Painting Your RV Interior

Last updated on September 22nd, 2023 at 08:29 pm

In an effort to brighten up our RV and banish the brown, we’ve decided to give it an interior makeover. Painting, will obviously be a big part of our design plans. We’ve turned to a few friends for some guidance and have come up with these top 5 tips for painting your RV interior.

Top Tips For Paining Your RV Interior

Pick Your Palette

Choosing the color palette for your RV interior remodel can be tough. So many renovations shown on Pinterest are in white, but what if that’s not you thing? How do you choose colors you’ll love? How do you know if the colors you do love will work well together? Here are some design tips from Lisa Brown of Always on Liberty for choosing a color palette for your RV.

Find a source of inspiration. Look to a colorful pattern in your room. It could be curtains, a rug, or even a colorful bowl. Take the colors you really love from that item to use throughout your room.
Want bright, but not white? Consider a lighter shade of a color you love.
Don’t fear the bold colors! Everything doesn’t have to be painted the same color. Select colors that add depth and texture to a room.

In the photo below, you can see my curtains. I’ve selected the light gray in them for the walls, and the teal for the trim.

Sheen Is Important

The finish of your paint, or sheen, will have a major impact on your walls. Gloss, satin, egg shell – with these options comes many considerations. High-traffic areas do well with gloss or satin as they hold up better to touching and can be cleaned more easily. But, they can make wall imperfections (wavy drywall, patched areas) much more pronounced. A more matte-like finish, such as flat, will not clean as well or endure touches as well, but you won’t see imperfections as much. We went with an eggshell finish.

Try Samples First

No need to guess how good (or bad) a color will look on your wall. Grab a handful of the color card swatches and post them up around your RV. Take it a step further and purchase sample pints of your favorites and try them out. For a fraction of the cost of a gallon of paint, you can judge how a color will look in your space. It’s better to spend just a few dollars on a sample than big bucks on gallons only to find out the color won’t work.

Take Time to Prepare

Preparing for the actual painting of the RV interior can be time consuming. You’ll need to tape off areas for sharp lines, move furniture, repair and patch any imperfections, protect the floors, and remove things like switch plates. If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend 1/2 of your time doing these tasks. I promise you though, it will save you in the end.

Check out these tips for painting RV cabinets from Janae at Adventures with Tucknae.

Don’t Forget the Primer

It is very important to prime your walls, particularly if you are drastically changing the wall color or painting over wallpaper. Gripper primer works really well for the latter. Primer will not only cover up colors and stains, it add a layer to allow the top coat of paint to better adhere, giving you a much better result. We chose the Glidden Gripper Primer because Lisa used it with great success.

Mistakes to Avoid

Click here for a great read about 12 Common Painting Mistakes Made by RV Owners (and How to Avoid Them).

Other Uses For Paint

Don’t forget that there are other uses for paint in your RV décor. Breathe new life into your furniture and cabinets with paint. Paint jars and cannisters in coordinating colors. They can be both decoration and useful if you use them to help organize your small space. I’m painting the wood trim on my valances in a bright color.