RV Tour: How to Organize your RV
Is it possible to organize an RV so you can spend more time having fun and less time cleaning up? YES! Here are some great ways to master your small space so you can spend more time making big memories.
We are a family of 5 (three teenagers) that have been traveling North America for 2 years and posting to YouTube the whole way! Want to follow the series? Click here. Want to watch the Tour of our NEW RIG the Grand Design Reflection 312BHTS – Click here.
KITCHEN
Space is limited in an RV and it’s especially noticeable in the kitchen. You will want to use clever ideas to store your edited kitchen supplies.
Silverware Basket
This multifunctional space solution will free up a drawer as well as have your silverware on the ready. Dinner served outside tonight? No problem. With the silverware basket your tableware is wherever you place it! I picked this up at Marshalls.
Plastic wine glasses: We have used stemless glasses for two years. They are great for wine, juice and water but just recently we went to plastic stem glasses when the others started to look a little worn.
Plastic Dishes: You don’t have to cramp your style just because you are using plastic dishes. Target, Marshalls and IKEA all have long-lasting plastic dish solutions. However, you will need to consider the thickness and weight of some of the dishes. Your space as well as the overall weight will add up fast!
Collapsible Dish Dryer: We’ve had ours for over two years. It can collapse and hide away under the sink as well as be left out to keep up with the continuous dishes being used in a single day…sigh
Locker Storage: By using small space solutions, like locker shelves, you can use dominate size issues by capitalizing on height.
Soft Storage: Glass cabinets can be beautiful but also tricky. There’s the possibility of chipping or even breaking the glass if you have something that will bang against them while traveling. That’s not even mentioning the fact that you can see everything you are trying to store. In a “normal” house you could use this area to display pretty dishes but in a rig, space is precious and we needed a solution. Soft bins were the answer to making the most of the space while protecting the cabinet. You can grab them from Target for $4.99 a bin or find something similar on Amazon.
Plastic Bins: Being able to see your supplies is half the battle. Labeling them, so you remember where they go back, is the other!
Phone Caddy: Command Strips are my favorite things EVER – for a rig! This phone caddy keeps the area clean and you don’t fall victim to a water spill.
Paper Towel Holder: You can use command velcro strips to hang a regular paper towel holder. You will want to make sure the holder has a flat back so it can easily affix to the wall.
Kitchen Tips
1) Have plenty of paper plates, bowls and cups on hand so when you are dry camping (without water or sewer hook-ups) you can use these resources and not run through the valuable water storage you have or fill the gray tanks.
2) Viva paper towels with are great because you can tear off what you need and the roll doesn’t come unraveled – even after you travel and the rig gets bounced around.
BATHROOM
Magnetic Strip: Finding helpful items with an alternate purpose. Check out this magnetic kniff holder that is perfect in a bathroom for tweasers, nail clippers, bobby pins and more.
Tension Rods: In a home that doesn’t move you can place items in your cupboard and they won’t fall on you when you open the door. That just isn’t the case in a rig. Pinch rods are your answer to this hazardous avalanche of hair products and moisturizers.
Caddy: No, this isn’t a Caddie from the golf course but might be just as helpful. Command strips have several caddies for use in the bathroom. This one we use for toothbrushes and razors in the shower. There is also a solution to lengthen the lifespan of your bar of soap.
Waterproof hooks
Drying towels and wet bathing suits is easy with these command hooks. Traditionally you would just do this over the shower but in this small space you will create a wet floor that can lead to water damage.
Toilet paper holder: Making your toilet paper easily accessible is key to happy campers. This does the job and makes it easy for kids to replenish the roll…maybe 😉
Bathroom Tip
If you can’t order RV toilet paper online before your trip look for septic-safe toilet paper at the store. The tip?…You CAN find toilet paper that is soft AND good for your rig. Amazing…I know!
BEDROOM
Velvet Hangers: Marshalls, HomeGoods and TJ Maxx sell velvet hangers for under $5 per bundle – Target does too but they are a bit more expensive. These hangers are a higher price point than your typical plastic hanger but they will allow you to fit more in your limited closet space and make sure your clothes stay put.
Hanging Shoe Container: There is a large closet in the Bunk House and it really just became a pile of clothes. We solved this by hanging a she organizer from IKEA (under $6) in the area and now our son can fold and organize all his clothes.
Shoe Container: When you don’t have floor space and you’re straight out of closet space – use your wall. This shoe rack hangs directly under the footboard of our bed and stores even the largest sneaker.
*We couldn’t find these on Amazon, but you can pick them up at Camping World. Here is the link.
Clear Bins: Organize your t-shirts and shorts and be able to see them too. Clear storage bins are a great alternative to higher priced cloth bins that you can’t see through. You can find them for about a dollar at Target. I’m sure you can find them at the Dollar Store too.
Bedroom Tip
Use your wall space for storage. Make sure you hang hats up high and look for places down low to store shoes and dirtier items. An over the door hook system is great for extra towels and bags. Just make sure they do not protrude too much from the door so you can open it freely.
OUTDOOR:
Solar: Zamp Portable Unit
Grill: Camp Chef three burner grill. This grill is AMAZING!! However, it’s heavy and takes up a bunch of space. In my opinion there is no other grill quite like it but there are probably several grills that are great for travel. We are most likely going to change over.
Personalizing your RV
PhotoSquared
Personalize your rig with PhotoSquared. We reached out to PhotoSquared and they were happy to offer a promotion for the KYD Community. Once you download the app, just enter KYD in at checkout to get 1 free square with an order of 4.
*PhotoSquared: We are not being paid & do not have an affiliate link – we just thought it would be helpful 🙂
**We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Yet, you’ll never pay anymore for product and all your purchases are 100% private.
Exterior
Step Covers: These step covers are great for three reasons. 1) No slip 2) Keeps dust down 3) Great for dogs
Hi! Love this detailed synopsis of the video this week, awesomely helpful…I generally take notes as I watch your videos each week…this is much easier! Also, Amazon must love you…I just hit ‘buy’ on the organizational items I can use☺
But, really would like a lead on where to find the slow closing toilet lid…we have that at home so when we are in the trailer we always forget and can’t even blame the kids…we slam the lid just as much! Camping World maybe?
Also love that extra step stool/seat to pull up to the table…a collapsible/folding one would be best…we don’t have a grand Ginger…more like a Mini Ginger so space is an issue for a stool we can’t put out of the way…any ideas?
Thanks to you both! Looking forward to living vicariously through you on our trip to Alaska this summer????!
Hey there Pauline –
Thanks for the kind words. A folding stool is a great idea…I know they have those (in a different style) at Walmart. The slow closing lid (LOVE) was from HomeDepot. Just make sure you take a couple pictures of the lid you have when you go along with measurements between the bolts on the back.
Best of luck! Tricia
We have a smal (one step) folding step stool that we got on Amazon (think they come in colors too) for our TT. We have a super high and deep kitchen cabinet and it helps me so much to have the step stool. It folds flat and stashes in our under the sink cabinet.
Where did you get the dry erase board?
I don’t recall, but I bet you can find one on Amazon.
You guys are great! I found you back in July of 2017 after I had a major surgery and was off work for 6+ months. Your videos actually helped me keep my sanity throughout that difficult time in my life. I went back and watched them all starting at the beginning and now I can’t wait for Sunday to arrive for each new video. My husband and I are now shopping for an RV and we are so excited! You feed our dreams with your positivity and encouragement! Thanks guys????
Shaunda –
Thank you for your kind words. We are glad you are on the better side of the recovery process.
We are glad you are on the journey with us! All the best, Tricia
Curious about you replacing your bathroom faucet. Was it PEX connected or like a standard home connection?
Hey there Clark –
I’m not sure what PEX is 🙂 Marc probably does…anyway…it was just a basic/standard home connection.
All the best, Tricia
LOVE LOVE LOVE your new rig! Thanks so much for sharing all your great ideas! Especially like the photo squared idea! I’m hoping to downsize and get a rig of our own in a year or two.
Dianne & Frank
Best of luck Dianne!!
Where did you buy the toilet paper holder in your bathroom? I love this one!
Hey there Julie –
I bought the TP holder at Marshalls but I bet you can find it on Amazon too. It was only $7!
All the best, Tricia
You guys, this was so much fun! Our whole family enjoyed it. We have such joyful trailer envy! Trish, please tell me more about the wire baskets you are using in the shower, specifically – how in the heck did you affix them to the wall? Did you use more Command strips? Why did you put them at the bottom? Because you know from experience that if that whole thing fails and drops, it’ll be a disaster? Something else? Thanks!!!
Hey there Heather –
Thanks for your kind words. Heck yes to all your ideas… We used waterproof command strips with hooks for the wire baskets in the shower. They are from Marshalls Home Goods…wish I had a link but I couldn’t find anything I really liked at Target or Amazon…but that changes all the time. Best of luck in all your organizing! Happy trails, Tricia
We haven’t got our rv yet but we’re starting to get all the things we will need so I THANK YOU guys for all this GREAT IDEAS/Info.!!! You 2 do such a GREAT JOB!!! Love you guys!!!
Hey there Regina!
Thanks for your kind words. We hope you have lots of new things to think about when it comes to organizing your rig/home.
All the best! Tricia
I appreciated you letting us know where to buy these items you recommend. Thank you
Thanks Julia!
We hope it saves you time and gives you new ideas.
All the best, Tricia
We just bought our first trailer a few months ago and I found this video super helpful for getting us organized. We are only weekend road warriors, but my husband and I both can see ourselves going full time once our youngest goes to college.
O man, Thankyou so much for posting where you got some of these items! that collapsible dish rack looks very useful as well as the water resistant command strips!
Hi Trish. Great video. It is always nice to get ideas on how to customize your rig, from what others have done. We have a small cabinet just inside our RV but it doesn’t have a door. The space is pretty much useless because anything you put in the space falls out during travel. I spied your tension rod in your bathroom that think it’s the cat’s pyjamas. Just wondering where you got it from as we think it will solve our problem.
Thanks
The video was great because I am a single guy with a GD 315RTLS (No bunkhouse). I also added a new mattress but now the gas cylinders will not hold the bed up for under bed access. I am wondering if you have this problem and how you solved it.
Thanks again, I bought most of the stuff you recommended.
I also installed washer and dryer and a composting toilet in mine.
Hope to see you all on the road one of these days.
Larry
I have been watching for a while and I have been living in a rv for 4 months now and was looking at my own grand Ginger. can you pull with a 1/2 ton or should I upgrade
Hi we are just about to take delivery of our TT the exact one you have! Was wondering if you found a good replacement for your campchef 3 burner yet?
Just getting started…thanks for your videos. Trying to find more of them
Hey Tricia,
We are newbies, just drove home with ours yesterday! I’ve been so impressed with your ideas on storage. I really appreciate the list of products and where to purchase them! Thanks so much for sharing! I feel this will get us off to a great start. Happy trails to you and the family.
Just purchased the same rig in April and LOVE it. Especially enjoy your organizing tips. We don’t have kids with us but do search and rescue with K9s so our 3 German shepherds and Maliki is get the bunkhouse. Planning a trip to Glacier National Park in the Fall. LOVE your site. Let us know if you come thru Dallas.
Hi Tricia…..My Husband and I are trying to figure out the expense side of full time RVing! Can you give a short version of what the RV sites, Fuel (gas), etc….. that it takes for full time vacationing? we are retiring on about $5500 a month. We have read some horror stories about it running $4500 a month, with nothing left over for emergencies. Help with cost. By the way, I took everything you said in your video regarding Organizing your rig. Great advise!
Hey there. It’s Marc. Trish is on the phone with Tori. This is a tricky question to answer. First, we believe that it can done on ANY budget (really). Our budget is $50/night at RV parks and easily find $30/night that off-sets the nice $80/night. Yet, we rarely stay at $80/night but it does happen when in really nice areas. At the same time, those really nice RV parks often have a weekly rate too. And then we could BLM somewhere for a week and cost $0. Fuel has even more to do with your budget. How fast do you travel? If it was just Trish and I, we’d stay in the same spot for a week and really explore, but the kids and videos push us along faster than that. We only drive 2-3 hours up the road, which doesn’t cost much, but some people like to travel across the country and fill-up every day. Food is our big expense. I’d say we spend less than “at home” so whatever you spend on food is likely what you’d spend while traveling. Otherwise, repairs and activities take up the balance. If you have a motorhome, I’d strongly consider an extended warranty http://bit.ly/wholesale-warranties Probably not a bad idea for Trailer too, but often trailers don’t have big big repairs. Regarding activities, the best things are free and we can splurge on activities that make good video. Museums and such usually have free days, etc. Hope that helps! -Marc
We Love your Videos—
We just got home with our Grand Design Reflection last weekend and we are working getting at least the basics of what we need to get on the road. We know it will take some time to dial it in but these video’s help a lot..
Hope to see you out on the road!!
Ross & Trina (So Cal)
Hi Marc and Trish! Just found your videos, and love them! We just started the RV world and love it, so these tips have been great. Maybe I just haven’t come across it yet but what do you do about getting TV channels? I know, I know…we aren’t suppose to be worried about TV, but once we are in for the night we do enjoy certain shows. We stay in most places that do not have internet or cable. I do use a Jetpak for my internet and so far is working pretty good. Thanks for all your work on these videos!
Love all your design and useful ideas to organize! We are getting ready to get a rig ourselves so this was very helpful! Where did you get your utensil organizer from? i love that idea. we normally have our cooking things in one but didn’t think to do the utensils too.
Well I brought home my 230 RL Reflections yesterday and I too have the single sink, i went through your blog and can’t find where you got that colapsable dish strainer can you please inform. Getting it ready for the big shake down trip, close so if I need something from home I can make a quick trip…enjoy the videos Mark and they help alot..
I also saw the same one at Walmart for cheaper!
I love your ideals! Where did you find the shoe holder you have along the bed?
Thank you for all of this great information! We are just starting out and your videos are a big help. Can you tell me where you get sheets and mattress pads that fit the size of the mattresses that come with the RV beds? We may get a regular household mattress for our bed but for our sons’ double bunks we’ll be keeping the mattresses and they are quite thinner than the standard bedsheet will fit. Thank you!
In our first two RVs, we changed the mattress to a standard residential queen. The boys beds, we used twin sheets and they are loose, but there are clips you can get to tighten them up. Our big rig has a custom mattress and it’s a problem!
What was the air flow sheet that you put under your new mattress?
Such great ideas. I never thought about using the knife and magnetic strip or doubling it for the bathroom tweezers. Great ideas for getting the RV organized. Always trying to perfect my set up 🙂
Hi Tricia,
I want to know where you got those nude colored flats?
Thanks!
We are buying an Airstream and have loved watching your show on YouTube. We have been binge watching it. Haha I can’t wait to see your organization of your new Airstream, but this one has been super helpful! Random question, where is the blanket from on your couch?
Hæ, ég vildi vita verð þitt.
Dia duit, theastaigh uaim do phraghas a fháil.
Kaixo, zure prezioa jakin nahi nuen.
Ola, quería saber o seu prezo.
Sawubona, bengifuna ukwazi intengo yakho.
Aloha, makemake wau eʻike i kāu kumukūʻai.
Kaixo, zure prezioa jakin nahi nuen.
Hey guys,
I’m trying to sell my house fast in Colorado and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or suggestions on how to do it quickly and efficiently? I’ve already tried listing it on some popular real estate websites, but I haven’t had much luck yet.
I’ve heard that staging my home can help it sell faster, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the investment.
I’m open to any and all suggestions, so please feel free to share your ideas.
Thanks in advance!