The Donald Duck Truck: RV Remodel into a UO Tailgater

Fall is our favorite time of the year. We love crackle of dead leaves under our feet, we use the code word "PSL" when we head down to Starbucks for our annual Pumpkin Spice Latte, but most of all...we love NCAA football.

Our team, to no one's surprise, is the Oregon Ducks, and we spend many glorious fall afternoons tailgating at Autzen.

Many years ago, when I was just out of college, we spent our Saturdays tailgating in an old RV my brother bought for $500 and painted green and yellow.

We had so much fun playing beer pong, cornhole and meeting other Oregon Duck tailgaters, but many moves and two children later, we missed those carefree days.

So, right around the end of August, a simple text that said, "OK see what you can find" gave my husband and brother the green light to go RV hunting for a vintage RV we could restore into Version 2 of the Duck Truck.

The Original "Duck Truck"

We found a 1987 Southwind 34' RV sitting on some acreage outside of Portland shortly after. It was a bit over our original budget, but was a sound piece of metal, very clean, and most importantly--it smelled good. So, one long drive over the mountain and The Donal Duck Truck was a reality.

We spend the next month searching for fabric in the remnant piles of JoAnn's, reupholstering the seats, removing carpeting and spraying the entire inside white.


THE BEFORE

The Bedroom Before and After

RV Remodel Before and After

The Front Before and After

The whole RV was very clean but done in mauve furnishings with wood colored shelving. Made the entire space look very dark, drab and dated.

BEFORE: Sitting Area and Drivers Seat

BEFORE: Seating Area

BEFORE: BEDROOM

 DURING THE REMODEL

The first thing to come out was the carpeting. After carpet was pulled and a good cleaning, we were ready to paint.

Once all the carpet and furniture was removed, we were able to paint it. Warning! My dad is a professional painter so we had access to a professional sprayer and all the right tools but this was a PAIN! We had to sand down all the surfaces, tape for nearly two days, and then put on two coats of Kilz (four gallons!) and four gallons of paint plus primer. Then it had to dry for nearly two weeks.

While the paint dried, we went searching for fabrics to do the curtains, couch, and valances. I scoured fabric stores for bargain fabric, most of which was between $1.35 and $5 a yard (for the vinyl runs).

Once the paint was dry, we cut and glued down a vinyl floor. The flooring was $15.71 a linear foot (12 feet wide). 

THE AFTER: AN OREGON DUCK TAILGATER!

With the extra fabric, we recovered an old picture board. Everyone's favorite piece, however, is the battery-operated art deco light which was an impulse buy on clearance at Fred Meyer for $12.

After finishing the inside, everyone decided it was "too white and impersonal" so we fixed that by adding some pictures of ourselves at the Duck games to the cabinets. It was one of the most expensive parts of the decor, at $5.99/picture.

AFTER: The Bedroom. I found the comforters at Target for $25/piece (on clearance). The most expensive fabric was the Oregon Ducks printed fabric used to make curtains in the back.

AFTER: The dining area. To save money, we re-covered the dining table in diamond plate vinyl contact paper which I found online for $30/roll.

This green vinyl was a lucky find at only $5, but there was only two yards of it, so we had to use a green outdoor fabric on the back of the cushions and supplement the lack of fabric on the font with a green chevron outdoor fabric which we scotch-guarded. All and all though, it looks cool and is pretty stain-proof.

A simple fix to an ugly fridge? Cover it in stainless steel contact paper.

To save money and add something personal to the beds, we sewed pillowcases out of old Duck T-shirts.

Our one mistake was throwing out the old stained original mattresses and replacing them with standard twins, not knowing they were in fact extra long singles, not twins. So, we still have to build out the bed frames. Because the beds are wider than the originals, we had to replace the built in bedside table with a smaller one.

AFTER: The Kitchen. We didn't do much here, just covered the fridge and painted it white.

The kitchen

Pictures, pictures everywhere!

AFTER: The Backside.

AFTER: The left side. My husband sewed all the seat covers and upholstery. I think it looks amazing! We chose to do the couch in a brown fake leather, inspired by a football.

Still need to do the drivers seats which are currently just covered by UO seat covers. Notice the grey carpet in the front which we also replaced. Only $.50/yard at Lowes.

Check out the upholstery job on the chair!

I absolutely LOVE version 2 of the Duck Truck! Look for us at the games!