Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Painting the Camper and Other Woes

One of the best things about the camper has been the countless inspiration for projects. And what better way to experiment than with a beat up camper?

Like this penny tile floor. I've probably spent hours drooling over Pinterest boards with these kinds of things, and then decided I should spend hours making one of my own in the camper bathroom- I thought it would look kind of fun with the white paint and yellow toilet and sink. I decided to make a diamond herringbone inspired sort of look with alternating pennies of shiny/very new to old/dark. I also built in a game for my kids using some green pennies and ones with special backs, otherwise, they are mostly heads-up facing the same direction for the most part. This is a great project if you're an OCD type, like me, or if you just enjoy gluing things.



Hours later .....



I used a basic Elmer's glue to tack them down, then a box of clear epoxy to seal it in and creat the grout. If you do this project, be sure to do lots of research on using the epoxy. I'm glad I went to great lengths to make sure the camper was warm enough inside so it wouldn't create a cloudy finish.

Since husband and I tried to save as much original touches as we could, we took down the rolled screens, spray painted them white, but kept the ochre trim.

 Another great learning opportunity and bucket list project was wallpaper. This cool tile looks great on the ceiling to make the space feel bigger and lighter. (It's also paintable.) I need a lot more practice with my wallpapering skills, Y'all!


I'm obsessed with beadboard because I think it looks so classy and is less time and expense than when using plywood or drywall and texturizer and paint. We had to cut it twice, though. Call me old-fashioned, but those "beads" must be vertical!



Right about the time we went all in into this, somewhere between building a custom dinette and installing cedar in the closet, we found that the seals on all the windows were cracked and leaking. When the steering column went out simultaneously with one of the gas tanks, we made the difficult decision to finish the interior and sell our sweet little bumble bee to someone who wants to use it as a parked guest or live in unit. My heart broke over this, but we really want something for our family to cruise around in, a beach camper at the very least, and our DIY skills can't improve the safety of this baby. I'm determined to finish it out, though!

These wall lamps may not have been worth saving, but they had cute little shades with the delightful yellow/ochre 70s color scheme, so I couldn't resist and spray painted it white, too. I may have to stop with rewiring. You can see how this little "fixer upper" camper project kind of turned into a monster...


It's been bittersweet to see all the challenges of this mobile money pit, and also so gratifying to push our skills!

Will have a future post with all the unveiled, completed projects! 

See post 1 here.

See post 2 here.



No comments: