So I can’t be without at least 3 projects going on simultaneously without completely losing my mind. One of the three that I’ve been working on lately is remodeling the camper. It was very cramped and crowded in there and I didn’t really have enough space so I decided to remove the dinette and turn it into an office and then flip the bed around and make a bench, put in a credenza and give myself a little more space. I was constantly tripping over shit and swearing at everything and I thought that a little more space would be good for everybody involved (you know those voices in my head). Below is a picture of what it was before and what it is now and how I created a bunch of space.
As you can see, I’ve created a little more space as you walk in the door and a lot more space with the dinette used to be. One thing I didn’t mention is that I converted the shower into a closet – I just shower in the campground showers. I’ve also taken it upon myself to paint the entire place. I’ve chosen a nice light black almost a gray for all of the cabinets and a deep blue for accent walls and a nice gray for the rest of the walls. I’ve purchased a decal that is the night sky that I’ve placed around the bed as that wall curves up into the ceiling. I’ve added LED lighting so I don’t really have the overhead bright lights that a camper provides. I still have way too much stuff and I can’t seem to get everything put away at the same time so everything’s always just kind of messy. Every time I start a project everything gets put everywhere and it becomes a problem.
The challenges that I found when painting a camper especially when you’re living in it: If you want to take the cabinet doors off, you only have room to put one somewhere to dry so taking the cabinet door off, painting it on one side, allowing it to dry turning it over and doing the other side, allowing thjat to dry, turning it back over repainting the first side turning it over repainting the second side takes about four days and it was making me crazy so I gave it up and just started painting with the doors on. There’s nowhere to put anything so in order to paint you have to move stuff around they’re just isn’t room so unless you have a lot a large outdoor space that you know it’s not gonna rain, It’s really difficult to do painting in a camper that you’re living in. The paint store is about 35 minutes away so I’ve had to go back there three times because I’ve run out of paint and I decided one of the colors I got it first I didn’t like so that’s been also a challenge. It’s been a project though and I really like how it is turning out.
The other thing I learned about being in a camper is that you constantly have to recheck the seals on the outside because the rain will come in and the sealant that you put up there won’t last forever. In fact I sealed before I left and it already needs to be resealed again. I looked outside after a storm the other day and there’s plastic like Camper sealant all over the place and it’s almost depressing. I really hope that I’m not destroying the inside of the camper and it gets moldy. I’ve taken the suggestions of some online forums and purchased two dehumidifiers – one of them is doing a really good job in the bathroom and the one in the main room doesn’t seem to be collecting any water – so I don’t know what’s going on with that. I think it might be broken, but it’s important to keep the humidity in the camper or it will start to mold especially if you cook and shower in the camper.