conny

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