Camper remodel: floors and cabinets

Just a little teaser update! Peter and his family have spent the past week working on the camper while I am stuck in Chicago working. Fortunately he has sent me just enough photos to see some progress: 

Camper Remodel: This will end eventually, right?

We have owned our lovely camper for about 3 months now, and over the course of those 3 months, have spent nearly every weekend getting it prepped for our big trip to the East Coast over the 4th of July. We have had a lot of fun fixing this thing up, but I will be completely honest and say I am so ready to start camping already! I can only paint fake wood for so long ;)

With that disclosure out of the way, here are some pictures from our weekend. 

1. Peter worked on installing the fridge enclosure while I cleaned out the fridge.  By the way, the fridge kind of smells gross. Like mildewy? Maybe what you'd expect in a 20 year old camper fridge? I've been trying a few tricks, like vinegar, baking soda, etc. I will let you know if something works. 

Camper Remodel: Painting is done!

Just another camper remodel update --- this is pretty much all we are doing in our free time lately (besides some wedding planning) since our trip to the east coast is scheduled to kick off July 1.

I finally painted the interior walls and cabinets. For the walls, I went with Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray at 50% strength in eggshell. I actually used the Behr Paint + Primer and had Home Depot look up the Benjamin Moore color and match it.

Camper Remodel: Primed and Ready for Paint

Another week, another camper update. This update is the most fun one yet though. We finally got the gross floor removed and the sub floor down in the body of the camper. This means that I finally got to go in and start priming the cabinets and walls!! I got to work taping off anything that I didn't want to turn white, and then used Glidden Gripper primer on everything. It took me about 4-5 hours to give everything a first coat of primer. 

(before)

(after first coat of primer)

(before)

(after)

Posing for a photo paint brush in hand. Peter spent the afternoon fixing the molding around the door and putting it back on. (not shown - paint EVERYWHERE all over me)

(Gracie's new cuddle friend = the Shop Vac)

 So fresh and clean!

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend, so we are hoping to have 3 nice days to do some major work! The end is in sight :)

Engaged!

<3 <3 <3 My heart is full! On 3/24/16, after a long fun weekend fixing up our camper, we returned to Chicago and went out to the beach, where Peter asked me to marry him!! Apparently, he was going to ask the day before, but I had too much paint on my hands from painting cabinets ;) 

Camper Remodel: Painting Cabinets

Progress continues with the camper. This week we took the first step in replacing the floor that we had to take out due to severe rotting :(

While Peter was doing that, I got busy removing the cabinets, priming, and painting. I used the oil-based Zinsser primer, which I brushed on initially. After doing several of the cabinet pieces, I ended up buying the spray paint version which went on a million times faster.  I am interested and hopeful with how it will hold up on those lovely laminate cabinets!

(My station all set up as I primed)

I found a really nice shade of white/off white, which is White Dove by Benjamin Moore. This is the shade I am using on the cabinets, although I don't have pictures yet of them all finished with that shade. 

Finally, I laid out all of the hardware and primed and spray painted it with a nice oil-rubbed bronze.

Above is what the rusty/off colored brass handles looked like before spraying! 

Camper Remodel: Cleaning the Tent Ends

It is finally warm out in Illinois! We drove to my hometown for the weekend where we have the camper stored. My big task was to clean the grimy/moldy tent ends. Peter came in with no plan but ended up demolishing the floor (long story for another day). 

This is what we started with:

A few weeks ago we attempted to clean the canvas, and bought two different products. One was a mold cleaner from Lowes, and the other was a 3M mold/mildew boat cleaner from Gander Mountain. We had luck cleaning the outside canvas, but the inside was not budging at all. 

I read a bunch of reviews and decided to order two of the Bass Pro Shop Mildew Stain Remover sprays. This was the best decision ever.

We decided it would be easiest to take off the tent ends so I could spread them out and clean them outside. It was a bright warm sunny day which I think actually helped activate the bleach a bit (I could be totally wrong there).  We used the spray, a soft bristled brush, a sponge, and a bucket of water. 

The technique I used was to spray and let it sit for 1-2 minutes, then I dipped the brush in water and scrubbed the canvas, which created some suds, but definitely showed that the tent was getting clean. Afterward, I used a wet sponge to wipe down the fabric. I'm not sure if the sponge totally cleaned out all of the spray product, but it smelled clean and bleach-like, and I'm ok with some of that being left over in the fabric.

My patch test revealed that the spray worked awesomely. 

Below is a good picture showing how clean it makes the fabric (left) versus the side I hadn't sprayed or scrubbed (right).

(The final clean product. So pleased! It looks new!)

And now for a few pictures of my handsome boyfriend working on the inside with the camper airing out! 

Our little camper

Every summer, Peter's family goes to Salisbury Beach, MA on the New England Seacoast for a week of camping. Peter's parents and siblings (and their families) all have campers that they stay in, and it is a ton of fun to hang out and relax.

A few weeks ago, Peter and I bought a 1999 Forest River Shamrock camper.  The camper is 19 feet long and is a "hybrid," which means it has bunks that pop out like a pop up camper.

The camper is in working order, but we got it for a cheap price and therefore have a few fixes that we will need to make, including some cleaning, water damage, and decorating.  I hope to document this process on the blog. You can check the link bar at the top of the page for more posts about the camper.