Along with my passion for photography, I’ve discovered that I have an inner Joanna Gaines and a passion for flipping things. It started when we bought our fixer upper two years ago, and I came alive visioning what new paint, refinished floors, and a few walls coming down could do. I have yet to write a blog about that renovation, otherwise I would link it here (let me add that to my never ending to-do list)! Fast forward to December of 2020- and we bought a pop-up camper! We’ve always talked about getting one (my husband especially), and it just made sense to go ahead and do it. The perfect one literally fell in our laps so we couldn’t pass it up! So without further ado, here is our pop up camper remodel!
Our Pop-up Camper Remodel
We bought a 2002 Coleman Mesa from our friend’s parents, and it was in amazing shape! It just needed some cosmetic updates, so I headed to Pinterest for inspiration. I thought about doing the light and bright vibes (like our house), but I saw a remodel with leather cushions and darker painted cabinets, and fell in love. I do love a good boho look, so it was fun to change things up and go with a new style! My husband loves the mid-century modern look, so it’s a good mix of that, boho, and indie vibes.
Before
After
My husband was really excited to go with this style versus the “everything white and bright” like I usually do. I love how it turned out! The first thing we did to start our pop up camper remodel was sand & paint the cabinets. Most campers have this plastic film over the cabinets, and thankfully it was already peeling on ours so it was easy to remove. If yours isn’t peeling off, I’ve seen where you can blow dry it with a hair dryer to help lift the peel off.
I remembered doing this how much I hate, hate, hate prep work- especially sanding and taping. I just want to get to the fun stuff and see the end result! But I can’t complain too much because I had a great helper! We were able to prime the whole camper in a day.
The next thing on the list was the cushions. I couldn’t wait to change that lovely green fabric! The leather fabric I found on Pinterest was from Joann’s, but when we went to buy it, it was going to be $400. Four. Hundred. Dollars. They told us to wait until it went on sale, but like I mentioned before, I’m pretty impatient so I started looking at other places. I couldn’t find this color at any other fabric stores, so I was prepared to wait for the one at Joann’s to go on sale. One night we went to Walmart to grab a few things, and lo and behold, there’s the fabric! The exact same color and texture as I wanted. And get this, it was only $6 a yard (vs like $40)! ALSO, there was exactly enough for what we needed. Praise God. He really loves me (and our budget).
I definitely not a seamstress, so I watched all the tutorials on how to recover cushions without any sewing involved. It was so easy! We covered the backs with plywood, wrapped the fabric around it tightly, then stapled it around the back using a staple gun. I apologize I didn’t better pictures of that process, but here’s a video on Youtube that helped us a lot!
My husband was incredible at cutting new counters and the new top for the dinette, and laying the new floors! The flooring was some left over LVP we had from when we remodeled our den. He stained quarter round to match and nailed it around the camper. It looks so good!
For the counters, we got sheets of edge glued pine board from Lowes. We stained them, and did three coats of polyurethane topcoat on them. 
We ordered white curtains from Amazon, enough to cover all the windows. As I mentioned, I’m no seamstress, so after I cut them to size, I used this adhesive heat bond to create a “seam”. Super easy and it looks fine! We took the plastic pieces that run along the top of the camper and hot glued them to the curtains. Sorry I forgot to get pictures of that process as well! Once again we see a theme of me being impatient. 😉
I’m so in love with this little space! We took it on our first official trip over the weekend and had the best time. I can’t wait for all the memories we will make in it for years to come!
Shopping List
White Decorative Pillows | Bed Bath & Beyond
All White Comforter | HomeGoods
Aztec Comforter | Amazon
Tray, Clock, & Plant | Ross
Throw Blanket & Blue Pillow | Hobby Lobby
Paint Color | Midnight in NY by BEHR