I bet you thought I’d abandoned the blog, right? It has been a looooong time since I’ve gotten a chance to give the site some attention, as we’ve had quite a crazy few months. The sick season always hits us hard. 😛 I’m happy to be feeling like myself again, though, and am so excited to share this next makeover with you all.
This awesome Bohemian style makeover is from a reader named, Dawn. Dawn purchased a 1978 Jayco pop up camper for about $1000. She really started with a clean slate. The camper had been pretty much gutted when she got it, and the canvas was very dirty.
The only cushions inside were some outdoor chair cushions, so her camper definitely needed some love, but for $1000, she figured it would make a great starter camper. The first thing Dawn did was clean the canvas with Bass Pro shops mildew cleaner. Then she applied 303 High Tech Fabric Guard to waterproof her newly cleaned tenting. Need more tips on cleaning your canvas? Check out our post here.
Then Dawn started the painting. She used a grey chalk paint from Home Depot for the “kitchen” cabinets and topped it with a coat of clear wax. The rest of the cabinetry and trim got a coat of basic white latex paint from Home Depot. Dawn used TrafficMaster Allure Grip Strip flooring, again from Home Depot, to finish up the new look.
Since there were no cushions to cover, Dawn started looking at seating options. Foam is pretty expensive, so she found some outdoor seating cushions on eBay that fit her measurements. Since she doesn’t sew, Dawn secured them to the bench seating with heavy duty industrial strength adhesive Velcro so they wouldn’t move around. The table that came with Dawn’s camper was too small, so she found a used one on eBay and painted it with black chalk paint. She ordered a decal from Etsy in a size that fit her table and applied it to the top. Then she used five coats of Mod Podge over it to seal and protect it from use.
Dawn had to get creative when it came to the curtains. There were no previous valances, so she had nothing to go by. She had purchased these cute coral valances off Amazon, which she ended up using shock cord (also bought on Amazon), copper pipe fittings and copper straps to secure to the ceiling. She tied huge knots on each end of the shock cord to keep it from popping through the fitting, threaded the end through, pulled the cord tight, and secured each end with copper straps. She used a regular shower tension rod on each end to hold her sheer silver privacy curtains. She also purchased these on Amazon, and she loves them, as she wanted light to be able to pass through the curtains, but still provide some privacy at night.
Dawn needed somewhere to put the family’s towels, shower lanyards (you can find the tutorial for those lanyards here! 🙂 ) and kitchen supplies, so she decided to add some shelving. For the kitchen area, Dawn used our tension rod shelving tutorial found here to give herself some additional storage space. It worked out fabulously. For their bathroom essentials, she used white closet shelving from one of her kids’ closets. She attached small plant hooks and plant chains to the ceiling to hang her little shelf. Dawn caulked around the screws with Geocel Proflex RV–which she also used to fix a leak in the roof.–and she tells me that stuff rocks. She told me that she thought she could get one of her kids to stick to the side of the house with that stuff. 😀
Dawn purchased her matching comforters, accessories, towels, shower bags, etc. during the college sale at Walmart. As she was nearing the end of the project, she really wanted to add a final finishing touch. She knew she needed more light in the camper, as the dome lights weren’t providing enough light, so she decided to add a chandelier. Dawn found the perfect chandelier for $20 on eBay, but when it arrived, she realized it was a hard wired model. This would not work, since she needed to be able to take it down to fold up the camper. Not discouraged by this little setback, Dawn gutted it and replaced the light kit with one that plugs in and has a rotary switch. She used two more small plant hooks to hang the base from the ceiling, ran it over the curtain tension rod and down to the bunk end plug it. She says it is easy to set up and take down, gives off nice bright light, and every glamper needs a chandelier. I couldn’t agree more. I love the Bohemian look it adds to the space.Isn’t it such a great makeover? I love what Dawn did with her PUP. It is the perfect mix of beauty and practicality, and I wouldn’t mind “roughing it” in such a beautiful space. Gorgeous work, Dawn! I hope you enjoy many fabulous summers in your new glamper. 😀
Happy Camping!
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Happy Camping!
Ashley says
love the colors. I have been eyeing that bedding from Walmart for some time now. Wonderful job!
Maya says
Love it! Glad you are back too!
Laurie says
Larissa, we are so happy to have you back!!!! Dawn, great work. I love the color of your seat cushions. Buying outdoor cushions was a great idea. The table is also really fun! That’s pretty much our last indoor project but we can’t figure out exactly what we want to do. Very inspiring!
Sharon gariano says
I have a camper that I’m redoing also. Fortunately we purchased it new in 2007, but it had some issues that still need fixing. The vinyl siding doesn’t meet the door frame so we have to figure out how to fix that issue. I love your flooring, I saw it at Lowe’s and bought a whole box. Who would have thought to put white flooring in a camper? Crazy! I have the same ugly old brown paneling interior and want to use chalk paint to cover it. I love what you did with the table and the chandelier, very cool. I took Larissa’s advice and replaced my light bulbs with LED’s and it made a big difference.
I appreciate all your great ideas, thanks so much for sharing!
Tracy says
Looks fantastic!! I’m so loving the table idea! We are going to look at a 2002 Jayco today!! Woot! Wish us luck!!
Wendy martin says
Just painted our table black and I am going to look on etsy for a sticker like yours!!!! Love your glamper!!!
Rosie says
I am so excited. We just bought a pup up camper on the 27 of Feb for our Anniversary. I have been looking everywhere for ideas on remodeling our camper. This site is awesome. The layout on this camper is just like ours. Love the colors used. Can’t wait to start painting. 😄
Liz says
Do you know from which Etsy shop she got her decal?
Sara says
What replacement seats from Ebay did you order?
Shawna Rose says
I’m curious about the plant hooks to hang stuff from the ceiling. What size hooks and how do you install them?
Diana Ceccardi says
Hello – by any chance do you have the name of that bedding from Walmart. It’s perfect for what I want. Thank you.