We're finally ready to share our RV renovation tour! Come on in and check out our lack of interior design skills! This was our attempt at creating a livable space for our year on the road. Renovation videos are no fun without having an idea what the place looked like before hand, so we'll be including some clips showing what it looked like before it went under construction. Hope you enjoy!

Renovated RV Tour- The Before

Our 2005 Winnebago started this journey as a well taken care of (albeit 12 year old) 30 ft Class A. The previous owners had taken great care of the vehicle and the inside was in as great of shape as you could hope for with a "vintage" RV that had over 40,000 miles on it.

When we first started shopping for a used RV to renovate, the most important thing to us was that the RV was mechanically sound. We were really flexible on exact length, number of slides, accessories, and manufacturer. Since we knew we'd be ripping out most of the inside it'd be nice to be able to count on the engine and chassis being reliable. Whether that plan worked out is still up to debate.

The Winnebago Sightseer we ended up purchasing was really clean and the owners knew a lot about the all the mechanical ins and outs of the RV. While any older vehicle is likely to have some issues down the road, before turning over the Winnebago, the seller went ahead and finished fixing the generator before we picked it up. That left us only having to pay for new steer tires and a few small (ish) mechanical issues before we hit the road.

Renovated RV Tour- During

If you're interested in all of the work that went into the renovation we quickly summarize 2 months of work in a seven minute video.

RV Renovation - Living Room

Removed original dinette and jackknife sofa
Painted and replaced hardware on cabinets
Painted all walls
Replaced original shades and valences with new double cell blackout blinds
Installed new console table and L couch from Ikea
Added pallet accent half wall.
RV Renovation - Bathroom
Painted and replaced hardware on cabinets
Framed out existing mirror with faux reclaimed beachwood
Replaced sink; Replaced faucet with upgraded residential faucet
Painted existing countertop with faux marble paint
RV Renovation - Bedroom
Painted and replaced hardware on cabinets
Added pallet wood headboard
Upgraded existing mattress to memory foam mattress
Painted existing countertop with faux marble paint
Installed new window treatments
RV Renovation - Kitchen
Subway tiled kitchen backsplash
Painted and replaced hardware on cabinets
Painted existing countertop with faux marble paint
Replaced faucet with upgraded residential retractable faucet
RV Renovation - Front Cab
Removed old reclining chair and replaced with Ikea Cabinet
Removed entry door valence and replaced with reclaimed wood shelf
New window treatments for side window and front cab windows
Removed center console ( A plastic monstrosity that was basically only good as a cupholder for two drinks)
Removed old standard tv to make room for storage. Custom made a cabinet door for that space

Renovated RV Tour - After

Having lived in our renovated RV for coming up on three months now I can say that there are plenty of pluses and minuses to our renovation ideas.

Positives:

Interior looks much nicer overall
Space is much better for full time living and working

No idea how we would have made it this far without a nice L shaped couch to relax on. It feels like a real living room in our car!

Negatives

Black lower kitchen cabinets collect a lot of dust. Especially when boondocking in the American Southwest there is a LOT of red dust blowing around.
White walls and cabinets show dirt marks more so than textured faux wood. Not the end of the world but it requires more cleaning
The feeling of never being done. Once you open yourself up to customizing the RV, it feels like a never ending task hanging over your head

RV Renovation Cost

How much does it cost to renovate an RV?

We spent very close to $2,500 when it was all said and done.

Furniture ($960)

($500 + $160 + $200+$100)= $960

Friheten couch is $600 online now, but we got it for $500
Eket Sliding Cabinet drawers $90 +10 +10. On top of two eket cabinet with door ($25 each)
Norden Gateleg Table $200
Comforters and blankets $100

Windows ($300)

Blinds: Select Blinds $194.47 for custom color and size. These were something that I was adamant about so it would be banging around in back while driving. I’ve driven plumbing truck long enough to know.

Curtains: $100 for fabric for new drapes for front and smaller windows. Of course, my mom and aunt helping us with the sewing is priceless. Thanks Donna and MOM!

Hardware ($80)

With so many cabinets and drawers, replacing hardware adds up quick. It was super tough to find hardware that matched the pre drilled holes and hinge offsets.

We had to buy quite a few different pieces at physical hardware stores.

Amazon Handles
Hinges

Paint and paint stuff ($180)

While this wasn’t the most expensive part of the renovation, it was certainly the most time consuming…. (and time is money!)

If we can offer some advice here- don’t cheap out in this area. Buy the right TSP cleaner for the walls. Gripper Primer works really well. Buy expensive paint so that you don’t have to do so many coats. Finally, use acrylic sealer on all cabinets or the paint is going to be chipped off before you even know it.

Follow some tutorials from Mountain Modern Life how to paint RV for a step by step on the process. These guys have a beautiful RV, know what they’re doing, and know that the rest of the RV renovation community shamelessly steals inspiration from them. Thanks guys!

CounterTop Paint ($50)

You can find countertop painting kits on Amazon that will give you MORE than enough to do all the surfaces in your RV.

Wood accents ($190)

1 sheet of beadboard for bathroom
2 sheets of faux pallet board for headboard and kitchen accent. Sheets are only $30-$40
Lots of new trim to replace old beat up stuff
Reclaimed pine

All this was much cheaper than going with the stickwood method. That would have been faster but stupid expensive.

TILE ($100)

All of the subway tiling cost less than $100 all supplies included We bought individual pieces and this was the first tile job I ever did. Trust me- I thought there was no way that the tile wasn’t going to crack and fall off the wall but 20,000 miles later and she was as good as the day I put her up.

If you’ve never tiled before don’t be afraid- I mean, tiling a car. How bad of a job can it turn out to be?

Carpet Cleaning ($120)

Make sure to ask your guy to clean the roof! Ours looked much better afterward

Faucets and sinks ($200)

This was two new faucets, one new sink, and some plumbing adapter stuff. If you’re getting into this, it can sometimes be a pain in the butt to hook your standard residential kitchen faucet to existing RV lines. Expect a few trips to the hardware store to get the right adapters.

Miscellaneous ($300)

Of course, there are a million tiny things that all add up quick- throw pillows, caulk, LED light bulbs, small screws, fasteners, etc., mirrors. The most important takeaway is that no matter how much planning you put into this remodel before you attempt, you’re going to go over budget! How fun is that!

Shower

You can upgrade shower so that you don’t have an old Nintendo white thing going on. We’ve seen some really cool updates but at the end of the day this was getting way too expensive and time consuming so we skipped. Never regretted it.

Labor

The final caveat is that we’re not counting any labor costs. The renovation took us SO long to do with about 70% of the time spent on painting.

RV Renovation Tour- Before and After