Chinook RV

Finished my project. There's more to do, but that will be next season. For this year, new vinyl floors, new upper cabinet doors, new dinette cushions, reupholstered dinette benches, fixed the lower water damaged sections of cabinets (swollen and peeling), new backsplash behind stove (not sure it's a backsplash since it's not behind the sink), refinished table leg, reupholstered blind valences and refinished fridge door. It has been a long summer project.

On the list for next year, new bathroom door, new closet door, possible third drawer under sink, new table, possible new counters and, finally, new stove cover. I'm sure there will be more.

I don't have a ton of before or during pics, but here's a couple after shots.

I'm not certain how all Premiers were finished, but mine had absolutely no wood grain in sight. Most of the pics I've seen were much more plush inside. Mine was white and dusty rose, straight out of the early 90's. It was a lot of pink. A lot. I'm sure several of you will spot mods done by the previous owner, I can list many but not all since I've never actually been inside another.

Colorider wrote:I'm not certain how all Premiers were finished, but mine had absolutely no wood grain in sight. Most of the pics I've seen were much more plush inside. Mine was white and dusty rose, straight out of the early 90's. It was a lot of pink. A lot. I'm sure several of you will spot mods done by the previous owner, I can list many but not all since I've never actually been inside another.

My '99 is all wood tone - the same color as that rail on the front of your dinette bench - with gray upholstery, dark gray carpet, off-white paper on the walls, and dark beige window blinds. Ain't winning any beauty contests! I remember my first impression when I walked in was, geez, this thing needs some love. A red rug, a bright quilt, and a lot of clutter have helped hide the drab

I love your mods. It's really interesting to see all the white cabinetry, as I've been playing with the idea of painting mine to lighten it up.

You got Harvey looking good. Great job!

Thanks! As we all know, the upgrades are more of a hobby than a necessity.

Nice work there, buddy. That looks cool. We have the same rig, yet you'd never know it lol. Mine had medium blue sofa, club chairs, pillars, carpet, and fridge cover, light blue blinds and sorta-white wallpapered walls, snow-white ceiling and oak/faux oak cabinets. When I first walked into my Chinook, I wasn't wowed but I wasn't feeling like I was in a complete time warp, either. I guess I was too excited to notice .

Really nice! Much more modern.

I love to see the interiors lightened up; my mother's 99 Premiere seemed so dark, with all of the gray, gray, gray. I didn't paint cabinets, but considered it, but painted all of the walls a light silvery gray. I also toyed with the idea of wallpapering the cabinet insets to add a little bling, but we're not keeping it, so didn't seem worth the effort.

I agree, but oddly I think I've actually been darkening the joint up. All of the white cabinetry is original. I made the cabinet doors darker by going from white to gray. I made the dinette cushions dark gray as opposed to the original pink and gray vinyl wrap on the benches as well. It turns out, I actually like the white cabinets now that the pink is mostly gone. I hated them before, but now they will stay. I just wish they were easier to keep clean. Bike gear and orange desert dirt are not kind to white surfaces.

Wow! Interior looks so much lighter and more spacious. One of my long term projects would be to cover up some of the medium cherry wood in my rig with something lighter in color - maybe stainless steel panels around the sink and stove area, and covering the overhead cabinet faces (except for the doors themselves) with stainless panels. I had a stainless panel made as a "backsplash" for my stove at home but it was over 12 years ago so I don't remember how much it cost. As Colorider said a lot of what we do to our Chinooks isn't so much for necessity but is a hobby (obsession?). Perhaps we should change the name of the forum to "Chinook Owners Anonymous"!