When Adam and I first started planning the RV remodel I was very against painting the walls. For some reason, I thought they would be a giant pain and require lots of prep, plus the spongy brown was fairly neutral and inoffensive.
In hindsight, that was stupid. Adam told me that was stupid, and he was right. It hurts just to admit it, but he was.
We painted the walls, it was super easy (unlike the cabinets) and it looks so much better. It looks less like an outdated travel trailer and more like a tiny house.
Here is the before –
After the cabinets were painted –
Here it is now, with the walls painted as well (and we may have jumped the gun and added some of the rustic wood behind the TV. I love it and can’t wait to add the rest!)
Another angle –
If you have an RV that needs brightening up but you don’t want to spend forever working on it, paint the walls and leave the cabinets. Trust me on this.
So here are the steps you should follow to properly paint the walls in your camper.
HOW TO PAINT RV WALLS
- Sand the walls – you don’t have to go crazy, but scuffing up the walls a bit will help the primer to adhere. A sanding sponge would be easiest.
- Clean the walls – My recommendation for this would be TSP. It is a cleaner and degreaser made to use before painting, does an amazing job, and is dirt cheap. After cleaning, rinse the walls with water and let dry completely.
- Prime the walls– If you want to use an oil-based primer, my favorite is Zinsser Cover Stain (Kilz is also a great choice). Oil-based works best (it’s the only thing that worked in the cabinets) but the clean up is a pain and it smells terrible, especially in a small space like an RV. We used water based Kilz and it worked great (thank goodness, I really didn’t want to use oil based stuff).
- Paint the walls – Cut in first (this is the only brush I use, it’s the best) and then use a small roller to paint the rest of the walls. We used the color Silvermist from Sherwin Williams in an eggshell finish.
Those are the steps you should follow, but here is what we actually did –
- Prime
- Paint
That’s it. No prep work, no nothing….just slapped some paint on there and called it good. The whole thing only took about a day, since there really isn’t a ton of wall area to cover.
Here it is with just primer –
And more pictures with the finished walls –
What’s funny is that the paint we used is just leftover paint from the house, it’s the same color that is in our bedroom.
In our house the color is mostly gray. I mean, its blue, but a very muted/grayed out version. The same color in the RV looks quite vibrant…it’s almost a robins egg blue. With the white cabinets it kinda looks like we are going for a 50’s diner look, haha. It just proves that you should never use a paint color without first trying a sample on your wall, because the same color can look very VERY different depending on the location and lighting.
Adding in the other elements should help achieve the upbeat rustic look I’m going for, and less like we are going camping with the cast of Happy Days. (Click here to see the full design plan).
Alright, so that’s the update! The next step is to paint all the countertops, which I think will be super simple.
Kim says
November 30, 2018 at 1:24 pmIt looks great! I like the wall color, fresh and modern. The color is the upbeat, the rest will be the Rustic.
Anonymous says
November 30, 2018 at 2:40 pmRegarding the countertops, I have seen some people make their own laminate countertops for their house. Maybe there is a way to cover the old laminate with new?
Beth says
December 2, 2018 at 9:50 pmWow! What a difference the paint job makes. It looks great!
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Tiffany says
June 17, 2019 at 2:56 pmI have always wanted to do this but I’m worried about the paint cracking when we travel. We have wrinkling in the corners Ton our original wallpaper from the walls flexing during travel. Is that NOT a problem with the paint?
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Barbara Coleman says
August 12, 2019 at 10:26 pmIt had to be that you were “stupid” because you were apprehensive about painting the walls. And you needed Adam, the man, to tell you that you were stupid. It couldn’t be that you were naturally uncertain about taking on a project for which you had no prior experience.
Harry says
August 15, 2019 at 10:21 amI have always wanted to do this but I’m worried about the paint cracking when we travel. We have wrinkling in the corners Ton our original wallpaper from the walls flexing during travel. Is that NOT a problem with the paint
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Jem Horwood says
August 16, 2019 at 5:56 pmIt looks great! So much brighter and airier than before. :)
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September 24, 2019 at 11:38 amI have always wanted to do this but I’m worried about the paint cracking when we travel. We have wrinkling in the corners Ton our original wallpaper from the walls flexing during travel. Is that NOT a problem with the paint?fussball wetten
Cheryl Yaeger says
November 4, 2019 at 9:34 pmThank you so much for being short and to the point! Thanks too for mentioning that you didnt do the recommended prep work!! Thats what I want to do and now I know it will be ok! RV remodel looks great!
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January 9, 2020 at 11:11 pmI love the traditional look–you still managed to keep it modern and fresh. I am always jealous of other peoples thrift store finds . . . we don’t have many thrift stores out here, and it’s next to impossible to find anything good in the ones we do have. Those stockings are super cute!
lisa says
January 11, 2020 at 4:43 amHello, Regarding the countertops, I have seen some people make their own laminate countertops for their house. Maybe there is a way to cover the old laminate with new.
Sherri says
January 22, 2020 at 7:54 amThank you so much I’m excited to get started on mine. Your RV turned out beautiful. Cant wait to see counters.
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January 29, 2020 at 4:25 amI just love New York! We get to visit once in a while with my husband on business and it is a real treat. I also travel with food allergies so I feel like I have found a friend!! Thankfully my allergies are to pecans and kidney beans which are both way easier to avoid than yours! Traveling while allergic can really be hard. Our next trip is coming up soon and it will be super cold for us Texans so we need to bundle up
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Christy says
April 3, 2020 at 8:07 pmHi,
I’m curious as to how the paint on the walls has held up to this point? I’m getting mixed reviews on painting over wallpaper, but I see a lot of RV remodels that do it as well. With priming and then painting, has the paint held up well?