RV RENO
Little did we know, our journey was going to begin BEFORE hitting the open road. Below, we show you the process of remodeling the exterior + interior of our RV along with designing a logo and vinyl wrap.... the fun part!
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Here goes RV RENO 1.0
EXTRERIOR
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Designing the vinyl wrap
We knew from the beginning that we wanted to customize our RV. We didn't want to fit in with the rest...I think we successfully accomplished that after a lot of deliberation. We worked with a graphic designer at Category 5 Signs in Key West, FL to design our wrap + logo. Our vision was originally "retro/vintage + horizontal stripes". After receiving some proofs, we realized our vision wasn't necessarily what we thought it would look like on paper (art is not our strong suit). We completely changed the direction (see drawing above, haha) and decided colorful triangles was IT. The graphic designer executed our drawing EXACTLY as we wanted.
​Removing the vinyl
This was not easy, as it had been baking in the Texas & Florida sun for almost a year. We were able to remove most of it with bare hands however, a heat gun and plastic scraper were needed at times.
*If you are thinking about re-wrapping your RV -- be careful not to remove the caulking on the exterior. We accidentally did... How did we find out? It caused major flooding in the RV after a rain storm.
Now the hard part... removing the glue. This called for a lot of mineral spirits and old rags. Hours or maybe days later... we gave her a thorough wash.
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Applying the new vinyl
It takes talent to wrap a vehicle this size (or any vehicle for that matter!) Aaron from Category 5 applied the wrap to the RV and did an amazing job.
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Logo
We had more of a vision when it came to the logo. We knew we wanted to incorporate a skyline or high-rise building and a road to tie in our name - Highrise to Highway. Out of the options provided, there was no question which one we were going to choose. We LOVE our logo :)
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INTERIOR
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We originally had the idea that we would paint the entire interior white (as seen in MOST RV renovations). After consideration, it is a 2017 RV. It didn't need a total make over just yet... So, we made minor changes instead.
Kitchen
I don't know which was worse.. the backsplash or the valance. They both had to go immediately! We removed the sticky backsplash with a heat gun, primed the wall with Gladden Gripper (2 coats) then painted 2 coats of Behr Marquee paint. We printed a custom aluminum backsplash and used doubled sided tape to adhere it to the wall. Same aluminum to cover our cabinets (see details below).
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Removing the valances
This took some time but it was well WORTH IT. Youtube tutorials were very helpful! First, you will remove about a thousand screws (ok, exaggerating but there is a lot!). Remove a million staples from the fabric, use the old fabric to cut your new fabric and staple it all back up with a staple gun.Viola! You no longer live in an 80's camper.
Dining area
The painting & valance process was the exact same. After painting, it was still too "brown" for our liking. We came up with the idea to print aluminum squares and fill the inside of all the cabinets to brighten up the space (thanks Category 5, again). This carried into the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom cabinets.
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Bedroom
The bedroom was not inviting. It needed BRIGHTNESS. The real question.. should we paint it? We decided no and to go with sticky wallpaper instead - less messy and more professional look overall. With the grey valance and the white aluminum cabinets, we have ourselves a cozy, bright sleeping space.
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Bathroom
MORE BROWN!! Will RV's ever be built to look modern? Let me remind you.. this is a 2017 RV and it still looks like it was built in 1980. We removed the backsplash, primed & painted the wall. Add a colorful shower curtain and some towels and BOOM. A lot of wasted space above the toilet so we hung a rack to hold extra towels and toiletries. We also have a towel rack over our door to hang our wet towels.