RV Interior Painting and Wallpaper Border - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Soody · RV-Dreams Family Member

RV Interior Painting and Wallpaper Border

rvingft · RV-Dreams Family Member

There is a great Facebook group called Nomadic DIY, ask to join it. Someone in there posted before and after pics of their toy hauler that was completely repainted - cabinets and all. Took a paint crew 70 hours to complete, but it looks fabulous. She could probably answer some of your specific questions about prepping and how-tos...

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

What you might do is use the search function of the website and look up "interior painting" as a search phrase. I did find this one that relates to your question:

Painting Interior Walls of 5ver

Terry

rockyroad · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for the good tips on this thread. I feel better about buying an older RV now. Since I have really been shopping I have noticed these RV's are like time travel.

I dont want to insult anyone, but cant help but notice all the gold trim including faucets, cabinet pulls, mirrors, and white furniture plus the great grandmaw fabrics. Being a single guy I am not necessarly into Camouflage and Deer Heads but would like to make some modifications that would be similar to the styles of the newer RV's today.

-- Edited by rockyroad on Sunday 7th of October 2012 07:47:13 PM

cgonz · RV-Dreams Community Member

I've wondered about the painting situation myself, but I don't have an answer to that. I'll ask an RV dealer the next time we go to one. I can tell you one thing about the wallpaper border. It has a glue that is made to stay forever! We had a border that went around the mid-section of our fifth-wheel, and I hated it. The walls are kind of a splotchy beige and some of the border was still it's original brownish color. But most of it had turned an awful green. I couldn't stand it, so my husband and I took on the task of getting rid of it. We had the best luck with GooGone and a lot of scraping. But, you have to be careful to not tear the the "paper," which in our case is a plastic, that's underneath the border. With much effort, we finally got it off, but there's still a bit of sticky glue on the walls that won't come off. Thankfully, you can't see it, and the trailer looks much better. Good luck!

Soody · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for relaying that Carolyn. I think my wallcovering is plastic-y too. Ooh, I'm glad I resisted the urge to pick off an experimental corner. It is all I can do not to!

(Just think how many more RV's a company could sell if they corrected the cheesy decor like the borders, the wild upholstery and the cheapo fabric finishes!!)

Now I am rethinking the painting thing also because as someone else pointed out (thanks!) that it could affect your re-sale. If I had an older unit or was positive I'd stay in this for the long tun, I think I'd go ahead. But I am thinking this is a first step rig for me, so I better chill on the 'customization'.

Soody · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you Terry! That was the one. I will make the search function my friend :P

Soody · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you! There are so many RV resources out there. I love checking them all out and I will look over there too!

Soody · RV-Dreams Family Member

LOL I hear ya! They were bad when they were IN style. hee

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

cgonz wrote:
I've wondered about the painting situation myself, but I don't have an answer to that. I'll ask an RV dealer the next time we go to one. I can tell you one thing about the wallpaper border. It has a glue that is made to stay forever! We had a border that went around the mid-section of our fifth-wheel, and I hated it. The walls are kind of a splotchy beige and some of the border was still it's original brownish color. But most of it had turned an awful green. I couldn't stand it, so my husband and I took on the task of getting rid of it. We had the best luck with GooGone and a lot of scraping. But, you have to be careful to not tear the the "paper," which in our case is a plastic, that's underneath the border. With much effort, we finally got it off, but there's still a bit of sticky glue on the walls that won't come off. Thankfully, you can't see it, and the trailer looks much better. Good luck!

Sorry to hijack the thread for this, but welcome to the RV Dreams forums, Carolyn. I noticed in your profile that you are an artist and from Oklahoma. My mother was an artist and I am a photographer that learned a lot from her working with oil paintings. Now, I'm curious as to where you live in Oklahoma. Jo and I are in Oklahoma City.

Feel free to ask all the questions you want here as there are a lot of knowledgeable folks to answer those questions. I might even be able to be of help to you. Good to have you as part of the "family."

Terry

cgonz · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hi, Guys. Sorry about the delay in replying to your posts. We've been on the road, and my Internet connection hasn't been good enough to open my emails. We just got back from seven weeks in New Mexico, with the last four weeks in Santa Fe. It was a fun trip, but we're glad to be home here in Stillwater. I agree with you Soody about the cheesy decor in a lot of the RVs. Who decorates them anyway? I think you're wise to not tackle a major renovation yourself. If it doesn't turn out well, it would probably hurt your resale value.
And, thanks for commenting, Terry. I appreciate your welcome and offer of advice. It's great to have a community of RV friends. We've been RVing for several years, but I've never joined a group like this before. I'm sure it will be a great resource and way to make friends. I love your photos, Terry. I do a lot of photography, too.
Talk to you later.