Finishing off Pearl's Front Slide-Out Redo with Mexican Flair

Once again I've had to take an unexpected break from the blog; this time to take a trip up to Ohio due to a death in the family.  But we're back now, and I'm hoping to post more regularly going forward.

I've been promising a couple more RV renovation posts for awhile, but, as with most projects, we do the work a little bit at a time, and I didn't want to jump the gun until we were really through with a particular area.  After what seems like a loooooong time, we finally put the finishing touches on our front slide-out redo recently, so I hope you're ready for the big reveal!

But first, the "before".  Below is what we started with in our front slide-out area when we bought Pearl over a year ago. A typical RV dinette and sofa from 2007. Serviceable, but very boring. Although you can't really tell in the photo, the dinette cushions were sagging and uncomfortable.  Furthermore, the sofa had no storage underneath at all, since it included a pull-out bed, which we didn't anticipate ever needing.  And it was incredibly heavy, as those behemoths always are.

We wanted to lighten (in weight) and brighten (in color) the whole slide-out space.  Barry especially wanted it to have a Mexican flair, with the cheerful, vivid hues we love, which I thought would be fun to do. 

As detailed in this post from late last year, we started the renovation by pulling out the dinette, sofa, and valances.  In their place Barry built simple wooden platform furniture with great storage underneath both the dinette benches and the sofa.  We had new cushions made and covered in organic cotton duck in a bright green.  Although we lost the sofa bed, the platform sofa would make a great sleep space for a shorter adult (like if I get banished with a cough!) or a child.  And the three large baskets we bought for underneath store a ton of stuff!

We did all of the above in North Carolina in the late fall.  When we got to Florida, we pulled all the new furniture away from the walls, and I painted them a warm yellow.  And Barry removed the old plastic mini-blinds, installing new cellular window shades in a neutral tan in their place.

The next step was to paint the furniture.  I decided to paint it black to go with our Mexican blanket and our window frames.  We added burlap valances with black trim from Etsy over the cellular shades to soften the look, and hung up a cheerful flag garland (also from Etsy), reminiscent of the colorful flags hanging everywhere in Mexico.  A myriad of colorful pillows on the sofa completed our festive decor.

Although not technically part of the slide-out, during the same timeframe, we replaced the original front pleated curtains that close off the windshield at night.  We had burlap curtains made by yet another Etsy seller.  These are lined with blackout fabric, which is a great help in some campgrounds that are very brightly lit.  And I replaced the original cornice box valances on either side with pretty beaded valances from Saffron Marigold (I highly recommend them for lovely curtains and other linens.)

Both side windows at the captain's chairs look like this now.

The curtain slides around on a track to go half-way round the windshield on each side.  The two of them meet in the middle of the windshield.  

Hope you enjoyed seeing how we've changed Pearl to better suit our tastes and personalities.  We are really enjoying the changes!