Words by Jason Betzing
It doesn't matter if your RV is all-new or a vintage model that you're re-building from the ground up. Eventually, you'll probably start thinking about adding your own personal touches to the interior. So, here are a couple of different ways you can add some custom design touches and what concepts worked for us.
Jason Betzing
For our bathroom, we restrained the design so it appears as a refreshed bathroom, but any fan of The Shining will recognize our subtle theme.
Leave it Alone
Some RVers prefer the ‘leave it alone’ approach. They love the design and finishes from the manufacturer and keep it that way. This makes sense; the manufacturer spent a lot of time in R&D to offer a great looking interior. But there can be a down-side to this over time. Most interiors (including ours) are designed to appeal to the masses and we found that after two years of full-timing, the colours, patterns and finishes became monotone, claustrophobic and well...kind of boring.
Take a Simple Approach
I approach RV interior design as I do with any small space; I want to add personality without making the area feel cluttered. We do what makes us happy and a lot of thought goes into major changes. We also don't put limits (within reason) on what can and can’t be done. So, we dream big and then figure out how to make our crazy idea work. RVs are a depreciating asset and since we plan to keep ours for a minimum of ten years, we don't worry about resale value. Incidentally, there's a market demand for remodelled and re-built RVs.
Adding personality can fit any budget and could be as simple or elaborate as you want. A non-permanent but very effective way of making a space more personal and inviting is by hanging colour patterns – from throw pillows, blankets or rugs where they are needed to hanging pictures of family, artistic images or personal mementoes with Command Strips. For instance, in our main living area, we added a rug, some pillows and made curtains with an organic motif to soften up the hard lines of the room, all for around $100.
A more permanent and dramatic change is by painting or adding wallpaper. Many RVers we’ve met painted their walls and woodwork for a dramatic and fresh look. We painted our walls (but left the woodwork) and achieved the desired effect. We used a latex-based, all-in-one paint with a finish we liked. Woodwork requires different preparations and paint that will last.
When it comes to wallpaper, a self-adhesive vinyl or traditional finish can be installed pretty much anywhere in your RV. However, traditional wallpaper takes the right preparation. Use a mildew- and mold-resistant wallpaper paste and for bathrooms, apply clear polyurethane over the wallpaper to protect it from moisture. Always run the bathroom vent fan when showering to expel excess steam.
Jason Betzing
We added stainless steel tile backsplash as brighter spaces always make it seem larger.
Get Inspired
If you have trouble getting inspired, try choosing light colours for walls with a few bold colours for accents or accessories. But if you’re stuck for inspiration and ideas study paintings or photographs and determine what the dominant colours are and how they complement the mid-tones and highlights. This may give you a good reference point for your room design.
Inspiration can also be obtained by doing an image search for certain themes (i.e.’lavender french country room’ or ‘modern red room’). Print the images and use them as reference when developing a room design. Pinterest boards work great to organize thoughts and ideas, and you can even add photos of items you already have to incorporate into the design. See the Pinterest board I created for our ‘The Shining themed bathroom’.
A Vitamin Sea Bedroom
Before we re-designed the main bedroom in our fifth wheel, we asked ourselves what we were trying to accomplish. We wanted a serene space that really captured our personality as a couple. Since we enjoy snorkeling, we created a theme of our favourite destination. We chose monochromatic blacks, grays and whites since it had a calming effect and we wanted to avoid the typical ocean blue/beach-sand colours.
For the walls, the bed slide-out became our accent wall and we painted it a deep black. For contrast, the rest of the walls were painted a bright white. As a focal point, we had a large canvas printed from one of our snorkeling trips. I changed the image to monochrome (black and white) and was surprised at how beautiful it turned out. It added drama, provided a calming effect and now always reminds us of the tranquil waters of Guam. My wife added some texture by sewing sheer curtains and recovering the valances and headboard in a medium gray. Bedding in gray tones completes the space.
Jason Betzing
The design in our master bedroom was based on our love of snorkeling.
‘The Shining’ Bathroom
We thought it would be fun to base the bathroom design on our love of horror movies. The Shining is one of our favourites and became our inspiration. To keep it simple, we settled on two elements in the movie. First was the red carpet pattern featured prominently in the Overlook Hotel, a David Hicks design called Hicks' Hexagon.
We were also inspired by the red bathroom in the movie. It's bright red with hard square corners. Red is the main colour and we kept the small space light with cool grays and white for the walls. We wanted to use the Hick's Hexagon pattern for the accent walls and considered stencilling, but found hand-printed wallpaper in the right colours. Yes, we imported wallpaper from Europe for our RV bathroom. For the accents we found a clear, acrylic and bright red soap dispenser and the final touches were a bath mat in the original hotel pattern, which unifies the room.
We also added bright, red Egyptian cotton hand towels, but chose light gray for the larger bath towels, so the reds weren’t too dominant. For decor, we kept it subtle with stainless steel house numbers on the door, (#237 - a nod to a hotel room in the movie) and also some framed movie props.
We can't realistically snorkel everyday but through design, we've incorporated it into our everyday lives and it rekindles some great memories. Decorating a beach theme in black and white is a classy, and bold. However, decorating an RV bathroom with a modern interpretation of a 1980's horror film is way outside of the box on many levels.
Nonetheless, we were able to restrain the concept enough for it to simply look like a remodelled bathroom, yet any fan of The Shining would immediately pick up on the references. The point is, when adding personality to your RV spaces, brainstorm without limits. You can always modify it later into a cohesive design. So, don't be afraid to add unconventional twists, and above all, do what makes you happy.
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Jason Betzing
We kept decor to a minimum in the bathroom by adding colourful towels, a bath mat and soap dispenser. Notice The Shining theme from the movie, yet?
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Jason Betzing
We kept decor to a minimum in the bathroom by adding colourful towels, a bath mat and soap dispenser. Notice The Shining theme from the movie, yet?