Easy RV Mod -> Decorating With Museum Putty & Command Strips
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:
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.
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 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.)
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.
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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!
I use Putty the same way you do. Works great!
We used Command Strips even in our stick and brick home. Wonderful invention!
Glad to hear you like it too! Nina
I have found that the 3m white hooks go on and off very easy. you can take them off and leave no marks.
Yup, I use quite a few of the 3M hooks too. Love them for hats, purses and jackets in the entry-way.
Nina
Do they work in 110 to 120 degree heat? No, I’m not kidding. I tried the commercial sticky velcro from Walmart and in this heat, the glue just melts and slippy slide. Whaaa! Have not tried museum putty, though. I had tried the velcro on flat surfaces to hold objects and had a melted mess. Of course they still stuck in MY HAIR! Go figure! LOL
Oh, I haave ome ideas about controling flies…not a decorating tip per say, but could be fun…hehecheck out my blog and let me know if you have any other ideas…cheers
I’ll admit we’ve never quite tested 110-120 degrees inside the rig, but we’ve travelled/stayed thro’ 110 degree TX heat (keeping the inside of the rig ~20-degrees cooler) and the putty has never melted. I’ve had it in direct sun, heat everything…and it’s always held. So, my thinking is it’ll do fine.
Nina
x2 on Command Strips—God send for RV’ers!
Yup, I love those things. They’re a bit pricey, but totally worth it!
Nina
PUTTY – wow how neat is that!! No mod yet but when I come up with something to use in our Casita that is covered floor to ceiling with carpet that will be a good day :O) One post I read was to use “T” pins…but if I had a kitty, I know they would be in dreamland! ~cozygirl itsacozylife.blogspot.com
Floor-to-wall carpet…now that IS a decorating challenge! Nice idea with the T-pins. Nina
Totally agree on the Command strips. Discovered them at Home Depot just before our first RV trip ( yes, the 15k mile one ! ) and every one stuck fine. I peeled several off after we got home, no problem.
Good to know you like ’em too!
Nina
Hi! I’m a full-timer living in a 40ft Heartland Landmark. What do you use to hang really heavy items like jackets and robes? I have found the command hooks do not work well at all for that.
Actually we just use the larger command hooks for our jackets. They can handle 5-7 lbs of weight depending on the type you buy. We also have one screw-in multi-hook for our keys which can handle even more weight. If none of these work for you, you might want to consider one of those hang-over-the-door type hook racks and install it over your bathroom door. Kind of like these ones:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/3/over-the-door-hook
Hope that helps!
Nina
Dollar Tree sells those too, I bought a bunch at that price.
I tried using 3M strips to hang a fairly lightweight painting (about half a pound or less) on the wall. There is something about the vinyl wallpaper in our new RV. The strips stuck at first, but would not hold. I cleaned the wall with alcohol first too, but nothing will stick. I ended up using the strips to hang the painting on wood, and that worked fine, but I’d really like to put some decorative things on the wallpapered areas. Anyone else have this problem? Any recommendations?
Hmmm…if the strips won’t work, then the next surest option is a screw/nail to hold stuff up. Otherwise the only other thing I can think of is sand-papering the wall to get it more “rough” before putting on the strip. Of course that defeats the purpose of not altering the walls, but it may be the only other option if you don’t want to add any holes. I haven’t found anything that sticks better than the command strips.
Nina
I have the same trouble in my newer RV. Command strips and any other non-permanent adhesive fall off in short order. No solutions found yet for me, but would love to find one. Many things not in my trailer that I wish were!
im wondering if anyone has had a problem with the command products damaging or pulling off the wallpaper in their rv? i assume i have vinyl wallpaper, i do not know.
So far we’ve not seen any problems. Some of the command strips in our RV have been on the wall since we started RVing (in 2010) so they’ve had quite a lot of use. Don’t know if others have seen issues.
Nina