Decorating a Vintage Camper ~ White Arrows Home

See updates and ideas for decorating a vintage camper I’m so excited about!

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My new 1974 Yellowstone camper is stored away for winter. And while it’s put away I’m planning for how I’m going to make it my own. It’s been well cared for and in good shape inside and out, but I want to give it some White Arrows Home touches.

I’ve been looking through Pinterest and reading magazines like Girl Camper to find inspiration.

I shared some fun photos of the first weekend my camper came home and was sitting in our driveway. I decorated it for Fall and shared it in this post.

A Name

I need to think of a name for my new camper. Do you have any ideas? I don’t know if I want a person name or just a cute name. Some names I’ve heard for other campers are:

Nugget
Stove Top
Tin Can
Rosie
Buttercup
Sugar
Rhonda

Awning

I know I want to add an awning. I’ll need to decide if I want to do red and white stripes, black and white stripes or some other pattern.

Kitchen

My camper has a cute little kitchen with red tile. I love the tile and the idea of cooking in my camper. But one of the things I have to do is be honest about how I’m going to use it. I would probably end up doing more cooking on the campfire. I doubt I will ever use the kitchen, so is it just wasted space?

(Remember, I’m just letting you into my dreaming for the space. I haven’t researched any of it yet. It’s just the preliminary thoughts. Part of the journey you get to go along with me on.)

I don’t have much space. There’s the kitchen and the benches and table that fold out to a bed. I’m thinking if I take out the kitchen I can turn it into a sitting area and then leave the bed folded down and made.

The storage is great to have. One thought I have is to leave the top cabinet and the cute red tile. Take out the stove, sink and counter and build a bench seat that would lift to have storage underneath. I may be able to repurpose one of the table cushions for this bench.

Then I would find a folding bistro table and chairs to put with the little bench so there would be extra seating for friends to sit, play cards or have a cocktail. I love this one with the seat cushions. It could easily go outside under the awning too.

(I think it would be fun to camp with my friends and do a progressive camp dinner to each other’s campers. Have you ever done a progressive dinner? One of us would serve cocktails, another apps, another dinner and another dessert.)

I like the idea of making the kitchen into a sitting area for a few reasons. I like the idea of not having to flip the bed back and forth between bed and table. I also don’t have to worry about where to store all the bedding, it can just stay on the bed.

One of the ways I anticipate using the camper is as a mobile office to do my writing. This would give me a great desk and work space.

Bedding

I’ll have to decide if I’m going to use the current bench cushions as the bed cushions. They are in great shape or if I’m going to get another mattress. It’s hard to believe, but the little bed is King size!

My mom used a futon mattress in her camper and said it was so incredibly comfortable. She got the idea because when she and my dad would first come stay with my husband and I in our first home they would sleep on the pull out futon and they couldn’t believe how well they slept on it.

I know I want my camper full of plaids. Plaid is my favorite color. So I’m planning a mix of plaid bedding like these options.

Pillows, lots of them will be included too. There may be rainy days when I want to curl up and read in the bed propped up on pillows. Brian and I also love to watch series on Netflix and Amazon Prime so we could curl up and binge a few episodes here too. Here are some of recent favorites.

Curtains & Walls & Rugs

There are cute little white little curtains with red cherries in the camper. They really are cute, but I will probably change them to a plaid.

If there are parts of the wall I decide to cover, I’ll use a wallpaper like this Peel & Stick.

I’ll want an indoor outdoor rug that can go outside the front door under the step to keep dirty shoes on so the dirt doesn’t go in the camper.

Vintage

There will also be a lot of vintage touches. Campfire marshmallow tins, camp stools, thermos and scotch coolers.

I’m excited to have you keep following along on the journey to see what name the camper ends up with (maybe one of your ideas) and how I give her some updates. She’s already so cute, I’ll just be adding my personal touches to make her my own. This will be fun!