Easy RV Mod -> Decorating With Museum Putty & Command Strips

The wining decorating duo -> command strips and museum putty

It’s been almost 2 weeks since our last exciting Easy RV Mod, so it’s time to bring out another. One of the things I love to do in the RV is hang pictures and decorations that make it our own. There are 2 things that make this slightly more difficult in an RV -> First of all the slides and many of the interior walls don’t lend themselves well to hooks & screws, and second is that the RV moves and bounces around in a living version of the holka polka so whatever you hang up has gotta be shake-proof. Well luckily there are 2 cool buys which will cover both those problems and make all your decorating RV dreams come true. I love these products so much I use them pretty much everywhere, and they’ve stood the test of 2 years of use and abuse so I know they work. Here they are:

The magic putty -> I LOVE this stuff!

1/ Museum Putty -> Museum Putty, sold under names such as Quake-Hold or Secure-Hold or simply Museum Putty is an old museum trick to keep precious objects stuck in place. It’s a pliable putty that comes in strips which you pull apart like play-doh, work (knead) a few minutes to get warmed up and then roll into little balls that you put underneath the object you’re securing. Once you press the object down in place, the seal is done.

Our buddha, incense holder and indoor candles are all secured by putty

The great thing about it is that it works on just about any surface and comes off clean and easy with a twist if you change your mind. I’ve used this on everything from statues to candles to ceramic soap-holders and wall decorations and it just plain WORKS! For one package of ~$5 you’ll get enough putty to decorate your whole RV and it will literally last you a lifetime. Buy it on-line or at any hardware store (Lowes, Home Depot). Love this stuff!

2/ Command Strips -> For wall hangings with a little extra weight I haven’t found anything that works as nicely and cleanly as 3M Command Strips. These 2-part velcro strips stick to the wall (one strip) and your object (second strip), and you simply press and snap together to make the connection.

The 3M command strips

The nice thing about these strips is that you can pull apart and reposition the frame if you don’t get it perfectly right the first time, plus you can cleanly pull off the strips altogether without damaging your walls if you change your mind later. I’ve used them on all my heavier wall objects and they are rock-solid. The 3M hooks work nicely too. You can buy these just about anywhere (grocery stores, drug stores, hardware stores etc.)

Command Strips & Hooks in action. This is our fabulous La Crosse indoor-outdoor thermometer. The outdoor sensor is secured with velcro in our propane bay.

I will sometimes use BOTH products together depending on what I’m hanging, especially if the object is a funny shape or size. If I’m only using museum putty on the walls I’ll usually add-in a single nail or screw to make sure there’s no chance of the object falling down.

Chinese characters secured with command strips and a dab of putty on our living room partition door

Some decorative metal figures from NM secured on the wall with museum putty and a nail

Marsha’s great new family portrait display. Picture taken by Marsha at On the Road Again.

Speaking of wall decorations Marsha from On The Road Again submitted a great way to spiff up an old frame. She has a 34′ Winnebago Itasca Sunova which came with some nice large framed pictures that, while pretty, were totally useless. Wanting to make use of everything in her RV she pulled them off the wall (they were hung with velcro), took out the back, pulled the flower picture out, and filled them with family pictures in front of the flower picture and behind the glass. Great little way to re-purpose an existing frame! Thanks for submitting the idea, Marsha and hope to get more tips to share from you in the future!

Got a cool RV mod of your own? Feel free to e-mail me with photos and details and I’ll highlight on the blog in a future post. Full credit will be yours!

4 Tips For Creating Instant Indoor RV Coziness

We’ve had a few days of rain here in San Diego recently which means we end up doing alot of indoor stuff. You know what I mean -> hot chocolate, warm meals, watching endless reams of movies (Redbox deals of course! At $1.20 per movie they simply can’t be beat!). I don’t mind these types of days as long as they don’t last too long, which is why wintering here in the SW is sooooo nice. But all this did get me thinking about indoor tips and making your inside RV experience warm and cozy. In Danish we actually have a specific term for this called hygge -> the art of making your environment fluffy-sock-comfy-warm-inviting even on long, dark winter nights (we’re experts, don’t you know). Over the past few years we’ve infused hygge to the RV and picked up a couple of ideas which I thought might be kinda fun to share with others.

1/Add Mood Lighting

Mood-lighting in our bathroom. We hold everything down with Quakehold.

I’m a very light-sensitive person (in my cubicle days I always felt like the office florescents were sucking the living soul out of me), so I’m always looking for ways to make the lighting warm and cozy. Here’s my tips:

• Get LEDs in the right color & brightness - I spent alot of time finding exactly the right color and light when we converted our overhead G4′s and reading lights to LEDs. We’ve been incredibly happy with the results with the added bonus that these super-saving lights use ~1/10 of the power of our old halogens.
•  Use Candles – Being Danish I love real candles and we have several spots with candles and tea-lights around the RV. In a closed containers the tea-lights are safe and cozy, and will burn out on their own when done. I buy tea-light candles in bulk at IKEA, sometimes with scent too.
• OR, Try LED Candles - If you’re worried about using real candles in your RV check out some of the new flameless LED candles which are on the market. They’re battery-operated (perfect for boondocking) and the more advanced versions even have timers for the perfect mood-time. You can often find outstanding deals on these babies on eBay or in discount home furnishing stores.

2/ Decorate Your Space

Alot of RV’s have the same kind of “dullish” feel to them (what is it about RV decorators that makes them think everyone wants everything in a shade of brown?), so adding little accents of color and splash can make a huge difference to indoor feel. Here’s some ideas:

We've decorated the kitchen with burgundy-themed cooking accents

Our burgundy, teal and gold living room theme

•  Rugs, Pillows & Covers - In our rig the first change we did was get rid of our brown carpet and replace it with a burgundy red in the living room and a sky blue in the bedroom. I accented those colors with gold & red pillows on the couches and finished off the color-splash with teal Sure-Fit washable cloth covers on our (very brown) dinette chairs. Even if you don’t change our your carpet, throw rugs can be an bright, easy and cheap addition to your floor. Walmart, Target and IKEA are get spots to buy these at a reasonable price.
• Pictures & Decor - As everyone who’s ever rented a house knows, adding personal touches to decor and pictures can make your space feel more like home. We’ve put several pics up around the rig (using the 3M Command Strips), added several decor pieces (using QuakeHold Museum Putty), and hung some bigger pieces (with 3M Wire Hooks). None of these things have budged in 2 years of travel.
• Green Living Plants – I feel plants give a vibrant feel to just about any space. We have several pots around the house including a small one in the kitchen and a larger plant in the bedroom. Quakehold will keep these in place while travelling.

3/ Use Real China & Glass

Our home-made handy-dandy glass box

This is a kinda personal thing, but I feel having real china and glass in the RV adds alot to the sense of home I have here. If you package these properly they’ll travel over any terrain, and using these tips we’ve not had a single break (due to travel) in 2 years:

• Glasses – We use a wine-box lined with foam to create a custom wine, champagne & cognac glass holder. Fits any type of glass!
• Plates – For our plates we’ve lined the cupboards with a non-slip liner (the best stuff I’ve found is the thick IKEA shelf liner) and put non-slip plate separators between each item. They sell pre-packaged & cut versions at Camping World, or you can buy a whole roll of the stuff at Walmart for much cheaper and just cut it yourself.

4/ Add Some Scents

Burning some incense for our buddha in the living room

Of the 5 senses, I think smell is one of the most inviting and there’s some super-easy ways to add that dimension into your RV

• Incense - We have several simple incense burners that we use from time to time. Lots of places sell relaxing & attractive incense sticks or cones.
• Flowers – Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh flowers in the RV? We don’t buy them often, but when we do I use my handy-dandy collapsable WonderVase to show them off. Love that thing!
• Scent Spots – There are all kinds of scented cones, crystals and plug-ins you can buy out there, but my absolute favorite is the Febreeze Set and Refresh -> it uses no power, gives decent longer-term scent and you can place it anywhere. We always have one open in the bathroom.

And that’s the whole enchillada for our little family here in the rain. Time to snuggle-up and watch a movie, methinks. Got any good tips of your own?

Green and cozy in our bedroom window sill. Cat basket on the right.

We have a larger silk Chinese scroll on our wall in the bedroom