Custom RV Bunks | The Camper House

Purchase to Perfect

On the left, is how our fifth wheel looked the first time I walked through it. This is one of the pictures I sent Jordan before he saw it in person.

The right is how it looks now. I mean, when the kids don’t have all 5000 toys all over the floor. I’m not even sure where they come from because we don’t have more than about 10 per kid, but I’m certain there are at least 5000 when they are all over!

If you have seen our RV Tour Video you know that we didn’t have a bunkhouse and we made what we had work for us. We removed a couch and replaced it with a daybed that had a trundle. We even added a curtain to make the space feel more like a room.

That was phase, Get Us On The Road.

If you are only interested in a specific part of the project you can skip ahead to that time. See the specific heading for the time stamp you need for the video.

Purchase to Perfect

How our fifth wheel looked the first time I walked through it. This is one of the pictures I sent Jordan before he saw it in person.

That was phase, Get Us On The Road.

After being full-time for 7 months we were finally ready to build bunks for the boys. We had toyed with that idea since just after purchase, but it didn’t become a real contender until a few months in. The real motivation was for more space for the boys to play rather than just sleeping space.

Out With The Old (0:00)

The next step was to design our bunks to fit the space. We wanted them to look custom and be budget friendly. Jordan drafted a few sketches after seeing a few photos I used for inspiration. His execution was better than what I had envisioned. Then we had to remove the cabinets to make room for our masterpiece! This was incredibly simple to remove screws and take the cabinets down.

The cabinets had to come down to make room for the top bunk.

We wanted to beds to run the full width, so the side tables had to go!

Removal was complete and we were ready to begin transforming the space.

Paint Transforms a Space (0:00)

I priced wall paper for this space and it was nearly $1000. There is no part of a budget renovation that runs us $1000 for a decor piece. Clearly that was instantly a NO. A big trend right now is sponge painting a pattern to look like wall paper.

We already had cheap sponges, black paint and a permanent marker. I wiped the walls down with vinegar, let them dry and began to paint.

The best tip I can share is that less is more when sponge painting. When I had the sponge too full the paint would run down the wall. It was easy enough to wipe it all off in that area and repaint, but it was time and hassle so LESS IS MORE!

Everyone thinks it’s wallpaper and I’ll take that as a compliment on a job well done.

The boys love the trees in the space. They are fun and whimsical, and still coordinate with the rest of our space!

Materials For Our Design

For the Bed

4 4 x 4 x 8
3 4 x 8 sheets of plywood
10 1 x 4 x 10 (you can go shorter on these, but you’ll need at least 2 of the 10′)
6 2 x 4 x 8
2 1/2″ screws (small box)
1 Gallon paint of choice
1 1/2 Pint stain of choice

We reused cabinet handles from the cabinets we took down and “L” brackets from the valances that were here.

For the Curtains

Cable to run about 6″ longer than your bed area.
Clamps of some sort
These metal clips for the curtain
Curtains or fabric cut to the length for your bunks.