Less prissy foo-foo "designer" touches

[Automobilist]

My very tasteful wife is going through our recently acquired 2002 Journey and cleaning up a lot of over-designed things. Why are so many coaches furnished & decorated like Aunt Edna would have liked in 1980? So far, she's removed the valances / vertical side pieces from the windows. Looks much sleeker. Now she's removing the ridiculous chair rail style tape applique. Started swapping out the gaudy brass cabinet pulls with brushed nickle, and changing the equally gaudy brass lamps with brushed nickle as well. Unfortunately, our coach has the "oak" cabinetry instead of the cherry. I know oak cabinets were fashionable in the 70's-80's, but are now hopelessly dated. I think it will look ok once the bulk of the brass is gone, but geeze, someone paid $165k for this otherwise great coach in 2002 and wanted oak/brass? I guess it's some sort of cultural / generational thing, but oak & brass is a combination that had its day long ago.

Rant over.

[Route 66]

There's no accounting for taste.

Some of the upholstery fabrics from that period looked like "Early Bordello".

[IC2]

I f you want to look at gaudy, look at some of the newer MH's and mid to high end 5ers. If you like LED ceiling lights in recesses and the bright colors, plus furniture only a mad home decorator could love these are for you. As far as oak or oak looking veneer - that seems to be normal. They are bright, showy and appeal at first appearances - but need 'help' once you get them home and find that is not really how you want to describe your life. We have virtually gutted the 'bling' from our 5er and installed 'us' (and there is a bit more to go)

[Dadeaux]

'Early Bordello' I've got to remember to ask for that next time the DW wants to look at new rigs.

[Wizard]

One of my biggest things is the old plastic GOLD plumbing fixtures. First thing I did was change them to chrome, except the shower surround and thats in the future.

[smlranger]

We've been gradually doing similar 're-decoration' on our '02. We re-covered the valences with a different fabric, replaced the gaudy sofa bed with a Lazy Boy reclining love seat, and (not shown in the photo) replaced the pleated day-night shades with MCD solo shades.

I really want to replace the carpet with Pergo laminate. Replacing all the door/drawer pulls has been discussed but, as you note, getting rid of the polished brass look would require replacing light fixtures, bath lav and shower faucets and the shower surround.

As far as the oak is concerned, we rather like the oak. I keep hearing that some folks think oak is 'dated,' but the cabinet sales folks at both Lowe's and Home Depot say oak is still very popular and they sell a lot of it (both have several oak cabinets on display). I do think the honey oak color is preferrable to the more red oak we have in our coaches.

[ctcamper]

To me oak is timeless. I love all woods and each has it's beauty IMO cherry is too dark for an rv and makes it look smaller and is too dark for my taste.
LOL early bordello .. good one -- LED rope lighting and Lepord prints lol

I make covers for the stock cushions and have made my own throw pillows and curtains etc... I store away the factory items and put them back when I go to sell again.

[Starfire5]

In this case, different strokes for different folks applies. I looked at thousands of used coaches online before buying our Outlook in December. One thing that was a HUGE turnoff for me was oak cabinets. I would immediately click off the picture when I saw them. Wouldn't even consider it. And SO many class C's have them, and it seemed like almost ALL the Winnebagos did. But ours has light cherry cabinets. I'm not crazy about the very contemporary style of them, but at least they're not oak! LOL Now, if I could just do something about the fabric on the couch and dinette!

[JMonroe]

RV interior designers have made major improvements over the years, but no decor is going to please everyone. Wood is wood, and will always be in style, although the variety and stains will come and go, just like the length of women's skirts and men's hair. Dark wood was very popular in the late 80s, early 90s, but then fell out of favor. You're seeing a lot of dark wood again.

Back in the 80s we were convinced the interiors were all designed by former 'ladies of ill repute'. Cabinets fronted with ornately decorated frosted glass. Velvet fabrics, cheap gold hardware; you get the idea.

Am I the only one to notice that the gaudiest of the interiors seem to come in the less expensive rigs? I don't think it's because those on a budget have any different taste, as a whole. It's long been my theory (...since I worked for a Buick dealership in the 70s. Anyone else remember those hounds tooth cloth interiors?) that the manufacturers do this on purpose, to try and get you to upgrade to a more expensive rig.

[WOODYDEL]

I agree with the above statements. I was so BOLD as to suggesting covering over that "wonderful" wall you're looking at with great looking paneling AND making a major improvement to the "insulating" of the walls. Didn't seem anyone was interested. Even the treatment of windows without proper trim bothers me and I mentioned that as well.

In another recent post the WD are being or are removed to make storage space while at the same time I'm looking for a spot to install same. So you can never figure what is "right". In that case it might be very common to get rid of the fancy WD since my search on craigslist came up with plenty of "hardly used" WD's.

[777 Driver]

As DW and I were looking at motorhomes, she made a comment that some of them looked like a "bordello" (not her exact word).

I was shocked that she had any idea what the inside of a bordello looked like!

Take care,
Stu

[ctcamper]

Originally Posted by 777 Driver

As DW and I were looking at motorhomes, she made a comment that some of them looked like a "bordello" (not her exact word).

I was shocked that she had any idea what the inside of a bordello looked like!

Take care,
Stu

She watched that movie with Dolly Parton and the chicken ranch

What is worse than any type of wood is the vinyl stick on sheets they use with simulated wood grain pattern over a luan or other substrate. I understand the need to save weight but I think a veneer would be just as effective and comparable in weight and probably not all that much more expensive in the quantities they buy it at.

[Gary - K7GLD]

OK, to each his own - and individual tastes DO vary, especially from older to later generations...

THAT said, and BEING ones from the "older generation" crowd, we are particularly fond of of our older Winnie, with it's golden oak cabinetry, carpeted floors, and gold-toned lamp fixtures - more like what we like in a HOME - and far less like the hard tiled floors, sterile white walls and chrome in a hospital operating room.






OK - tastes vary - but at our age, we're seeing enough of the "hospital room" chrome and sterile white walls look, complete with with hard and cold tile floors, to suit us - and will stick with the warmth and softer comfort of our "antique style" RV - and for sure, to each his own - we each are the ones who must pay for and live in whatever we prefer and choose..

[Route 66]

Not all cherry is dark.

My rig has Newmar's Coastal Cherry cabinets.

[Automobilist]

Went out to the coach this morning, and she had removed every door pull, most of the lighting fixtures, and the bathroom doorknob. Guess she's serious about de-brassing it! We don't have any duck or rooster "decor" in our home either... Nor any floral print furniture upholstery... Decor is indeed a personal taste thing.

[gmanatl]

Our 1999 chieftain had oak and polished brass. The oak cabinets were good quality but I didn't care for the brass hardware. Our 2008 tour has maple cabinets and trim with brushed chrome hardware. We really like this combination as it seems classy without being nearly as dark as most of the cherry wood work.

[Starfire5]

Originally Posted by Starfire5

In this case, different strokes for different folks applies. I looked at thousands of used coaches online before buying our Outlook in December. One thing that was a HUGE turnoff for me was oak cabinets. I would immediately click off the picture when I saw them. Wouldn't even consider it. And SO many class C's have them, and it seemed like almost ALL the Winnebagos did. But ours has light cherry cabinets. I'm not crazy about the very contemporary style of them, but at least they're not oak! LOL Now, if I could just do something about the fabric on the couch and dinette!

Here is a picture of the contemporary light cherry cabinets in our Outlook. Like I said, I'm not in love with the style - too contemporary for my taste, but the color isn't bad - not dark like most cherry.

[bluepill]

Taste is indeed a personal thing.

Now, if I can just find a stripper's pole that fits......................

[Janet H]

It's been done. Pamela Andersons ill-fated Airstream had one.

[Pusherman]

We've done a bunch of remodel jobs on RV's, but never the 'pole' thing. Thanks for the pics. I will share with prospective customers for the future.