Painting interior?

[Lotusemerging]

Has anyone painted the interior of their Ollie? I love the general design but feel the shiny white might seem a bit cold after while for this full timer wanna be. Please share your pics if you have dared paint! Thanks 😊 

Emily Penney

[John E Davies]

I think it would be 100% crazy, but a 3M vinyl wrap in your choice of colors would look fine and also be 100% reversible. Lots of folks like the bright white walls and ceiling, me included. If you painted them, you would have a REALLY hard time selling the trailer.

There are a lot of color choices, and also patterns like carbon fiber. Go for it!

Rvinyl 3M 2080-G12 Vinyl Car Wrap Film Sheet Roll with Air Release Technology - 5ft x 1ft with Application Card,

John Davies

Spokane WA

[SeaDawg]

Painting gel coat is best left to professionals, imo, and expensive. Special paints, protective gear, etc .

I actually love the clean white interior. So easy to clean, bright and a nice backdrop to the fabrics on the bed and dinette.

Some people have installed backsplashes. Really nice. Others warm up the interior with wood tops from Foy Sperring, really, really nice. A few have added non adhesive graphics. 

I love mine the way it is. Though someday, I  might like a walnut top from Foy.

[Mike and Carol]

The white walls are a nice background for however you want to decorate.  Hanging things is easy, command tape is useful for a variety of things.  Besides pictures, you can hang fabric things and an number of other items.  We have a couple of hats, a wooden flute, a wooden cross and some other things on our walls.  I would not even attempt to paint the interior.  Mike

[Nancy K.]

I love the white interior and would never change it.  Plenty of ways to add color, and it wipes clean so easily.

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

Successfully painting gelcoat can be extremely difficult and prone to failure.  It can be done by those with the experience and equipment to pull it off but for a beginner, the potential for a real mess is very high and reversing the effect may or not be possible.  The only sure outcome, as stated by others, is to lessen the resale value of your Oliver.

[ScubaRx]

IF I were to decide to paint any part of our Oliver, I would do it with Plasti Dip. It comes in a boat load of colors and is completely reversible. I've used it many times on various parts of our vehicles with complete satisfaction. Get on You Tube and spend some time watching the tutorial videos. It might be just what you're looking for.

[LongStride]

If the white interior does not suit you, there are a few less extreme things you can do other than apply paint to make things look more appealing to you.  I would bet that by just addressing a few areas of the interior you would make a big difference.  

There are a variety of adhesive backed wall coverings that you could apply.  Perhaps start by covering the flat wall between the dinette and toilet room.  Then, as @SeaDawgsuggested; apply a backsplash behind the kitchen counter.  Hang a few small framed photos and a few decorations.  The impact will be enormous as compared to the stark white factory finish.

I agree with the others that painting will really hurt your resale value.  It would also negate the advantages afforded by the gelcoat finish.  Gelcoat is terrific for any of the 3M command tape products.  It is easy to clean.  Suction cup mounted accessories work great.  You will lose those benefits by painting.

The first night that we spent in our Ollie I lay in bed looking at the reflection of the lights from various electronics on the sleek interior, and I felt like I was on a space shuttle or something.  I thought it was pretty cool.  I wanted to drink some TANG... 🧑‍🚀

[SeaDawg]

1 hour ago, LongStride said:

first night that we spent in our Ollie I lay in bed looking at the reflection of the lights from various electronics on the sleek interior, and I felt like I was on a space shuttle or something.  I thought it was pretty cool.  I wanted to drink some TANG... 🧑‍🚀

That made me smile.

Yes, they still make Tang. There's a canister in my hurricane kit.

[Mattnan]

If I wanted to change some colors inside I would definitely follow John Davies advice and do the vinyl wrap.  We like the ease of cleaning the factory jell coat.  We have a bunch of my wife's photos mounted on canvas along with a couple decorative items held up by command strips.  I have also seen some very nice vinyl graphics installed both inside and out.  We know one Ollie that did a couple neat vinyl graphics inside including their bathroom.  The vinyl is waterproof too.  Prep work to paint the interior would likely ruin your jell coat and you would be out thousands of dollars to paint it and then later repair it back to original.  That type of paint, is generally a 2 part paint with toxic fumes and for a great job probably needs to be applied via spray and professional car or boat painter.

[LongStride]

7 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

Yes, they still make Tang. There's a canister in my hurricane kit.

Well what do you know!  I haven't seen any in decades.  And to think that all this time I have been pretending with my Metamucil.  Wow, I could have had the real thing!

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

Had to laugh when the Tang photo popped up.  Years ago, while hiking the John Muir Trail in the Sierra's, we had bears nab the food bags we had hanging from a tree.  The only thing the bears did not eat was the Tang and Mountain House freeze dried dinners.  Slit the bag the Tang was stored in, tasted it and then set it aside.  A bear of taste and refinement!

[Lotusemerging]

Thanks everyone for your input! Nice to know options that could work 🙂

[Overland]

In addition to the suggestions above, you might think about something to break up the ceiling.  We added these acoustical panels, which provide a bit of relief to the endless fiberglass and of course deaden the sound a little as well -

[SeaDawg]

4 hours ago, Overland said:

In addition to the suggestions above, you might think about something to break up the ceiling.  We added these acoustical panels, which provide a bit of relief to the endless fiberglass and of course deaden the sound a little as well -

As do your lovely backsplashes and wood top for the lagun.

[Overland]

1 hour ago, SeaDawg said:

As do your lovely backsplashes and wood top for the lagun.

Thank you kindly.  I wanted to do a different backsplash that had a bit of color, but my wife wanted to keep it all grey tones.  I just sent Foy an email, though, so perhaps I'll be able to warm up the interior a bit next year. And then I can say that we need to change the backsplash to tie together the wood and the grey.  I'm sneaky like that.  

[John and Debbie]

3 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

As do your lovely backsplashes and wood top for the lagun.

Nice backsplash.   Was that tricky and do they adhere well? 

[Overland]

Not difficult at all, at least for the kitchen, and yes they stick well. Several owners have added them and I definitely wasn’t the first. The bathroom is a bit harder since the wall has a double curve and you have to find a happy medium as to what you want to be straight.

I think the brand I bought was Smart Tiles, but there seem to be a lot of new options out there now. 

[SeaDawg]

I gathered a few photos of backsplashes for you. You can see all the posts by doing a search on "backsplash."

 

[SeaDawg]

We don't have a backsplash in our smaller Elite. Instead, I added some storage bins, and picked up some color from my melmac dinnerware.  

 

[Mountainman198]

We love the shiny, white interior.  So much so that we ordered ours with white counters.  The shiny, white interior provides a wonderful, contrasting backdrop for whatever pictures, etc you place on the walls.  Just to be clear, we are coming from a vintage camper with lots of windows with rich, oak veneer ceiling, walls and fixtures.  Worried we would miss the warmth of wood, this has been deemed unfounded.  We love our Ollie!

 

 

[ChrisMI]

On 12/8/2021 at 10:54 AM, Overland said:

In addition to the suggestions above, you might think about something to break up the ceiling.  We added these acoustical panels, which provide a bit of relief to the endless fiberglass and of course deaden the sound a little as well -

I really like the countertop color. Really bummed it was optioned out, definitely not a custom order trailer anymore. Do you think the table could be cut down to make the countertop extension?  Your lagun table looks amazing. I’m wondering if Foy could make a new dining and lagun table that match but still has the functionality of the one you purchased?

[Overland]

9 minutes ago, ChrisMI said:

I really like the countertop color. Really bummed it was optioned out, definitely not a custom order trailer anymore. Do you think the table could be cut down to make the countertop extension?  Your lagun table looks amazing. I’m wondering if Foy could make a new dining and lagun table that match but still has the functionality of the one you purchased?

Yes, I believe that he's making one for someone right now.  

I don't know why Oliver got rid of the charcoal grey counters - from posts here, it seemed like they were by far the most popular color at the time.

[SeaDawg]

I don't know Foy, but I've admired the photos. I finally got to see some of Foy's beautiful hand crafted work when we camped with Mike D and his wife. The photos are beautiful.  The product is even more beautiful in person. 

My grandfather and father were master woodworkers. Pretty sure I know quality when I see it. Foy's craft is truly amazing.