Our new RV roof looks great! (If you’re wondering why we needed a new roof, well, I’ll say three words then let you read the rest: egg-sized hail!) When we opted for a totally seamless roof, we had the FlexArmor folks apply their product over the skylight in our RV bathroom. We knew that covering the skylight would make the bathroom dark and we were right! I needed to find some tips and tricks for a lighter, brighter RV bathroom.
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Existing lighting
Our bathroom has two LED ceiling lights. They do a good job of lighting most of the bathroom. The problem area is the shower. We needed some way to light up the shower, now that the skylight no longer serves that purpose.
What we didn’t want
My husband and I were in total agreement on what we didn’t want:
- Hardwiring. We didn’t want to hardwire additional lights. We just replaced the RV roof and didn’t want the additional expense. Besides, we needed light in the shower, and we know water and electricity do not play well together!
- Tap lights. We also didn’t want to get tap lights (the ones you push to activate). We figured that activating the tap lights might put extra stress on the plastic shower roof panel where we needed the light. The plastic panel already flexes when pressure is applied.
- Motion-activated. We also preferred not to have motion-sensitive lighting because one of us invariably gets up during the night, sleepwalks to the bathroom, and tries to get back to bed without waking the other. A sudden, bright, motion-activated light would make that problematic.
Remote control?
We settled on this wireless, battery-operated lighting system. We plan to position one light on each of three sides of the shower ceiling. The remote will stay on the side of the medicine cabinet where it’s easily accessible. If the accompanying self-stick tape is negatively affected by the steam of the shower, we’ll replace it with a stronger adhesive.
What’s next?
With the lighting plan in place, it was time to see if other tricks might brighten the RV bathroom.
- Towels. I replaced our chocolate brown towels with yellow ones and was surprised at how much they brightened up the space.
- Backsplash. I found this self-stick “tile” online. It has great ratings and was easy to apply. Covering over the existing dark brown RV wallpaper makes a huge difference in the room. I ended up applying the wall tile to the entire wall around the sink, from countertop to ceiling. Light seems to bounce off the white tile wall now, and I really like it.
- Floor. Finding a bathmat for our small RV bathroom space has been challenging. I wanted something soft, absorbent, and non-slip. I preferred a patterned mat for interest, and it needed to be machine washable, too. I found a mat in a local department store that will work for now, but I’m keeping an eye out for one I like better.
- Wall caddy. We had a dark, wood-tone wall caddy that housed combs, brushes, and other hair products. I carefully removed the caddy from the wall and used spray paint to brighten it up. To remount, I used mollies to fasten the caddy back in place.
- Cabinet. I wasn’t inclined to paint the sink base cabinet, though I know many RVers do. Instead, I removed the cabinet door. I used tinted wood putty to fill the screw holes. My husband made a shelf inside the cabinet that straddles the drainpipe to accommodate storage baskets. I placed a basket on the top and bottom shelves. They function like drawers, to my way of thinking. It’s easy to find, use, and replace products in the baskets. The natural fiber of the baskets’ exterior help to further brighten the space.
I’ll admit that it was a bit unnerving to change things in our RV bathroom, but I’m happy with the results. Have you made changes to your RV bathroom? Share your ideas with us!
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Photos pretty please?!!!
When I stand in front of the mirror to shave, the ceiling light is slightly behind me. I’m shaving a shadow! I’ve always thought it was poor planning on the mfg’s part. Now I think I might find a way to add a light (or lights) in front of me. good idea.
Gail, we had Midwest RV Roof near Lincoln, NE do the FlexArmor roof for us and also had the skylight covered. Love it! It’s a bit darker, but much cooler when parked without shade. Overall, seems like a good trade off.
I’m so glad to hear this. We did a lot of research and FlexArmor seemed like the best option.
10 years ago I put those self adhesive white plastic wall tiles in our bathroom. Stripped off the wall paper and white washed the one wall. Painted the cabinets white. We were full timing then and I thought “well this May last 3 to five years”. I’m happy to say it still looks like I redid our bathroom yesterday.
Good ideas. Some pictures of the finished room would have been even better.
I agree. I would have loved to see a pic of the bathroom after all the changes.
We also had FlexArmor apply their product over the skylight in our RV bathroom. I changed the colors in there to yellow also to brighten it up. May try the remote lighting.