Noooo.....Because you'd keep falling down everytime you tried to walk on it...

Gravity...

 What kind of answer is that???  Are you saying that it won't work because it will be too heavy to stay up after you glue it to the hardboard?  Please translate,.....

Make sure that any glue you use won't soften when heated. A closed up camper roof can reach a pretty high temperature.

There's no gravity on your ceiling

BOL  Gard

Sorry barrels, that's just Paul's obtuse sense of humor scraping for material.  Dintcha hear, the funny writers are on strike?

Sure, your plan would work, but it seems like a lot of work for the effect.  Would using a different medium, such as a cloth or an ultrasuede type material glued to hardboard be less expensive and easier to work with?  We looked at a trailer just last month that had oak wainscoting on the bottom and a faux leather material applied to the walls above that.  Was very cool.

It sounds like a neat alternative for the walls and they would be easier to clean than ultra sued or some sort of cloth. Wipe down, dust free. Lows and Home Depot carry a great looking faux leather panel, but it’s only about 40 inches by 36 inches and runs around $30 per sheet and scratches very easy. You could also use a decorative "nail head" found in upholstery shops to give it a finishing touch (or help the clue hold it up!). I'd skip trying it for the ceiling, too risky! Let us know how it works, might try it myself, need to finish off a wall!

Hank, this stuff looks like suede leather. It has a matte finish to it. It's vinyl and you could wipe it off. I don't see how it would be any more trouble to install than the material you are talking about.  Unless, like mentioned, it would be too heavy to stay up after it is glued to the hardboard. I'm just looking for ideas and like the look of the stuff.

How was the material you described installed? Was it not glued to hardboard first, then the board was attached to the ceiling?

Thanks for your reply.

You can easily glue most materials to a luan plywood and then mechanically fasten that to the ceiling ribs and stringers. This would work on the walls as well. You shouldn't have a weight problem.

BOL  Gard

Ok, this is hard to describe, so bear with me.  It was clearly done in sections, and from what I could tell, the fabric was pulled around the edges of whatever material the panels were made of and glued/stapled to the back of the panel.  Now, the facing surface had some type of batting (thin foam?) under the fabric, then that was bordered with a rough rope that was stapled up, giving the fabric an upholstered look.  So, imagine the panels were 3' wide by 4' tall.  The rope was inset from that, say 6" from the perimeter all the way around - gave the impression of a big picture frame.  This was particularily striking because this trailer had no upper cabinets, and this really caught your eye.

Make sense? 

Seen it done. They purchase the fabric that has the foam attached to the covering. They way I saw it done was the ceiling furred dwon, then plywood or OSB screwed to the furring. Then they took 1/8", or maybe 1/4",  luan plywood fit the panels to size allowing gap for the wrap. Then they used the plastic "fir tree" panel posts...like they use on car door panels, to hold the panel up.

So they fit the panel, drill the holes for the "fir trees", cover the panels with fabric, and then install the panels with a bump with the heel of your palm. Long term? Don't know. Looks cool though.

I would care for it in a horse trailer though, seems it would be easy to poke a hole in.