I’ve been itching to take on these projects since the day in 2015 we bought this Landmark 5th wheel. Brown, brown, brown was the theme of the décor and there was plenty of it including the seven windows in the main portion of the coach, four in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. Why do RV manufacturers think that RVers prefer brown??
Part 1: Seven Windows
Before:
The bells are Christmas décor.
I made several trips to Joann Fabrics and took photos of fabric possibilities. Some fabric looked good but wouldn’t work due to print size and/or color. The tan fabrics blended and disappeared into the wall color so they were eliminated. Some of the prints I really liked were just too big for the 7” high valances.
And, then, of course , there’s the compromise aspect between GET and I! We’ve been married a very long time but still don’t agree at first go-round on almost any and all decorating!
The winner!
It was very expensive at $49.99 a yard but on sale for $19.99 per yard and then I had a Joann coupon so instead of $149.97 my final cost was $51.17! What a deal!
The “pattern”
Since the fabric was pretty expensive, even with discounts, I wanted to make sure I had it laid out to most efficiently accommodate the seven pieces. I also made sure I followed the “measure twice, cut once” rule!
The bed is my largest flat space so I laid my cutting mat on it and it worked quite well. Of course, I had to work around the napping little brown dog, Zodiac!
Stapling the fabric around the valance (or is it a cornice?) is pretty straightforward, although time consuming initially, had to remove the majority of the many staples from the original fabric layer. I didn’t completely remove the original layer.
After:
I’ve noticed that many who are renovating their RV’s have been hanging traditional curtains. Our rig came equipped with really upscale shades so no way was I going to remove them. I also prefer a more contemporary scaled-down look.
I’ve been following and getting a few ideas from RV Inspiration which is an informative and helpful site for decorating and renovating RVs. Most of the featured RVs have been done in cottage-type décor but there are still ideas to be had for our more contemporary home.
We donated the bulky (and pretty uncomfortable} brown leather sofa and replaced it with this contemporary blue sofa. Yes, that is a real dog! If I had tried to get Dulee to pose he would have immediately moved or at least turned his head!
Part 2: Five Windows
Before:
Really brown aren’t they!
Stapling in progress:
After:
Bedroom and bathroom
Another after:
Don’t have a “before” photo of the headboard but believe me it was very BROWN! Dark brown stained frame and a dark brown fabric insert.
I used the existing headboard, added padding, and tufted it with metal sand dollars. Couldn’t find burlap fabric I liked so purchased burlap “ribbon” and made my own cording.
It matches nicely with the comforter set I purchased on-line from Wayfair.
The bench in the bedroom was upholstered in, NO, NOT BROWN, but ORANGE! Oh no, almost as bad as brown in my book.
I really didn’t have enough extra fabric to properly do the bench (a project I really hadn’t planned on ) so the underside is a little rough. Lots of safety, T pins and straight pins. But, who will see it anyway? See the patch of original orange fabric?
We are well on our way to creating a bright and airy home on the road…more ideas in the mill!
