RV Bathroom Remodel on a Budget (DIY Camper Bathroom)

This small RV bathroom in our hybrid camper started off as a boring, dated room. Now, it’s a colorful, modern space that was made possible with easy DIY projects, storage ideas, and paint.

In this post, you’ll find all the projects I tackled in our RV bathroom remodel to transform it from boring to beautiful.

Travel trailers are generally known for having pretty boring (and cheap) fixtures, but they become especially ugly as years pass.

Thankfully, because RV bathrooms are usually a small space, tackling a remodeling project to update the bathroom in your camper can be fairly easy and quick. Plus, even with the space limitations in a small room, it can still be functional AND pretty!

This bathroom renovation is part of a full DIY RV renovation on our hybrid camper travel trailer. We purchased this as a used RV and did the same with our pop-up camper. This saves us a ton of money and allows us to completely design and customize the space to make it one that we love.

Before The Remodel

Our hybrid camper is a 2006, which makes the bathroom design almost 20 years old. Thankfully, it does have a decent amount of cabinet space under the sink, but the plastic medicine cabinet, white towel bars and laminate countertop weren’t doing much for the look of this tiny bathroom.

Another problem with our camper bathroom when we purchased it was that the toilet seal had a slow leak. I knew I had to remove the vinyl sheet flooring to assess the water damage and fix it as needed. Thankfully, none of the floor was rotted, so I just cleaned it with bleach water, let it dry completely, and was able to lay down new vinyl plank flooring.

Besides fixing the toilet issue by replacing the seal, the rest of the updates to the space were all aesthetic ones and therefore super easy. The whole RV bathroom makeover was basically completed with paint and wood!

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Video Overview of the RV Bathroom Makeover

Steps in our RV Bathroom Remodel

A few small changes in this space ended up having a big impact on this bathroom. I tackled each project on its own and soon had a complete RV bathroom renovation with a total cost of less than $100! Here’s a look at each of the projects in our bathroom RV remodel:

1. Prime and paint the bathroom

The first thing I did in the bathroom was to prime and paint all of the surfaces (except the shower pan and toilet, of course).

Whenever you’re painting the walls or cabinets of an RV, it’s important to prime the surfaces before painting. Most RVs have wallpaper over the walls and finished cabinetry, so priming ensures that the paint adheres well to the surface.

I used a basic primer like Zinsser 123 and primed all of the walls and the cabinets. Then, I painted the walls in the bathroom (but not the shower walls) in regular wall paint.

Paint is, by far, the best way to easily update a space. It’s amazing how a coat of paint can change the look of a room. In my case, the white made the room look so much cleaner and more modern.

For the cabinet and the wall above it, I used two coats of paint in an alkyd enamel paint in Shade Green by Sherwin Williams. This type of paint is the best paint for kitchen cabinets, plus, I had the perfect amount leftover from my indoor greenhouse project to paint the small section of wall and the cabinets.

To paint the shower walls, I used a white oil-based paint leftover from when I painted the outside of my pop up camper. However, if I didn’t have this type of paint leftover, I would have used an exterior paint because it’s more water resistant than regular interior paint.

This fresh coat of paint is just the base for our full RV shower remodel, but we’ll get to that later.

2. New countertop and faucet

To update the ugly laminate countertop, I decided to replace it entirely using a leftover piece of butcher block. I used the old piece of countertop as a template for cutting my new piece.

To save money, I reused the old sink instead of replacing it with a new sink. To cut the hole for the sink, I used a circular saw to cut an X in the center of the opening, and then used a jigsaw to cut the circular hole.

If I didn’t have this piece of butcher block available, I would have used my favorite trick to give the look of butcher block without the weight or high price tag. Here’s how to add wood countertops and table tops to your camper.

The new chrome faucet is a definite upgrade from the builder grade plastic RV faucet that came with the camper.

3. Modern Wood Storage Wall

To add much needed storage to this tiny RV bathroom, I created a decorative element that doubles as wall storage. I’ll link the full tutorial here when its finished, but basically it’s 1×1 boards cut at varying lengths and nailed to the wall.

When we arrive at our campsite, I add pieces of 1″ boards in between the slats to act as shelves to store toothbrushes, soaps and other bathroom toiletries. This helps clear up counter space which is a necessity with such a small counter! Plus, the wood makes such a big difference and gives the room a more modern look.

4. “Tiled” Shower Walls

As mentioned previously, I first primed the shower walls and then gave them one coat of oil-based paint. Another excellent option for painting RV shower walls is to use an exterior latex/acrylic paint found at the hardware store.

To avoid adding extra weight to the trailer, I opted against installing traditional ceramic tile in the camper.

Another option I considered was peel and stick subway tile. This is a lightweight option that works well in RVs, however the cost was more than I wanted to spend on this budget-friendly makeover. Plus, I was a bit concerned that this stick tile wouldn’t actually hold up across fluctuating temperatures across different seasons.

Instead, I created the look of subway tile at a fraction of the cost that’s not going anywhere. In fact, this whole shower tile job cost only $15 – the price of a Sharpie Pro permanent marker and this Herringbone Wall Stencil!

You can see the full tutorial of how I remodeled our RV shower here.

5. Painted Door with Wood Accent

I almost forgot – I also updated our RV bathroom door with paint on the inside and a wood pattern on the outside. RV doors are known for being quite ugly, so this update gave it a modern look without all the extra weight.

Final REVEAL: RV Bathroom Remodel

Although I lost some storage space by removing the plastic medicine cabinet, I gained back storage shelves that are easier to access on the modern wood accent wall. Plus, that vintage gold mirror from a thrift store is the perfect size and looks SO much better!

Of course, we all know that the tile in the shower isn’t real subway tile, but doesn’t it almost look like it? Although I love the look, I think I love the fact that it cost less than $20 to make such a huge difference in the room.

Standard shower curtains are way too large for RVs, so I cut and sewed this fabric one to fit perfectly. If you don’t know how to sew, just pick up a vinyl curtain that you can simply cut down to fit your RV shower.

This is my favorite renovated room in our hybrid camper so far! Although I’m almost done with the bunk room and that might take the top spot when it’s done. I’ll be sure to share it with you soon!

For now, get out there, get comfy and camp!