We’re planning our next RV Renovation

Yup, I’ve been holding onto a secret for a couple of months and figure it’s about time I share it. We’re about to embark on another RV renovation, yay!

I’ve been dreaming of renovating another RV for years, so I’m beyond excited that it’s finally about to happen. I think you’ll be surprised at what it is, which I’ll get to in a minute…

First, a little backstory…

After we moved out of our RV, I needed some time to think deeply about what I want to do in the next chapter of my life and where I want to take this website. While I created this site for you and me, I needed some time to re-motivate and re-inspire myself. While taking an extended break was never the plan, I’m so thankful to have a website that allows such breaks without massive dips in income.

The plan has always been to share tips, projects, and inspiration for creating an environment you thrive in , and while these can be applied to any living situation, I didn’t want to leave our RV readers in the dust. We don’t have any projects planned for the house we’re currently renting, and with this market, I don’t see us buying a home for another year. While I can (and still plan to) share tips and inspo for home or RV living, I’ve been itching to dive into a big project, which is where my creativity and inspiration tend to come to life.

Call me selfish, but it’s been challenging to share RV renovation inspiration when it hasn’t been a part of my life. It’s been especially difficult because I’ve wanted to renovate another RV ever since we started our own remodel, but the timing never quite worked out. So anytime I would start working on a post about someone else’s renovation I’d be reminded of what I wasn’t doing which made me feel resentful, sad, and guilty.

I know thinking about what we lack is never helpful, and in most cases, attracts more of what we don’t want. I also know when we feel jealous of what someone else is doing, it’s often because we see something in them we want for ourselves. These emotions can also be a sign that we are out of alignment and need to make energetic adjustments.

I’ve wanted to play around with designing another RV interior but wasn’t sure how it would work in our current living situation. Thankfully, Eric’s amazing at helping me get out of my own way. And I also shifted my perspective by making myself a priority and carving out time for self-care and self-love. This helped me let go of expectations for how I thought our story would unfold.

While we’ve had countless emails over the years asking us to take on client remodels, I didn’t want to take that approach until we could tackle at least one more renovation on our own – which I figured wouldn’t happen until we had our own property.

Then last year, after Covid hit, we decided to buy an RV to renovate while staying on Eric’s Uncle’s land in Wisconsin. However, right before we took the plunge, I got pregnant and was so sick I spent most days going from our bed to the sofa, which meant the RV reno would have to wait. Unfortunately, we had a missed miscarriage at 8 weeks, and that threw our plans off once again and ultimately led us to put the RV in storage.

Since then, Eric was offered an amazing job he wasn’t expecting, which has kept him pretty busy and has also made the idea of renovating an RV more challenging. I’ve also been finishing up my book, but it turns out writing a book about RV renovations only makes you want to renovate an RV even more, haha.

Our Next RV Renovation

I finally decided it was time to stop thinking of all the reasons this wasn’t the best time to renovate an RV, and dive in anyway. Without the perfect setup, it wouldn’t be as easy, but sometimes you have to take imperfect action, and deal with challenges as they arise. Otherwise it may never happen.

We discussed buying a 5th wheel because I LOVE the space and height they offer, but then decided to renovate a motorhome.

More specifically, our motorhome.

You may be wondering why the hell we would renovate an RV we already renovated, but the more we talked about it, the more it made sense.

First off, our RV has been sitting in storage for 6 months, and we’ve only taken it out a couple of times. We originally thought we would keep it forever, but the truth is, once we have kids we may want something else anyway, so I’d rather sell it to someone who can use it now.

Second, it needs some work. We want to make some mechanical updates and recently noticed potential water damage in the bedroom and slide-out and want to tear things out to see if there is any damage and then get it fixed. There’s no way we would feel comfortable selling the RV as-is until we know it’s safe.

Third, we love our RV but built many projects on the fly during travel with limited tools. Sure they look good enough for us, but I want to clean things up and improve some projects for the next owner.

And lastly, I’ve wanted to make some interior design changes to the RV for YEARS, but mostly kept the changes simple and in line with everything else vs. starting over. While we will keep some things the same, I’m excited to make some upgrades, lighten things up, change up the decor, make some small layout changes, and play around with ideas that have been bouncing around in my head. We also plan to save and salvage what we can for future projects and renovations.

I enjoy exploring different design styles, colors, fabrics, products and projects, and this RV renovation will allow me to do just that.

My mom loves projects too, especially anything to do with woodworking or upholstery, so she’ll be joining us which will be awesome and super helpful! (She previously reupholstered the captain’s chairs and sofa for us).

Timeline

The plan is to start the RV renovation with Eric and my mom in the next 2 weeks, and by then my book will (hopefully!) be out, as I’m currently working on the layout. While we made this decision nearly 2 months ago, we knew we would wait until July to get started. Yet I’ve felt a sense of peace simply knowing I’m working towards a goal I’ve had. The timing doesn’t seem to matter as much because I no longer struggle with resentment since I made myself accountable for taking my dreams into my own hands.

As of right now, this renovation will be a passion project we all work on together during the weekend or evenings, so we have no idea how long it will take. We don’t have a date set to be finished, especially with this insane GA humidity, but our goal is to learn some new skills, take on some new projects, and have fun along the way.

We don’t know if we will sell the RV before the renovation is complete, but I’m not opposed to it since we can customize it for the next family. We’ll know more as it gets closer to being finished.

I’ll begin to share our renovation plans in the next few weeks so you can see the overall vibe we are going for and the list of projects we plan to tackle. While the process will be different than sharing an RV renovation from scratch, we hope you’ll find it helpful and inspiring.

Depending on how this RV renovation goes, we may take on client renovations in the future or maybe renovate a few RVs a year to sell on the side. I’m not too concerned about where it leads and instead focused on the journey in front of us.

Takeaway

If there’s one thing I’d love for you to take from this post, it’s if you have a dream or passion for something but don’t know how to make it happen, get out of your own way.

While there are situations when patience and time are needed, other times, it’s fear making you think everything has to line up perfectly, and preventing you from taking action. And if you feel lost in what you’re passionate about, take cues from any emotions of envy or shame you feel from seeing other people’s success. Sometimes those feelings are the roadmap to where you want to be. So be thankful and excited for those people, who are paving the way for your own joy and fulfillment.

And as my favorite quote from Shawn Achor goes, “Happiness is the joy we feel striving towards our potential”.