Best tips how to remodel your Travel Trailer/RV easy

We bought this old and tired looking camper because it ‘spoke’ to me and was waiting for me to make it pretty. I heard him say “buy me and take me home” and this is what we did.

The next day I started making color schemes, searching for ideas and hunting for material I could use for the remodel.

If you start deciding on a light color scheme, getting all the material and then staying focused on the job, you can do this remodel within a week. There is no need to overthink it, painting is easy and done pretty fast.

Unfortunately I had absolutely no idea how to update a travel trailer/RV but this didn’t hold me back.

Within a week and a very tight budget our little camper came back to life.

This is how he looks after the remodel:

Get ready for summer and go on fantastic adventures

Now is the best time to buy a used Camper or RV, especially if you are planning some road trips and you just want to drive along and feel the freedom.

So read on how to update an older travel trailer easy and of course without going overboard on spending.

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Best tips how to update your Travel Trailer/RV easy

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If you are thinking about buying a used camper or you have one sitting in your driveway but it definitely needs an update, here are my best tips how to update your Travel Trailer/RV easy.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on the remodeling either. So go for it – you have nothing to loose.

All campers we looked at during our search were brown or beige on the inside. Not very appealing to me.

We looked at really bad ones and some looked sort of o.k. At the end of our search we decided to buy a 10 year old “FunFinder”, 18 ft. long, in decent shape with no leaks.

Here is a before picture of the inside:

Easy steps how to update your Travel Trailer/RV on a budget

How to start updating your RV/Camper easy and cheap:

1. First we removed all the ugly brown valances and just left the blinds on the windows.
2. Then I decided on a maximum of two main colors. White, light grey, light blue is always a good option to start with.  I picked a light blue paint for the walls. Check out how to decide on a color scheme here.
3. After this I painted our cabinets with milk paint. No need to sand them down which will make your life so much easier. Here is a fast read how to paint cabinets and walls.  Camper Remodel How to paint camper walls and cabinets

1. I added some glam with teal backsplash tiles in the kitchen area. It took me almost a whole day, because I tiled it without grouting and it was a little tricky, but so worth it. It is easier and much faster if you buy self-adhesive tiles, just stick them on the walls, line them up and done. That’s what I did in the bathroom. You can add color and a pattern and it is an easy Camper remodel tip.
2. First I thought I would keep the floor, but the brown beige color sucked all the light in and didn’t look good with all the other colors. So I added a new light grey vinyl floor. I glued the new self-adhesive vinyl tiles on top of the old linoleum.  It looks great. It took me (with the help of my husband) about 5 hours to get it done, because some of the tiles had to be cut to fit. How to lay new floor in your Camper

1. Of course the couch was brown/beige also. First I cleaned it with a carpet foam and brushed the stains off. There are ready made covers to buy at Amazon, but I covered the jack-knife-sofa with a white/grey sheet. Add some velcro strips at the back of the sofa so it stays in place.
2. I added some splashes of color with a tiny rug, pillows, sheets and a curtain. Most of the items I didn’t had to buy.

Here is the deal doing a Camper remodel:

Painting the cabinets took the longest, because you have to paint and let dry and paint again. But with my method of painting, you skip the sanding and the priming step, which helps immensely on cutting time.Camper Remodel How to paint camper walls and cabinets

And it can go fast if you stay on the job and work consistently. It is so much fun to watch the transformation from ugly to beautiful.

If you have decided to glam up your camper, check out all the resources and links I have collected in this Ebook:

If you want to make your brown/beige Camper prettier, but you don’t know how, here are all my resources for you. And trust me, you can definitely do this too. Just follow all of my steps and you are going to love your Camper.

After pictures of the Camper remodel below:

This is how the camper looks after the remodel:

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New vinyl tiles in white. It makes everything look so much bigger and brighter. Underneath you can see small parts of the old floor. Install them in a pattern, start with a full length plank and the next row with a half length plank and so on.  The tiles are still holding up great. 

How long did the Camper remodel take?

It took me about 1 week to get it done. I worked in between 2-4 hours every day on it.

It wasn’t a hard job to do. If you can park the camper right next to your home and you are able to work on it consistently, it can be done within a week.

Of course this camper did not had any leaks or major renovation issues. The only thing I had to do was making the inside prettier. But it is so much fun to watch it looking better every day, the more brown and beige disappeared the happier it looked. Also it looks so much bigger now which doesn’t hurt at all.

So far we did four trips with our little camper and a cross country adventure trip. which was a lot of fun.

Is a 18 ft. Camper good for long time trips?

There is not a lot of space, especially for cooking or washing dishes, but you get used to it.

The camper works for two people and a dog, because we are mainly outside anyhow. It can get cramped when everybody is inside though. Especially our dog uses a lot of space.

We drove across country and lived in it for 4 weeks. It was manageable if you don’t pack a lot of stuff, stay organized and use the outdoor as a living space also.

Can I bring my pets with me in the Camper?

Your pets can travel with you

The best thing about traveling with a camper is that you can bring your pets with you. No need booking a doggy camp or going into a highly priced pet hotel.

But of course you need a spot for the pets. We bring our dogs’ bed with us into the camper so she has something familiar and feels good in the new environment.

Because our camper is very small and our dog uses a lot of space it can get pretty tight inside. But normally we are outside anyways, so it doesn’t really bother us that much.

So now I am just happy to have my little fur baby with me whenever we decide to take a road trip or go on a weekend getaway.

More information about what to bring with you to make your dog comfortable is right here:

Where can you buy the material you need for the Camper remodel?

And because I get asked so often where I bought the material I used for the remodel, here are some links.

Where can you buy the material I used:

You can actually order everything you need to start your updating.

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

For painting the cabinets and the doors I used Milk Paint in Seagull Grey. No sanding or priming required, just two coats of paint, let it dry and then apply 3 coats of Top Coat which goes pretty fast. Read the full tutorial about how to paint the cabinets and doors right here: https://colorfuldesigner.com/how-to-paint-camper-walls-and-cabinets/

You can use the same paint for your kitchen cabinets. This is actually where I started using Milk Paint, it works so good. Here is my kitchen if you want to see the makeover:  Paint your kitchen cabinets without sanding and priming DIY

The links for the Milk Paint as well as the Top Coat you need to apply after painting are right here. Of course there are other color options available too:

Looking for a pretty backsplash?

And here are some floor examples:

If you are looking for more tips and much more details about how to update the interior of your Camper, get the Ebook with all the information you need to know.

Summary of ‘Best tips how to update your Travel Trailer/RV easy’

Don’t wait to start with the remodeling of your dated Camper. It is so worth it. Get rid of that dated and dark look and just make it pretty. You are going to love it.

If you are thinking that you can’t really afford a remodel, start with painting the walls. It makes such a difference if you have fresh and bright walls. A gallon of paint doesn’t cost a lot and won’t take a lot of time either.

Just work step after step. After painting the walls consider painting the doors and cabinets or just exchange the light bulbs to LED bulbs. What a difference.

I hope you get started tomorrow making a glamper out of your camper.

Conny xoxo

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