Cabover Camper Renovation | Before and After

Last month Dan found a cabover camper on Craigslist – perfect for our family of three. The camper was in dire need of some sprucing up so we decided to wipe off the 90’s, give it a fresh coat of paint, slap on some tic-tac-tiles and put in new floors. That was it…just paint, tiles and flooring and it looks so much better. A mini home away from home. Scroll down for the AFTER pics!

Here are some pictures from
— BEFORE —

^^^Dan with his new/used camper…So excited to take it out for a camping trip!

^^^White or gray? We ended up going with gray grout. We used Tic-tac-tiles for the camper because it constantly sways and flexes while driving…real tiles don’t have any give and will crack easily if applied to campers. These peel and stick tiles are awesome. They may take a bit of practice to get them lined up correctly but the finished product looks fabulous.

^^^^When painting veneer wood, make sure you lightly sand the wood with a fine grit sandpaper (320 or higher). Once sanded, wipe off the dust with an acetone rag. I painted everything with a primer and let dry overnight. I used a bright white water-based paint to fish the veneer and an oil based paint for the real wood (cabinet doors). Dan painted the cabinet doors with a cheap spray gun he found on Amazon…80/20 paint to acetone mix to make the paint thin enough to spray, but thick enough to cover. We tried using the water-based paint for the spray gun but it didn’t cover well. Go with Oil-based!

^^Rust-Oleum high gloss black automotive spray paint for the camper hardware.

The Big Reveal!

–AFTER–

^^^And a baby gate for Maggie while she naps. It can fold up and fits behind the fridge when we aren’t using it.

Well that’s it! It was a fun month-long project that we juggled between Mag’s nap times, but it was easy and we’re quite pleased with the final look – our mini home away from home.