Pop Up Camper Reveal - Ready to Camp!

The week after Christmas, we bought our first Pop Up Camper.  It is a little 2001 Jayco Qwest.  This camper is perfect for us in every way.  We needed something small and light enough to pull with our SUV.  There are only three of us, so we only needed a small camper.  It is perfect.

A friend at work helped me find this little gem.  She knew a family wanting to get a bigger camper and upgrade.  We wanted a fixer upper to make our own.

With 2 full size beds, small kitchen with a working 2 burner stove, heat and a/c unit and seating, we were sold.  The camper had the wood floors replaced prior to our purchase.  It is a wood laminate that I really love.  Everything was painted a slate grey.  I actually liked the existing cabinet color, and it inspired the interior color choices.

This is our camper before our remodel.

We did a complete remodel using a color scheme of mint, coral and greys.

The cushions were in their original upholstery and in good condition, but I wanted something a bit brighter and happier.  The canvas had some wear and tear, but for the price, we could live with it and possibly replace it in the near future.

The first thing that I did was order fabric and make decisions about curtains and bedding.  I had decided that I would use a mint green, coral and grey palette for the colors throughout.  You can read more about how I made the curtain in my post about Replacing Pop Up Camper Curtains.  It is hard to estimate how much fabric needed for a project like this but this was over 50 yards for the curtains, cushions and pillows.  Part of the fabric was lining to ensure privacy and durability over time.

Curtains were a lot of work, but the final results were worth it.

The camper seating cushions finished with bright stripes and fun prints!

The curtains and seating cushions were the most work of everything that we did.  I am really happy with how they turned out.  I had a little issue hanging the curtains that didn't have a track system.  I'll be posting about that next week.  But, overall success.  You can read more about how I reupholstered our cushions in my blog post devoted to that part of the project.

Waverly Inspirations fabric at Wal-Mart is a great way to easily coordinate colors on a budget.  I love all of these fabrics and used quite a bit of this throughout.  This fabric is $3.97 a yard and made great seating cushions!  The deer print fabric on the valances is a Hello Bear Buck Forest Mint Fabric.

A friend had suggested that I use contact paper to cover the counters.  I found a heavier more durable solution that is made for counter surfaces on Amazon that I love.  It has a marble pattern that was grey and white and matched my interior.  It was fairly easy to install and looked great.
VViViD XPO White Grey Marble Gloss Vinyl Film Contact Paper 15.9" x 6.5ft Roll (1 roll)

Recovering the countertops and adding new trim really made a difference in the final look.

To complete the counters, I found some new counter trim in white to update the counters fully.  This plastic trim fits directly into the already existing space around the counter and installed quickly.
20 Foot 3/4" Smooth White PVC T-Molding Arcade Mame

My husband painted everything a lighter grey that brightened and freshened up the interior.  This was paint from a leftover bathroom project.  So, we used what we had.  I LOVE that.  I also had some spray paint that was used to paint the hardware to an oil rubbed bronze look from the brass hardware that existed.

Since the camper didn't have a table we had a table made out of a piece of plyboard and added a kit that gave us a mount for the floor and table bottom with a pole that can be placed in between to raise or lower the table.  It is cut to fit directly into the space between the seats for a third bed.  We wanted to maximize the space to the fullest.

We also trimmed our floors with InstaTrim Flexible Trim Solution.  This touch made a great difference to the existing floors.  It sealed all of the gaps around the edges and installed in about 30 minutes!

The flooring trim made everything look finished!

To finish our look, we updated all of the bedding.  We replaced the existing mattresses with sofa replacement mattresses.  They are 4.5 inches thick and are so comfy.   Classic Brands Memory Foam Sofa Mattress  These mattresses were simple to trim to fit into our space and came with a zipping mattress cover that tucked easily under the bedding.

I found a steal for my bedding on Wayfair.  These quilt sets were $28 a piece and came with shams and 2 throw pillows each.  I also purchased towels and sheets for our camper from Wayfair.  With free shipping and great prices, I felt like these decisions helped to stretch my budget.

I made a few additional throw pillows for the camper to pull everything together and make it homey.  I used the leftover fabric from all of the cushions to make the pillows.  This was the easiest part of my project by far!

The main thing about remodeling a pop-up camper is dealing with the weather.  We had weekends of super cold weather where I did sewing because we couldn't paint or do anything else.  We also had a weekend of solid rain.  So, we worked around the weather.

All the work and wait has been worth it!  I love the finished product. This weekend as I finished our work, I organized all of our cabinets and storage space so that we are now officially ready to camp!  We have trips planned each month for the next three months.  I can't wait.  Just being in this space feels happy and relaxing.  Two of the most appealing things about camping to me.  My husband is calling it glamping.  I'm okay with that.  I didn't intend for this to be a roughing it kind of camper.  It's our little home away from home on wheels.

We are going to do a short overnight trip to give everything a quick test out as our maiden voyage.  Watch for our camping adventures.  I'll be sharing these along the way.

Ask questions you may have about the remodel and products you have seen.  Also, I have been documenting our journey as we remodel.  I have a few things I'll continue to share about our work after today's post to share details for other parts of how we got here.

I hope this inspires you to get out there and do something fun with a camper in your life.  Or that this inspires you to start a camping journey!  Follow along as we do for more ideas about campfire cooking, outdoor setup and other camping upgrades that make life easier on the road.  I can't wait to see where we go next!

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