Our Camper Renovation!
Well this post is only about two years in the making. Literally. In July 2013, without ever having been camping a day in our lives, we went out and purchased a brand new camper. A 2013 Shadow Cruiser. As completely random as it was, it came at a difficult time in our marriage and in our lives and we needed something to do as a family that would create relaxing, relatively stress-free, get out and smell the pine trees kinds of memories. I honestly was not 100% sold on the whole idea. I knew I wasn’t a tent camping kind of girl but I did love spending time in the North Georgia mountains hiking, canoeing and being outdoors. But in typical “all or nothing”, “go big or go home” Hayes’ family fashion, we just went for it. Renting one for the weekend likely would’ve been the much more sane idea but we wanted one to call our own. And of course I wanted one to remodel…
So I have racked my brain for days on end (not quite but it sounds catchy) to figure out who exactly designs and decorates campers. I have myself convinced that they were all designed in 1980, yes 40 years worth of camper designs, and they just release one of those designs each year. I mean, there is no freaking way that these fabrics and wallpaper borders are still being manufactured and sold. So here’s a peek at our camper before…
BEFORE
Gorgeous, huh?!? I can’t decide if the swirly brown and black print makes my dizzy or nauseous. Maybe even both. So I did what most people do when they purchase a camper, I first had the interior wallpapered 😉 We then took down all of the window cornices and removed all of the cushions, including the sofa bed, to be recovered. I chose indoor/outdoor fabrics so they would be super easy to keep clean! I also had coordinating pillows made in indoor/outdoor fabrics and ordered new bedding.
All of the renovations were completed by Spring 2014 and we used it quite often during that first year. I absolutely LOVED it and the girls begged to go almost every weekend. We took it to Navarre Beach, Callaway Gardens, Stone Mountain and several more local campgrounds. Then in December 2014, we purchased our cabin in Big Canoe so that became our weekend getaway of choice. Now that we have sold our cabin we are hoping to go lots this Summer. And I have SOOO much more I want to do on the interior!
My dream is to one day renovate the inside of an older Airstream. I daydream about that remodel! We ALMOST purchased one right before we found Our Historic Wonderland so of course the Airstream purchase took a backseat. Maybe one day soon though! So without further ado, here’s our camper now and all of the product sources and details…
AFTER
Photography: Katie Bower (Bower Power Blog)
And several more images I dug up from my iPhone…
Wasn’t Addie’s hair so cute short?!? This was Summer 2014 🙂
Product Sources
Master Bedroom B/W Pillow & Throw Blanket- Ikea
Jade Fretwork Fabric (sofa & pillows)
Bunk Pillows & Throw Blanket- Addison’s Wonderland
XOXO, Brittany Hayes
Shari says
Looks really nice! I love the colors you used. We used to have an RV and the interior wasn’t too bad. My hubby decided to sell the RV last summer and buy a camper. He wanted something that he didn’t have to tow. He also wanted to be able to camp pretty much anywhere and without having to make a reservation. Happy camping!!
Crystal says
So pretty! You are making me want a camper! 🙂
Crystal Lathrop says
Gorgeous!! We have a camper that needs some decorating.. I’m curious did you hang the wall paper like you normally would or did you use tacks? I would love to do something like this but have never thought of wall paper. Thanks so much!
Crystal
Krystal says
Oh wow!!!! I lived in a 42′ fifth wheel while we built our home for 17 months and never would have thought of doing this!!! This is beautiful! It would have made my stay much more livable that is for sure. I’m in awe!
Gail says
Beautiful! Love all your posts, and you mention quite regularly that your marriage was rocky for a while. Perhaps one day, you would share how you salvaged your marriage .
Kelly says
We have this camper too & I love what you’ve done with it! Where are the lights from in the master bedroom? Great idea
Brittany Hayes says
Thanks so much! They were actually already there 🙂 XOXO
Kelly says
Ours didn’t come with them but I keep trying to convince my hubby we need them
CT Camper says
Thanks for sharing this amazing camper roof renovation journey with us. I really appreciate your hard work. These kinds of posts always help others in their DIY work. I am also a DIY lover and love to do DIYs in my camper van. But up till now, the only DIY that I have done to my RV is coating my roof with DIY RV Roof Magic rubber roof sealant it is a simply applicable, one-coat, primer-free process and I love to do this on a bright sunny day. It gives my RV roof a well-protected, new covering with an aesthetically pleasing look when fully cured.