RV Before and After: Details of Bedroom and Bathroom
First off, I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words about the RV makeover! It has been something I always wanted to do, but was not quite sure I could pull it off. It feels so good to have it done and have so many of you like it. I absolutely love interior design, I just never felt very good at it, but this was a small enough space that I didn’t feel overwhelmed and was able to really let my creative side come out. So, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the kind words. If you missed it you can find the big reveal blog post here.
Primer & Paint
I am starting the process of going through room by room to give all the details and hopefully answer all of your questions. I am covering everything here: the raw materials we used, the tools we needed to complete the projects and then, of course, the links to all the pretty decor! So will start off with saying that we did the same paint color throughout the entire RV. All the white you see is BM Simply White and the darker green color is BM Deep River. We did all the wall and cabinets the same color, so we went ahead and purchased a spray gun from Harbor Freight for the project, which made things go a little faster. There are a lot of tips and tricks to make painting cabinets easier, but we wanted to make sure we did it right, so we took the advice from the very friendly gal at Sherwin Williams and we took the time to sand each and every cabinet, clean them well and then prime and paint. It was a process. We first got a quote to get the painting professionally done and the quote came back at $3k, which we thought was outrageous, but then seeing first hand how much work it actually was it didn’t seem so outrageous anymore. For the walls we painted right over the wall paper. making sure just to clean it really well beforehand. You will notice a green strip of wallpaper in some of the before pictures and we did remove that strip just so all of the walls would be nice and smooth. The walls and the cabinets each took one coat of white primer and then two coats of paint. We kept all the original hinges and just spray painted them black. We did replace the (13)cabinet pulls and they are from Amazon. They not only fit the decor perfectly, but they were also such a great price at $27 for 30 of them.
Flooring
We did (2)1867 Vinyl Planks throughout the RV in the color Evolution Magma Nevado and I am so happy with them! They are a company right out of Montreal!
Bedroom
The bedroom was one of the easiest rooms we did. All we really had to focus on was making it pretty, no hidden surprises or problems, which made it fun. When we purchased the RV they had upgraded to a king size bed, which was nice, but it left absolutely no room in the bedroom. I decided we needed to get a queen back in there. We were able to find an RV queen (almost brand new, used 4 times) on Facebook Marketplace for $40, so we made the change. Gutting the bedroom was little hard, because there was carpet everywhere, even where the “night stands” are, so pulling that out used quite a bit of muscle. Holy Smokes! Whoever puts these RVs together loves a staple gun, so if you are taking on this project I hope you are ready to remove about a zillion staples! After that, it was smooth sailing. We gave everything a coat of white paint, then decided we needed a little color and so we went ahead and did the back wall or the “headboard” in the Deep River color.
Bedroom Night Stands
For the night stands I just got a thin board of pine plywood and put two layers of Shellac sealer and then used a nail gun to secure them. There is a little cabinet under the one on the right that gives you access to the storage under the RV. I really didn’t think that was necessary - when would I ever need to get to the storage compartment when I could just go outside and access it? So, we just covered it. We then used white panels for the front of them, again using a nail gun to attach them.
Bedroom Decor
Then, we were ready for the pretty things! For the bedding, we went with one of our favorite bedding brands White Terry. We got the sheets and duvet cover in the color snow. We have these sheets in Montreal and love them. I am big on bedding, so I wanted to make sure it was a cozy place that I would love to curl up in. I know beddy’s are big for RV’s but that just wasn’t going to achieve the look we wanted. For the throw pillows I found (11)these at Hobby Lobby. You can find 40% off coupons all the time for Hobby Lobby, so keep an eye out for that if you are wanting these pillows. The throw blanket I had on hand from our tent camping days, but (9)here is a similar one.
The wall sconce lights were from Amazon, you can find them (5)here. We don’t have any wiring or anything there, so I used a little trick I learned from RV Fixer Upper on Instagram and made “magic lights” to learn how to do that you can go here.
The plants on each side of the bed are from Amazon, you can find them here and that cute little rug was a find from FredMyer, but here is a similar one. Not pictured are curtains that my mom made just using white fabric combined with black out fabric from Joannes Fabric and (14)these cute curtain rods from Target.
Bathroom
My favorite room in the RV! This is where we saw the biggest change and where I had the most fun decorating. I spent quite a bit of time on YouTube to tackle this room. I learned all about plumbing, bathtub/shower resurfacing, counter top options, light weight tile options and so on. This is what we ended up with.
I removed the bathroom sink, counter top, and medicine cabinet. I debated getting a new toilet since this one is a little off white, but I ended up leaving it and I am happy I did, the color doesn’t bother me at all anymore.
Backsplash
For the tile backsplash I decided to the entire wall and use (3)Tic Tac tile, which is pretty much big sheets of stickers that look like tile. There was a big lesson learned here: I ordered one pack at first, to make sure I would like it, got them on the wall and was loving it and went to buy the same exact ones from Amazon. The problem was, when they arrived they were not the exact same ones. Close, but different enough that you could tell. So, I reordered enough to cover the entire wall and ended up having to take off and trash the first ones I had already put on the wall. Not a huge deal, but it was for sure a waste of the $45 the first pack cost me. I did the wall while there was no counter top which made it pretty easy. You learn quickly that in RV’s their is no such thing as perfectly level or perfectly straight or square walls, so as a perfectionist you can really make this project time consuming and it will drive you mad, but so worth it in the end.
Tip people say you can just cut these with scissors, which you can, but I was definitely not getting a straight edge using scissors, I ended up using a razor blade and metal ruler to make my cuts, but looking back my mom has one of those old school paper cutters that would have made it even easier.
Bathroom Counter Top
For the counter top we shopped around quite a bit, but you really want to make sure you keep everything as light weight as possible when doing these renovations, so we ended up just going with Marine grade plywood. This was a nice on the pocket book as well! We bought a entire 4x8 sheet for a little over $50 and then used the remaining piece for other projects in the RV. I was hoping to get it cut right there at Home Depot, but learned they don’t do angle cuts there - lame! Luckily, I am doing this project at my parents house and had access to my dads tools (as well as my dad to teach me how to use these tools), so to make the L shape we used a circular saw and then a jig saw to get in the corner.
Tip we learned the hard way that the wood can splinter pretty badly while cutting it. So, we did it again, but first applied painters tape to where the cut would be and then cut right on the tape which kept it from splintering. Using a very sharp blade and going slowly will also help with this.
Sink & Faucet Installation
I then just used a drill and a hole saw attachment to drill the holes for my faucet and sink. Both purchased on Amazon.
Tip I was just purchasing from what looked good, but learned another $20 lesson here, do not buy an overflow sink drain if you do not have an overflow sink. Sounds simple enough, but when you have no idea what you are doing it is an easy mistake to make. I secured both the sink and the faucet along with the counter top with chalking and was good to start with the plumbing.
Note that if you are installing a regular household faucet in to an RV the plumbing is a little different than home plumbing, so you are going to end up with two “female” ends (the plastic piece on the left is the RV water and the metal on the right is the new faucet. Obviously those are not going to connect.
So, you just need to purchase an adapter, here is the photo of the exact adapter I needed for my RV (from my research this adaptor should work on just about all RVs). The piece sitting outside the bag is the part I needed and it also came with the gasket thing that is still in the bag, that was not used and I ended up discarding it. Make sure you get two of these, one for the hot water and one for the cold water. It easily screws in to the plastic RV water hose, so you will be able to attach it to your new faucet. Also note, you will notice in the house picture in the plastic RV water house there is a little silicone band that looks yellow and old and you may be tempted to remove it and throw it out. Don’t do it, as ugly as it is leave it. I had taken it out and learned exactly how big of an impact a little silicone ring can have on not causing leaks. Luckily I didn’t throw mine out so was able to put it right back in and it was good to go.
With the help of some from YouTube and the very friendly man at the hardware store, I was able to get the plumbing all done on my own. It would have been pretty simple, but I moved the location of the sink forward quite a bit from where the old one sat, so I was able to just use a Form and Fit Tail Piece to fix my problem.
Bathroom Decor
With that all done, it was time for the decor! We went with the (1)metal framed mirror from Hobby Lobby (again use your 40% off coupon for this) used screws to hang it from the top and then used command hook strips to put on the bottom to keep the mirror from bouncing off the walls while traveling.
Note when hanging things on the exterior walls I never used anchors, just screwed right in to the wall. When it came to hanging the light above the mirror, I hit a metal stud that I couldn’t drill into. I was not going to accept that my light would not be centered, so I took a piece of small wood and used gorilla glue to glue down the wood. Let that dry for 24 hours and then screwed the light in the wood.
The light was another (4)Amazon find, and once again we did the magic light hack by using a puck light. The hooks for the towels were nothing fancy, but I liked how these ones would fold up when we were not using them. The (10)waffle towels are from Target in the color dark grey and then we have the (6)toilet paper holder that has been a fan favorite! I couldn’t believe it when I came across it on Amazon for $10! The (12)toilet brush also was an Amazon find and fit the bathroom perfectly. Okay, now I am going to get real excited about a trash can, I know it’s so weird, but finding the right trash can for such a small space that really has no room for a trash can is exciting. I found this gem on Amazon and it actually sticks right on the inside of the cabinet door under the sink. I love it, I really, really do and I don’t care how weird that is.
Lastly a couple things you don’t see, but that we keep in the bathroom is the broom and dust pan, which again might be weird. It matters to me, because I want everything, yes even the broom to be pretty. I went this broom, because it is just short enough to fit in the large cabinet in the bathroom. And then of course (7)this dust pan, because - you guessed it! - it’s pretty and it matched my toilet brush. Oh hey, do you need a matching squeegee? (8)Here is a matching one.
We also have this foldable step stool for the girls which gets a lot of use!
Shower
This may not seem like a huge before and after difference, but believe me, it makes a big difference in person! The shower was a nice shade of yellow and after removing some stickers you could see how it use to be a nice white.
So we used the Rust-olum Tub and Tile refinishing kit to get it back to white. It was a little bit of process, but not bad. The prep seems like a lot, but it is nice to ensure that the product goes on smoothly. We needed two coats, but ended up doing three on the base of the tub because we had a little bubbling we wanted to cover.
Important to note this stuff has really strong fumes. Make sure to have good ventilation when you apply the paint.
Tip a few of you have asked about using this for a sink or in your home. From my research, it is not recommended for high traffic areas so definitely not somewhere you are using daily, but it seems to be perfect for something like an RV shower.
That's a detailed look at our bedroom and bathroom RV remodel - I hope I covered any questions you had from the reveal. If you still have a question or want to know where something is from, leave it in the comments and I’ll try my best to help! Of course, there is still so much of the RV to go over in more detail, so stay tuned as it will be up in the coming weeks!
Much Love,
P.S. if you are interested in a detailed video walkthrough with Angela, make sure to sign up for the newsletter here and receive it straight to your inbox next week!