Scamp RV Camper DIY Remodel

November 19, 2023

My DIY RV Camper renovation journey. I share the one thing I would do differently.. the walls! I figured it out halfway through and it began going much faster!

When I purchased this 1984, 13' Scamp trailer, I was planning on a Light.. DIY Remodel, but I had NO IDEA it would turn into an entire gut job! I soon discovered moldy smells that made it hard to breathe!

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The mold was in the carpeting on the floor and walls. Plus, a horrible moth ball smell, that was factory installed under the bench, next to the water holder. This got ripped out and replaced too!

I went from this...

DIY Scamp Remodel before picture of old, no gloss paint on outside and moldy carpet on opened door. the old awning is up and has holes in it.

To this!

Picture of 1984 Remodeled Scamp Camper RV exterior with new high gloss white paint, new red Scamp stickers, a new red with white print awning, 2 red chairs on the grass in front and an VW bus cooler by the chairs.

Here's a look of the inside.. before the remodel. The carpet was moldy because the AC unit was draining inside the rv, under the carpet!

Scamp RV camper remodel before picture of table & bed area. Moldy carpet on the floor.

The wood table was warped and the hardware did not work...

1984 Scamp Camper RV before remodel picture of table with bench area. Old wood table standing up because hardware doesn't work. Bench seats have old brown plaid, thin cushions.

The table got a new piece of thicker, stronger wood, plus new hardware.

Scamp camper rv remodel of table/bed area. The base of bed with no cushions.. all new white paint, showing a new table, folded down between the benches for the base of the bed. White walls and zebra stripe new curtains.

The bed doubles as the kitchen table! What a fun place to sit now! The cowhide throw pillow covers and cowhide koozies were the perfect accessory to the black and white theme. The koozies I got are not available anymore, but here's some similar koozies.

1984 Scamp Camper RV remodel after picture of kitchen table. New white table standing between two benches. New white walls, new zebra striped curtains, new feathers wall art, new bench cushions in black & turquoise, with throw pillows in colors of red and black & white cowhide. There's black & white cowhide koozies to match the decor on the table.

Replacing the carpeting on the walls was the hardest. Halfway into replacing the walls, I discovered an Easier way, which I'll share in a bit...

To make a long story short,, I began by pulling off all the carpeting on the floor and on the wall.. to my surprise, the wall carpeting came off fairly easy. I did use this tool to help the process. There was bubble wrap behind the carpeting, acting as insulation.. and it stayed on! Bonus

I covered all the cabinet surfaces with paper, and sprayed the walls with this to kill the moldy, toxic smell!

This view is the back of the trailer, where the bed and kitchen table go. The cabinetry is all covered in paper, ready for primer to be sprayed on the walls, to kill the mold smell. The pink walls is the bubble wrap insulation.

Brown paper all over cabinets and bench, inside my Scamp trailer, before spraying with Stix primer.

This view is the front of the Scamp, where there were bunk beds.. can you believe this Scamp slept 4? haha.. This area was going to get a Horse Trough Bathtub!

View inside Scamp trailer, of front where bunk beds were, before spraying with stix primer to kill the mold smell

After spray priming all the walls, I began painting the cabinetry, first with a light sanding and Primer, then finished with Benjamin Moore High Gloss, white Advance Paint. I used the High Gloss paint on the exterior of the camper too! Amazing results,, it's self leveling.

You will see the pink walls turn to grey after using the grey colored primer.

I used this tool for the Advance High Gloss paint! Definitely one of my favorite tools for painting! Just keep the nozzle clean and it sprays like a champ! Seriously, I've used this sprayer for painting the entire exterior of a house before! It's perfect for women because it's lightweight! It doesn't spit paint like some of the expensive competitors!

Once all the cabinets were painted, I began the huge job of replacing the walls. I used something similar to this material. I first tried to replace huge sections, copying what I pulled down.. and used Clear Glue... to glue it directly to the bubble wrap... lots of glue,,, and straight pins to keep it in place until it dried!

Picture of glueing the white faux leather material to back of Scamp RV in huge sections..

For the windows, I placed the material over and pinned it, then cut out the window area. These larger area would have been so much easier if I'd used the method I used for the ceiling and bathtub area below..

Picture of white faux leather covering a window, and once it's pinned in place I will cut around the window

Picture of attaching white faux leather to inside of Scamp RV walls, cutting the material away from window opening.

Close up picture of tons of pins to allow glue to dry. I pulled these out with plyers, because the clear glue made it a tad harder to remove.

Close up picture of tons of straight pins in glued on faux leather for walls inside Scamp RV remodel.

Next is the ONE THING I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY!

I finally got smart and cut the material in long strips, about 12 inches wide.. OMGosh was this so much easier,, and it looked more updated,, like wood tile planks! Here's a picture of the ceiling! I glued on this to cover the seams.

Picture of 12 inch wide white faux leather material being installed on ceiling of 1984 Scamp RV

Everything got covered in material! Even the insides of the cabinets!

See how cutting the material in strips worked so much better for tight spaces?!

Picture of installing white faux leather to the front door of Scamp camper

This leaky air conditioner about killed me trying to figure out how to deal with this.. poor original construction I suppose. So I had a metal shop make me a custom tray to go under the AC unit,, to catch the water drippings and ran it into a hose and out the trailer.. like it was supposed to. The AC unit now sits on top of this.

Picture of custom metal tray for 1984 Scamp RV AC unit to keep from draining back into camper.

The picture below, I was getting ready to paint the top of camper with my lightweight paint sprayer. I used this tape to cover the areas not needing paint. I lightly sanded with a very fine sand sponge, then primed with this, to make the Advance High Gloss Paint adhere better.

Picture of ladder up against scamp camper getting ready to paint the top of camper

The top of the Scamp looks beautiful! You can really see the amazing shine on the high gloss paint.

Freshly painted top of 1984 Scamp RV with Advance High Gloss white paint..

Next, up,, the Camper Kitchen.. this is the before picture!

1984 Scamp Camper RV Kitchen Remodel before picture. Classic white cabinets with brown wood doors. The white cabinets is tinged yellow and needs a paint job.

Now onto the final touches for the kitchen: I used something similar to this, for the kitchen backsplash. I got new silver handles for the cabinets (filled the old holes, before painting, with this). I spray painted the old hardware with this paint, which I've used on projects for cabinet pulls and it holds up great.

The bling on the kitchen... it's all about adding the bling, and.. this little accessory was one of my favorite part of the kitchen remodel! More bling... I replaced the black double lined stickers, throughout the trailer with this Diamond Bling!

Scamp Camper Kitchen Remodel Picture. White cabinets with peel and stick tiles in black grey and white. A turquoise keurig single serve coffee pot is the perfect accessory for the kitchen makeover.

I began playing with the cushions to see how they would fit in the bed area. I knew my color scheme would have red and white, since the outside is painted red & white. I already had the black & white, zebra, black-out curtains, and sewed them to fit. This picture is before the white faux leather went on the walls, and after the cabinets were painted, and I wanted to see my vision.

Scamp camper rv inside during remodel playing with various materials for pillows, cushions and curtains

I got on Amazon and looked for already made, thick bench cushions, similar to this and this, which I found to be cheaper than making them myself!

P.S.... don't throw those ugly old cushion covers away,, I washed mine (3 times) and sold those puppies on Ebay for people wanting to remodel Scamps to original! I can't believe they sold, in fact, there was a bidding war! And to think I almost threw them away!

And lots of colorful pillows like these and these.

Here's the original area with the bunk beds..

1984 Scamp Camper 13" rv bunkbed area. Worn out blue, thin cushions.

Below is where the bunk beds once were. I installed a Behlen Country 90 gallon horse trough bathtub (purchased at MFA), cut a hole with this tool and dropped the tub down, into the base of the cabinets. I installed a short hose so it was simple to drain the outside the trailer, when needed.

Like what I used to hold the shower head? I have them on the opposite side too, and they double as towel holders! :)

1984 Scamp Camper Remodel: A silver horse trough bathtub is dropped into a cut out hole where the bunkbeds used to be. We added black & white zebra curtains to the window and white faux leather on the walls.

I can sit and extend my feet out, in this bathtub; or wash my clothes, or put the porta-potty inside the tub for privacy, or even shower with my portable shower head!

Amazing.. OH here's the thing I installed to take a warm bath or shower!! Oh Yes! (I actually got a professional to do that part, and a few electrical fixes on the exterior lights.)

Scamp Camper RV Horse Trough Bathtub remodel. In place of the old bunkbeds, I installed a silver tub and cut a hold to drop into cabinet. This picture has a shower curtain for privacy too.

Next to the tub was just enough space for a comfortable reading nook. I created a table to go over the tub, so the tub doubled as a computer desk.

Scamp REmodel cozy reading nook where the bunk beds used to be. New white faux leather walls with a turquoise cushion and red throw pillow. The nook is next to the bathtub.

This is the back table, folded down into a queen size bed, with all my cushions! This bed was super comfy with double cushions. Custom black-out curtains with material I already had. I used red material for the exterior view, on the door curtain, to double the material for total black out, and to make the window cute from the outside!

Camper RV remodel bed area. Lots of thick cushions in black, red, white and turquoise. New zebra print curtains and new white faux leather walls.

I had new flooring installed.. professionally! Loved it! Oh, I removed the old screen door and installed this door instead.. it worked so much better! I just had to cut it down to size, to fit.

New brown flooring installed professionally in my Scamp RV

Details details... The door had the same dirty carpeting as the walls.

The door of a Scamp camper rv with old, dirty carpeting and dirty blue curtains.

The camper door is so much better and cleaner! I used this, instead of the old curtain rod, to put the curtains up.

Two pictures of the Scamp camper door with the carpeting replaced with faux white leather in long strips. The second picture is a close up look of the door and the new curtains too, in zebra print on one side and red and white facing the outside of rv camper.

Oh, that awning,,, I thought I was done with the camper, but when I opened it up,, it had holes in the material,, So, I ended up cutting it off, and spray painted the metal container, and figured out a way, to insert a new piece of material into the original holder.

Picture of 1984 Scamp RV awning.. ugly worn out with holes, laying on ground, soon to be replaced with cute material

The awning getting inserted... somehow! ;()

The awning getting inserted... somehow! ;() on a Scamp RV

It all worked out great until I drove on a highway, and the container opened up,, and the awning fell on the highway,, and I lost one of the legs!!

It was gone..I'm pretty sure a Scrapper on a bicycle got it! haha I looked for hours but ended up having to remake the leg. I actually found a square piece of metal at Menards,, the exact same size! Lordy,, funny story, but I used this for ties, around the container after that! lol

Scamp camper rv trailer remodel exterior view. White camper with new red stickers, new red awning, 2 new red chairs and a VW bus cooler on the grass.

One of my favorite accessories I got for the remodel... It's all about the bling!I

I splurged on this adorable accessory for added bling.. and these for sitting around the campfire! Its all about the fun accessories after the remodel!