Some of you may recall my blog post from last Summer about our newly purchased 1969 Playmor canned ham style camper. Although I have not posted in quite some time about the camper, we actually began renovations in the Fall and are nearly done with the interior of the camper.

Tim completed all of the renovations himself. He started with the basic necessities and added a hot water heater to the camper and then he rewired the camper so we could have electricity in the camper. As far as structural repairs, we were fortunate enough that most of what we needed to do to the camper was cosmetic. Tim had to fix some rot at the back of the camper and reseal the windows, but other than that, the camper was in great shape.

Aesthetically, I wanted to create a space that was a bright and airy bohemian retreat. This would pose a bit of a challenge because the interior of the camper is extremely small; it measures about 10 ft long and 6ft wide. When I chose the color palette for the camper, I went with colors that would brighten the space to give the appearance that the camper is roomier than it actually is. Additionally, we were on a very tight remodeling budget for the camper, so a lot of what we used was either on sale or materials we repurposed from our own house.

To start, we gave the paneling a fresh coat of paint. We chose a mold proof paint from Benjamin Moore designed to be used in bathrooms. I chose the color white blush, which is the perfect shade of off white. I have used this shade of paint in multiple rooms in my house. I most recently painted the bathroom in my studio with it and we still had half a gallon left, so we decided to use it in the camper as well.

The next major task was to reupholster the cushions, which were originally covered in a horrible avocado and orange 70’s floral pattern. If you want to see the before images, you can click here. I am very lucky to have an extremely talented mother in law, who is an expert quilter and she offered to reupholster the cushions for us. I went to the newly opened Hobby Lobby in Massapequa and purchased a beautiful neutral grey toned tweed fabric for the cushions. My mother in law quickly updated the cushions and they look amazing.

To update the floor, I had two packages of white distressed vinyl flooring that I purchased at Home Depot last year. I used these panels as a floor for my Mother’s Day mini sessions last year. It was the perfect amount of vinyl flooring to use in the camper, so we decided to use it.

Next, was the kitchen renovations. I chose a peel and stick mosaic tile from Wayfair to use as the new backsplash in the kitchen. The penny tile gives the bohemian camper just the right touch of a modern aesthetic. Although I didn’t want to part with the original fridge, in actuality, it was only a cooler and not a fridge and therefore would not serve as useful for family getaways with young children. I really grappled with this decision because what I loved the most about this camper was the original kitchen, but when I found a retro mini fridge in a gorgeous mint green color, I decided that the original fridge could go and happily parted with it. Best of all, the fridge has a coordinating retro style microwave, which we also purchased but have yet to install. We still haver to powder coat the range top stove. It is going to be painted a mint green color to coordinate with the fridge. We have to find someone locally who does powder coating in custom colors. We will be removing the original kerosene lamp that is still in the kitchen to create a space for the microwave.

The kitchen table still has to be redone. I am going to create a butcher clock style table out of wood planks. We replaced the lighting fixture with a gorgeous rose gold cage pendant light with Edison light bulb. For the curtains, I chose a bohemian floral arrow fabric with a very subtle tones of pink, grey, and mint.

The renovations to the bed area, were similar. The cushions were reupholstered, new curtains were made and I purchased some bohemian throw pillows and a pink flokati rug from Hobby Lobby . I also purchased some battery operated cage light string lights and spray painted the cages rose gold to add some subtle light to the back of the camper at night.

Our next step is to paint the exterior of the camper. We keep debating back about the color scheme for the exterior of the camper. I am going to hire a graphic artist to create a bohemian floral decal for the back of the camper and once we decide on a name for the camper, I will contact the graphic artist to start her design process. I really would like to include a nod to Dave Matthews in the name of the camper and in that design if possible.

Even though the camper was not yet fully renovated, we took her out for a test run this past Columbus Day weekend. We spent the weekend in one of our favorite places to visit, Greenport, Long Island and stayed at an awesome campground called Eastern Long Island Kampgrounds. I can’t say enough positive things about this place, which is completely geared towards families with young children. Best of all, the campground is dog friendly and we were able to bring our fur baby. My children had a blast and when the weekend was over, they did not want to leave. It was probably the most relaxing and most connected weekends we had as a family to date and that is the exact reason why we purchased the camper. We have already booked quite a few trips for the late Spring and Summer and I can’t wait to experience all of those new adventures with my family.

Here are some updated pics of the camper and its maiden voyage.