Before & After

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 —

Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees^^^Dan with his new/used camper…So excited to take it out for a camping trip!

Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees

^^^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.

Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees

^^^^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!

Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees

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

The Big Reveal!

–AFTER–

Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees  Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees  Cabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees KneesCabover Camper Renovation | A Bit of Bees Knees

^^^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.

Fire Pit{Before and After}

 We love fixing up things that need a little TLC.  My mom gave us a hand-me-down fire pit for our backyard. I am in love with fireplaces and since our little house is lacking one, I jumped at the chance for an outside one. The metal screens on the side had rusted through and needed to be replaced, so I thought a perforated metal sheet would do the trick. Now all I need to do is put some elbow grease into that copper top to make it shine…or do the easy thing and paint it black.

Before and After DIY

Backyard Shed Before and After

Dan and I have been renting a little one bedroom house during our first year of marriage. We absolutely love the place, but it has needed some TLC here and there. We asked our landlord if we could  touch-up a few things around the property…like this here shed. Not to shabby huh? I think we did a good job! A little paint and masking tape can do magical things.

Shed before and after