Redecorating an RV Travel Trailer with DIY Valances

My son sold us his RV for a fraction of its worth so we could escape part of the long Canadian winters.  So exciting.  It is in very good shape overall, but I want to glamour it up, make and make it more personal.  The first thing I want to do is to recover the existing RV valances and work on the RV window treatments.  

Removing the Existing Blinds and Valances

The trailer has a total of four valances in the front living area, they were different shapes and sizes but the process for each of them is the same.  

As weight is always a concern in any RV I suspected the weight of the valance wood to be very light and it was, but the valance itself was quite sturdy.  It came attached to the RV walls with clips.  Hubs left the clip where it was and just lifted the valances off by gently pulling the bottom towards himself and then pushing upwards. 

Once the valances are gone you should see two cube-shaped brackets that hold the blinds. One on the far right and the second one on the far left.  The metal brackets that hold the ends of the blinds either unlatch or slide out. Once you unlatch the two brackets the blinds should slide right out.  Hubs remove ours in a minute flat. A screwdriver may help you pry them open if rusted or dirty. 

Once removed I cleaned the RV window blinds like the would house blinds by carefully placing them to soak in the bathtub with warm water and dish soap.   If dusty you may want to drain the water and add a second tub full. Then I washed them carefully being careful not to bend any of them before rinsing with the shower head.  I laid them out on bath towels to dry while I got busy on the actual valances.

As this holiday trailer was a very loving gift from my son I chose not to take before pictures.  The trailer is RV factory lovely for its age and I am thrilled.  With that said here is one of the original valances after Hubs took it down for me.

Stripping the Original Valance Upholstery

I am pretty certain most RV valances are similar, made out of light wood with a layer of brocade-style fabric, a very thin foam layer on the outside, and a liner on the inside.

I thought the professionals who “upholstered” the original valances would have lots of slick tips and tricks I could learn while dismantling the valance. That didn’t happen, the inside of our valance showed roughly cut material stapled hundreds of times with an automatic staple gun until the fabric was tight.   

The existing RV fabric is the easiest way to get a pattern for your new valance. Remove the layers of the original upholstery by removing the staples holding down each layer as you work.  Make sure to keep the material intact so you can use it as a pattern. You may be tempted to pull and yank on the fabric to help remove the staples, but I think having the original fabric as a guide is worth the patience it took.

To remove the staples pry them upwards with a small flat screwdriver and then pull them out with needle nose pliers.  

This rv valance also had a round embellishment held on with four small screws.  I removed the screws and discarded the round portion.

It took three hours to remove the staples from all four valances. I hope you have good luck with yours and don’t have so many staples, ours had hundreds of staples

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Adding Batting for the First Layer

The new fabric is cotton and much thinner than the original heavy brocade.  To compensate for the thinner fabric I added a layer of thin quilt batting first.  The quilt batting is light, won’t increase the weight of the valance,  and adds the necessary thickness the valance needs to appear structured. 

Use the old fabric as the pattern.  Lay it down on your batting and cut it an extra inch larger all the way around.  

The quilt batting was easy to work with as it is a bit stretchy.  Batting does not fray so you don’t need to worry about turning the edges in etc.  Start in the middle, working towards the end. Staple the batting every six inches or so. Tighten the batting as you go, and trim off the excess to keep it neat. Then tuck in the corners.  Make sure the batting material on the front of the valance is smooth, and the corners are neat. 

Then tuck in the corners.  Make sure the batting material on the front of the valance is smooth, and the corners are neat. The edge doesn’t need to be turned in as it won’t fray.

Once you reach the ends fold the fabric over the sides of the valances to make sure it’s covered. Repeat on the other end.

Then tuck in the corners.  Make sure the batting material on the front of the valance is smooth, and the corners are neat. The edge doesn’t need to be turned in as it won’t fray.

Adding  Fabric to Cover an RV Valance

My original plan was to decorate the trailer in taupes, black and white with natural baskets. We were unable to find any black-and-white material that I liked, so I changed plans and found a fabric to give us a splash of color instead.  The multicolored fabric with blues and yellow makes me think of summer it’s cheerful, modern, fresh, and perfect for a recreational vehicle.

If the original material from your valance is structured and neat you can lay it down on your new fabric and draw a pattern with chalk before cutting.  

Unfortunately, my original fabric was very jagged and just hacked, so I used my RV fabric as a guideline and drew a rectangle with straight lines making sure it was two inches wider and longer than the RV fabric.

To add the fabric repeat the same process that you used for the batting. 

Repeat the same process that you used for the batting.  Except fold in the edge of the fabric to seal in the edge before stapling. Again start in the middle, making sure the fabric pattern is in the correct direction, and work towards the ends on both sides. 

Folding Fabric Corners

I am hopeful that these pictures illustrate how to fold the corners.  The only important thing to remember is which side is the front of your valance and it needs to be smooth.  You can pull the fabric tight on the backside and add more staples as needed.

Once you reach the end, make sure that

1. The bottom end of the valance is covered with fabric.
2. Then you can fold the bottom outside corner so there is a crease.
3. Wrap the ends over the top, staple snuggly, and then trim.

You do the top corner the same way, but as it’s on the front here is a little more detail for you.

Once the fabric is pulled tight, staple it in place on the backside and trim if needed.

Adding the Valance Liner

The front of your valance is now finished.  The original valances had a liner on the inside portion, so I chose to replace it using some bits of leftover white fabric I had.  I doubt anyone is ever going to look behind the valance to see if it’s lined, but as it cost me nothing I went ahead and lined the back. You can skip this if you like.

Cut your fabric the same width as your valance with an extra inch for seams.  Fold the top edge under and press leaving a crisp edge.  Place this edge on one side of your RV valance and staple it in place all the way along.  Fold the other side under and staple into place.  I used an iron to make the creases crisp but you certainly do not need to.

When you reach the ends, stuff the material behind into the corner and staple it well.

Rehang all your valances in the same spots with the same hardware.

Cut your fabric the same width as your valance with an extra inch for seams.  Fold the top edge under and press leaving a crisp edge.  Place this edge on one side of your RV valance and staple it in place all the way along.  Fold the other side under and staple into place.  I used an iron to make the creases crisp but you certainly do not need to.

We’re loving our summer so far, and I hope you’re having a good one too.

My entire budget for the RV Trailer refresh is about $500.  Including all new towels, dishes, swanky new bed linens, and so forth. For the price, I think the best thing we did was replace all the dated worn brocade RV fabric with modern fabric.   Here are some of the other projects we have done to our trailer so far.

By no means are we redoing the whole RV.  We don’t need to brighten the RV walls as they are already a light color, removing the wallpaper border was all they needed.  The back bedroom had the same type of blinds the front living room, and kitchen areas had but instead of valances they had curtain brackets but the original curtains were gone.  We tightened the bracket screws kept the existing curtain rods, and added some new sheer curtains.

Other Inexpensive RV Updates to Try