Painting RV Walls (it’s actually really easy!)
When 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. My husband told me that was stupid, and he was right. It hurts just to admit it, but he was.
I 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 It looks less like an outdated travel trailer and more like a tiny house.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 I 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 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 for painting RV walls, but here is what I 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 of the finished walls –
What’s funny is that the paint I used is just leftover paint from the house, it’s the same color that is in our bedroom.
In the house the color is mostly gray. I mean, it’s 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.
Alright, so that’s the update! The next step is to paint all the countertops, which I think will be super simple.
RV Remodel Posts
- Buying the RV
- RV remodel design plan
- Painting the cabinets
- Painting the walls
- Painting the countertops
- Rustic wood accent wall
- Reupholstering the banquette
- Reveal
It looks great! I like the wall color, fresh and modern. The color is the upbeat, the rest will be the Rustic.
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?
Wow! What a difference the paint job makes. It looks great!
gratitude for the gratifying content
I 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?
I’ve struggled to write a good “About me” page for a while. I didn’t want it to be a diary and a rambling only about myself, but at the same time, I wanted to have some personality there. And so I did what I usually do – I opened up a bunch of other blogger’s “About me” page and analyzed what they have written.
It 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.
I 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
Craft Beer Sacramento
It looks great! So much brighter and airier than before. :)
It’s important that I be his voice and express to the agent that while he may seem non-compliant, it’s not the case, it’s just that he doesn’t exactly comprehend what’s being asked of him. When I did that the agent actually offered for me to stand next to her and help with giving him directions – what a relief, seriously. Something else that is key for us is to be sure he is flanked by myself and his Dad so there’s someone on either side of the screening machine to guide him.Nonton Anime
It’s important that I be his voice and express to the agent that while he may seem non-compliant, it’s not the case, it’s just that he doesn’t exactly comprehend what’s being asked of him. When I did that the agent actually offered for me to stand next to her and help with giving him directions – what a relief, seriously. Something else that is key for us is to be sure he is flanked by myself and his Dad so there’s someone on either side of the screening machine to guide him.
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Thank 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!
I 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!
Thank you so much I’m excited to get started on mine. Your RV turned out beautiful. Cant wait to see counters.
Hi,
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?
Did you paint over the wallpaper? I thought most rvs were wallpaper, and that you’d have to Peel it all off before painting??
RV wallpaper is more like a thick vinyl panel so you can’t take it off without doing some serious damage. Sanding and then cleaning well, and using an adhesion or bonding primer is working for people. I’m in the middle of my prowler remodel @apositivesign