When we bought this RV, it felt like a pretty blank canvas- empty walls, empty drawers, empty cabinets, empty countertops, and more. And the internet has SO many ideas for how to organize everything.
Truthfully, we found ourselves a little lost and overwhelmed between pinterest, blogs, and family advice. And until we really spent time in the RV, it hard was to say what would work for us and what wouldn’t.
We trialed different organizations and kept moving some things around: spices, pantry, snacks, games, etc until we found a set up that makes life easiest for us.
And we think some of those ideas we had just make sense- not for everyone but for maybe some of you, like they do for us.
The things that just make sense to us are:
- Coffee Nook
- Shoe Rack
- Bar
- Towel bars in Shower
- Dog Gate
- Magnetic hooks, shelves, & spices
- Hanging utensils
- Cooking items behind the stove
- His & her dinette drawers
- Travel bag organizer in bathroom
So let’s explore these things a little further…
Coffee Nook/ Breakfast Bar
Some of the best advice we got when prepping the RV was that it’s a pain to keep putting away and taking out the items you use most. This concept inspired our Coffee nook/ breakfast bar.
It made sense to us to use the shelf behind the couch to hold what we use almost daily: coffee machine, tea pot, and the toaster. This has been one of our favorite parts of the RV, both because of convenience but also because of the coziness of making a cup of coffee or tea and then drinking it cuddled into the couch.
It also saves us time in the mornings and aggravation when we move the RV. None of these things have to be moved each time we relocate, which for RVs who move every 3-5 days, that’s critical. The coffee machine and the toaster are both on waterproof rubber mats so they don’t move when driving. The tea pot is just on a rubber pot holder which keeps it from moving when driving.
Shoe Rack
The first few times we took the RV on short trips, we found we had shoes everywhere. And in a few places, the outside was sandy or muddy making a mess in what was our entry way/ kitchen. Even the dogs were often falling over our shoes trying to get outside for walks. We decided to solve this problem with a shoe box and rack.
Dave utilized the space behind our dinette drawer to build out a shoe box which we lined with waterproof rubber. All we required to build the shoe box was 2×4 inch ply wood, 3×3 piece of rubber matting, 4 feet of molding, screws, staples, circular saw, and a hand stapler. In one afternoon, we took empty space and solved an issue in the RV.
We then cut up a dollar store shoe holder and made the hanging shoe holders above the box. This let’s us keep quite a few different types of shoes easily accessible by the door.
Bar Cabinet
We had a lot of ideas for this cabinet area behind the sink, but eventually settled on it being a little bar area. It’s easily accessible, keeps all the bottles upright and compact when driving. It also makes a nice place to open up during a party to be able to have people access the alcohol and make drinks using the counter in front of it.
Towel bars in Shower
One issue we noticed early on when using the RV was that our towels were not drying fully hanging on the wall hooks. We would often hang our towels over the front seats which made the living area look very crowded. After doing some research, we realized lots of RVers use their shower space to dry clothes, so we figured why not our towels.
We got two tension rod shower bars from Lowes and installed them in the highest part of the shower, ensuring they don’t interfere with Dave (he’s taller) showering. Then every time we take a shower, we take the towels down, shower, dry ourselves off and return them to dry. It’s worked perfectly for helping our towels fully dry. We also use it to dry bathing suits or other clothes as needed as well.
Dog Gate
We started this trip using two dog cages which we would put up and take down every time we would leave the house. This was a hassle. We would need to lower the couch bed and pop up two cages just to leave and then take it all down when we got home to be able to use our living space. Also, every time we set the cages up it would stress the dogs out.
We ended up storing the cages under the RV and getting an easy dog gate. This gate allows us to lock the dogs on either side of the RV. So when we go out, we lock them with the couch and dinette where we have waterproof furniture covers. At night, we lock them with us in the bedroom area to prevent them getting into anything or drinking too much water. The gate is super low profile so it takes up almost no space when closed and requires very little effort for us when we come or go.
Magnetic hooks, shelves, & spices
Most of the cabinets in the RV are very deep which can make it difficult to access everyday items easily. With Dave being a metal worker and us having a good amount of empty wall space, we decided to utilize magnetics as a way to organize some of our items.
Dave hung 2 metals plates thus far in the RV. One next to the sink and one above the coffee nook. We then ordered magnetic spice jars, magnetic hooks rated for 40+lbs, and some Magnetic shelves. This has made accessing things like spices, lighters, garbage bags, tea bags, and coffee pods so easy. It also gives us the freedom to easily reorganize by just moving the shelves and hooks as we see fit.
Hanging utensils
In our kitchen, we only have 2 drawers other than the bar cabinet so we were limited on where we could put things like kitchen utensils. We had also a large space behind our stove top that was not being utilized. We decided to make the most of this space by installing hanging utensil holders, which we found on Amazon. This allows us to have easy access to the items we need most when cooking. When driving, we wrap the utensils in a velcro strap so they don’t fall and so far, it’s worked perfectly.
Cooking items behind the stove
Like the hanging utensils, we built a cooking box with different sections to utilize the space behind the stove. We have a long but thin section in the back for all our cutting boards, and then two sections upfront to hold cooking oils, vinegar, and cooking sprays. Cooking in the RV is not always easy given the limited space but these little organization hacks definitely make it easier.
His & her dinette drawers
Our dinette has 2 drawers and some overhead compartments. With working and running the blog/ social media, we need this dinette space for computer work as well as eating. To keep ourselves organized and our living space clutter free, we made his and hers drawers. We each have a drawer where we keep the items we need most often including each of our computers, books, notebooks, journals, etc.
Travel bag organizer in bathroom
One downside to an RV bathroom is you lose the ease of a counter to place your frequently used bathroom items such as lotion, hair products, makeup, deodorants, and cologne. Could we put all of these on the counter, sure but every time we move the RV all those things would fall on the floor or we would have to take them out and put them away constantly, which can be a pain.
We decided to solve this issue by using a hanging travel bag which Breanne already had. The bag is secured to the wall via a command hook and it’s built in hanger hook. The bag doesn’t move when driving and easily displays the items they need most frequently. An easy and cheap way to organize the bathroom and streamline morning and night time routines.
