A couple of years ago we bought a 5th wheel that needed a makeover and a good deep clean. We had plans to make it into a cozy, and comfortable living space for our large family, while we saved money and looked around for our new homestead. That’s how we came up with our top ten cheap DIY RV remodel ideas.
This DIY remodel had to tick specific boxes for us, including being quick and easy, fairly cheap, and nice looking to boot. While this sounded like a lot even to us, we were determined to makeover this fifth wheel with $350 dollar budget and with these Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas you can too!
One beautiful spring day, Hubby brought our fifth wheel home and parked it in front of the shop for easy access to the tools and supplies needed to remodel this baby. I went in pencil and pad of paper ready to figure out what we could do to make this a functional living space for eight people and on the cheap. I don’t need a lot, but I do need to love my surroundings, and that’s easiest when they’re nice and cozy.
Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas
Without further ado, here are the Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas for a makeover on the cheap. I can truly say that this is a perfect way to DIY your cozy makeover on a budget!
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Rip it out
Rip all the nasty carpet, blinds, trim, anything that looks ugly/dated in a bad way. This will change the whole look and then you will have a clean palette to start transforming your RV into a thing of beauty.
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Cleaning
Give it a good deep clean. Scrub the walls and anything you are planning to paint over. When do you think was the last time it had a serious scrubbing? It helps with the painting too, you always want a clean surface to paint on
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Paint
Paint your space. In a small area like this white is my favorite color but anything light or bright will do. Save those dark colors that you love for trim or accent pieces. Also, we painted right over the wallpaper! And it turned out great.
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New flooring
Install new flooring (this is the most expensive part of the remodel). But the WOW factor that comes from having a laminate wood floor is impressive. Be creative and bold with your choices, it can really make the room pop!
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Chalkboard
Use chalkboard paint on the fridge. It takes that dated looking fridge and gives it new life. Plus, it doubles as a handy place for your grocery list or a place for the kiddos to be artistic.
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Curtains
Put up real curtains and place the rods as close as you can to the ceiling. It creates an optical illusion that makes your ceiling look higher, a plus in a small space! Going with light colors always helps keep your small space looking open and fresh.
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Take it out and Replace it
Take out any ugly pre-built furniture and look for your own dual-purpose pieces that will give character while being useful. For example, a leather bench that I placed under a window. Being against a wall it became a couch, and the biggest plus was that the seat lifted up and had storage underneath. Any extra storage room is a plus!
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Kitchen Island
Add an island to the kitchen if you have space. 5th wheels or recreational vehicles, in general, RV’s don’t have much kitchen workspace, and that is something I had to have to keep my family well fed.
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Change the Hardware
Change that dated hardware! To save money, we just spray painted the old brass hardware with high gloss black paint, and they looked great. My daughter got in on the action and had a blast helping her Dad out.
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Own it
Own it. What are the little things that make your house a home? Incorporate those things into your new space. I added a rustic coat rack and basket bench by the door making it cozy and functional, a sort of boot room on the tiny. Add those touches that make it feel like your own personal space.
We used leftover paint that we had from another project, which helped to cut costs. However, we still ended up having to buy a couple of gallons of paint. We spent $350 total for our remodel/makeover, and we loved the results!
My only regret…
My only regret is not having taken more pictures of us living in it. However, one morning I did film a little bit of our outdoor setup. I hope you enjoy the video.
Check it out…
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I hope that whether you want to fix up/remodel your RV, that these Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas will inspire you and point you in the right direction. For more ideas and tips on making cozy spaces, click here!
Have you ever lived in a tiny space, and how did you make it livable?
Onward Homestead!
-Abby Jo
Not sure why, but my text is all crazy in this post!! Learning how to use word press, a big learning curve for me 🙂 Love all you great readers, thanks for being patient
Looks Great!! I never wanted a 5th wheel, but I want one now!!
This is great. Clear and precise directions on what to do. Thank you! I am about to purchase a RV trailer. So excited to update it and put my signature on it…
Your welcome, so glad you got a vision for your RV remodel 🙂
If you still have the RV, could you please take more pictures of the inside.
We no longer have it, we lived in it for almost a year! Found our land and sold it. 🙂
so how did you find flooring for under $350?
It was in clearance pile at Home Depot, and you don’t need much sq. footage to cover an RV floor 🙂
How much flooring did it take? How did you determine how much you needed?
We just measured the length and the width and multiply the number together and you get the sq. footage. Then you can go shopping because it’s sold by the Sq.foot and you will know how much to buy 🙂
This is all great! Do you have any advice on painting the inside? Looking into painting interior of travel trailer we have removed wall paper boarder
I think we just used regular interior paint, white is the best way to go in my opinion 🙂 It helps to keep the area light and bright!
When you ripped out the factory furniture…what were the walls like? Did they have the “beautiful ” wallpaper ?
Yes, it did in most areas, a few it was just plain walling 🙂 Just painted over everything!
What type of paint did you use to cover the laminate cabinets? Did you have to sand and prime first? And did you use special paint to paint over the wallpaper?
Thanks in advance! ☺️
Bought a paint with primer in it and used just regular paint for everything.
Great job! We are almost finished with our complete renovation. It has been a few months and a few thousand dollars. I’m just making my way around Pinterest to find decor ideas! Love this post though! I agree with pretty much all of it!
I don’t know if I could sell this thing now though Haha! So much blood, sweat and tears! It’s part of the family now.
I know how you feel 🙂 It’s a lot of work, but it makes RV’s feel like home or a tiny home on wheels! Glad you enjoyed the ideas.
Did you have any advice on the counters/ Did you paint or replace those?
We didn’t replace ours, but I have seen people use really beautiful contact paper that looks real (wood, marble, etc ) Biggest thing is you want to keep the counters light and not heavy.It will just add unnecessary weight to the trailer. 🙂
What did you use on the edge of the pull out. We just bought the exact same camper and are getting re6to redo it but were unsure about how to go about finishing the edge.
If by edge you’re talking about the slide out, I asked my husband, he re-milled the transition strip that edged the carpet of the slide out to fit the laminate flooring, and then reinstalled it.
If you can, try working with whatever your camper already has and adapting it to the situation.
Hope that helps and best of luck with your remodel!
Hi! I just started renovating our 5th wheel, and yours is the first (and only) post I’ve seen with the same camper as ours! I do wish you would have posted more pictures- I like to see what others have done- especially in a camper like mine. We are living in it while remodeling, so it’s going slow. I finished the kitchen last weekend though and now working on the dining room.
I have an older travel trailer that I use for.my mini vacations,but it is stored the rest of the time. I did remove the sofa,and dinette as well as all wallpaper border,and window valances. I really want to take the mattress base in the bedroom out I dont use the room for sleep,just storage,and that out would.be amazing. Has anyone done that,and was it successful??