The funny thing about renovations is that, once you get going, you think of more and more things you can do to update the look of your home (or RV, in our case :). Although it was a lot more simple than we realized it’d be to update the look of our motorhome, at the same time there was a lot of hard work that went into it, over the span of a couple months.
But this was where it all started, and it was one of the most fun projects of our RV renovation (especially updating the cabinet hardware)! It also made for one of the biggest transformations of our RV.
Here’s our step-by-step process.
1. Remove all the cabinet and drawers from the RV, and remove the old hardware.
I still can’t believe this, but there were 57 different doors and drawers that we (and when I say we, I mean Hudson) had to take out of the RV! Our cabinets were a light oak wood, the walls were a speckled tan, and the cabinet hardware was gold – which looked okay, but very dated. So I was hoping that with a painted white wood and satin nickel hardware combination, we would achieve a more modern look.
2. Prime and paint.
Even though it takes an extra step, when painting RV cabinets it is SO important to prime. We primed all of the RV walls, and intentionally used an oil-based primer on the cabinets to keep them from yellowing. For paint, we used Sherwin-Williams ProClassic® Interior Waterbased Acrylic-Alkyd Enamel – shoutout to Christopher at the Lancaster Sherwin-Williams for answering my million questions! After looking through hundreds of swatches (who knew there were so many shades of white?!) and trying a few samples, we finally decided on satin On the Rocks for the walls and semi-gloss Extra White for the cabinetry. And we quickly learned that, even though an RV is a small space, painting it involves more work than painting a regular room because of all the nooks and crannies. :) But I was so happy with how the paint turned out!
3. Install new cabinet hardware.
I had read a lot of DIY blogs talk about painting their old hardware, but read this blog post by Cliffside Industries about why that’s not a good idea, and quickly changed my mind. Cliffside’s headquarters are actually near Lancaster, and we love supporting local companies so were excited to work with them – also because of what they stand for: quality, value, relationships, and innovation.
Cliffside has over five thousand items from suppliers around the globe! And soooo many amazing satin nickel options, so it was difficult for me to choose (what else is new, ha ;). But we ended up going with one of their own “Cliffside Choice” hardware lines: the ZCH-4-SS Cliffside Choice 4″cc Silver Satin Carena Contemporary Curved Cabinet Handles for most of the doors and drawers, and the ZCC-4-SS Cliffside Choice 4″cc Silver Satin Carena Transitional Curved Bin Pulls for the kitchen and bathroom drawers. I love how the bin pulls accent the cabinet handles and make for a very contemporary look.
My dad had custom installed a dresser for us to serve as a “mudroom” in the RV – it actually was a $10 entertainment center off Craigslist! The knobs had previously been wood, so we swapped them out for Cliffside’s Z100-SS Cliffside Choice Silver Satin Cabinet Knobs for a cohesive look. It’s so neat how the dresser looks like it was originally part of the RV, while providing so much more storage for us! My dad secured it really nicely and used Cliffside’s MC-640 Round Magnetic Door Catch for Cabinets to hold tight the doors while we are driving.
Thanks to Cliffside Industries, we were able to transform the look of our RV by swapping out the decorative cabinet hardware, and even install a new dresser that looks unified with the rest of our RV. I love how painting our RV and updating the cabinet hardware turned out! Whether you’re interested in updating the look of your home or motorhome, I highly recommend giving Cliffside a call!
Thank you, Cliffside Industries, for being a platinum sponsor of our RV renovation! For more info about our renovation, click here.
