A Quick Camper Makeover Update
How was your weekend? We went boating with friends and did some major work on the camper… it was equal parts relaxing & productive (my favorite type of weekend). The camper is already looking MUCH different these days. If you missed the before images and my design plan- check out that post here. I figured since we’re moving right along, it would be fun to see a blog post update. We’ve got the flooring installed and everything is primed! We’re hoping to start painting this week, as we have some camping trips coming up and we’d love to knock this project out. Click through for the latest!
First, I wanted to show you the new LVP flooring! I knocked this out in a day. It took me a full day, but the end result was well worth the effort. It looks so much better than the previous linoleum.
I ended up installing the flooring directly on top of the previous flooring. It was a very easy process and by keeping the old linoleum underneath, we have an even better protective barrier- especially for waterproofing. I gave it a good clean and stuck the LVP right on top, pressing each panel down during installation. I went with the Almond color, for those who asked yesterday! It really has a nice textural looking grain with the right amount of warmth.
I did recruit my math wiz (aka, Emmett) to help me with some geometry and get perfect angles in some weird spots. Overall, the flooring turned out really nice! We’re both happy with it.
Next, we started demo. Removing the existing window treatments made a huge difference and added so much light to the camper. Our plan was to remove everything and mask off anything that did not require primer or paint…
Masking always takes SO long. We spent around five or six hours taping everything off. It’s worth the time once we bring out the paint sprayer though… the amount of hours it would have taken me to brush & roll would have been significantly more.
I’ve never been more ready to see all that cherry go! Our plan was to get everything primed over the weekend and hopefully paint a few nights this week. Ready to see how it looks post primer? We finished as it was getting dark last night, so I kind of lost the light for photographs. Such a crazy difference, right? It’s so much brighter.
I picked up my paint on Sunday and once the primer has totally cured, we’ll dive in and paint the walls, ceiling, cabinetry, and vanity. Curious about the colors I landed on? Let me show you…
We’ll be painting the kitchenette area and bathroom vanity Featherstone by Sherwin-Williams. It’s a beautiful medium green hue. As for the rest of the cabinetry, walls, and ceiling… we’ll be using one of my creamy go-to paint colors- Zurich White, also by Sherwin-Williams.
I also want to mention the primer we used, Extreme Bond Primer. This was our first time using this particular primer and it’s pretty amazing! We needed something that would bind really well because we have a pretty crazy mix of materials in the camper- from wood to vinyl and even PVC or plastic materials. Since we invested our time & energy to paint, we would be disappointed if it started chipping. This was definitely the best primer for the project to prevent that. I’ll let you know how it holds up, but it seems promising so far. It’s probably also worth noting- we did roughly sand everything and wipe it down really well before we starting masking and painting. Again- our goal was to get the best paint adhesion possible for durability.
I’ve got all of the upholstered pieces loaded up in my car (pictured below), and I’ll be dropping those off at the workroom tomorrow. I’m just going to choose a vinyl or performance fabric from their scrap pile to save on cost. They have plenty of bolts to choose from, I just have to make sure they have enough yardage. My inclination is to go with vinyl for cleanability. Our dogs slept on the dinette which converts to a bed the last time we camped, so it definitely needs to hold up to Cash & Crosby. Also living in Utah, we camp at a lot of sandy spots- which could easily be vacuumed from vinyl. Any fabric or vinyl choice will be a significant improvement to the existing upholstery…
We pretty much have all of our materials here and ready to go. We shouldn’t be held up waiting on anything. The only item that could cause a bit of a delay is our solid surface countertops. We want to have Emmett’s workplace fabricate a new (marble looking) table, kitchen countertop, and bathroom vanity top. We have the remnants- we just need them fabricated. However, they are very busy right now with long lead-times, so we may wait and install those months down the road. We can easily use the existing countertops for awhile. Everything else is piling up in one of our guest rooms. It basically looks like an explosion of camper things upstairs…
Again, if you missed the design plan or want links for anything… that’s all included in this post! I feel like we’re making pretty good progress and we already have some fun trips planned with friends & family. I’m looking forward to making our little camper a place we love and can make lots of memories in. Now that we have a functioning truck that can pull it again, we’ll be on the road in no time… after lots & lots of painting! Here’s to a good week ahead. If I’m MIA or miss a blog post this week- it probably means I’m painting. I also have a handful of doctor appointments this week, but I’ll do my best to stick to our schedule. Peggi has an awesome post planned on Wednesday for you! I’m just itching to knock this thing out. For some reason, this tiny little camper has me very excited!