“I bought my RV! Now what?”

Congratulations! You are about to embark on a journey that very few can. Will it work for you? I can’t tell you that. Only you will know if it will work.

Now, this post is assuming that you have done your research, found, bought, and finally registered and insured your new home.

Most older RV’s look like the era they are from. Seriously. Even 40 years later, an RV can still look like it did when it rolled off the line. Ours did, honestly. The wood panel walls, the ugly light fixtures, the brown and yellow everything…

No matter what type of RV you have bought, it’s really not going to match you. You should consider making your new home, a home. This means paint, upholstery, and finishing touches. Just like you would in a Stick and Brick.

Our RV was nearly original. The only thing we could see that had been updated was the floor. It went from being shag (all the rage in the 70’s) to linoleum (all the rage in the 80’s and 90’s).

Once I was parked in Burnaby, and I had the time, I started painting. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do to a wall. The night I painted, and then went to sleep, I was confused why the RV was so bright. The RV became brighter, more open feeling, and modern. Just with a simple coat of paint.

The inside of your new home is yours to do what you want with! Paint, change things, whatever you want! It doesn’t need to be all at once either. It took a year before we found the floor we wanted, and it took a year to finally be able to install the countertops we loved, and finally bought.

Once you own, you can take your time, just don’t become complacent. If you choose to live in the 70’s, you’ll have far less enjoyment of your RV. Make your RV your own.

Don’t ignore the big things however. Look at your roof, does it require a new coat of sealant in the next year? How about those roof vents? Screens? All those little things that you never thought about until after you moved in.

There will always be something that you discover that you never considered, after you make the RV your home. That’s the nature of the beast.

Living and working in your RV will afford you not only time to do things, but money as well. Don’t look at your new found amounts as free spending money, look at that extra money, as a way to make your RV your home. Paint alone is expensive, then there is all the little things. You can get nickel and dimed to death without even noticing, until it is too late.

You’re going to discover things that you want to change, or update as you spend more time in your RV, so don’t start doing any major upgrades that are not essential until you’re ready. We found that while the kitchen sink was fine for us, the bathroom sink is nearly unusable because of the design, between it and the faucet. Had we installed the countertops right away, we would be stuck with a useless sink and faucet, or forced to find one that matched, or worse yet, spend more money on buying another countertop.