Lucinda Belden is the Program Director for MyRVRadio and a travel writer and advisor who has lived the RV lifestyle since 2019. She specializes in topics such as fulltime RVing, working full-time while traveling, traveling with toys, and unique location experiences.
Would you like to organize your RV and unclutter your kitchen? How about organizing your small bathroom? And the storage – oh my, don’t go in there! Don’t fret.Â
Here are some RV storage ideas and tips anyone can do. I also share gadgets you won’t be able to RV without. And all are DIY RV storage no-brainers!
First, Unclutter Your RV Kitchen
It doesn’t matter if you are full-timing or not. And it doesn’t matter if you are a gourmet cook or are horrible at it. The number of items you need in your kitchen should be very narrow.
There’s one important rule to keep in mind as you unclutter your RV kitchen. Examine each utensil and ask: is it a multi-purpose tool? If the kitchen item you have in hand only serves one function, you should probably get rid of it.
More RV Kitchen Declutter Tips
Here are some examples of RV kitchen clutter that should go. Let’s also look at utensils that can serve other uses:
- You should not have waffle irons, woks, or toasters in your tool kit. These are specialty items and with a little creativity and use of other kitchen items, you can create the same types of meals with existing everyday items.
- Look for lighter weight items to replace everyday heavy kitchen items and ones that take up lots of space. For example, go with a hand mixer with several attachments versus a full-size blender.
- Limit your resources to one or two of one item. Unlike your brick and mortar where you can have many backups, you should only carry one or two of each item. Everyday use items like plates, cups, bowls, and glasses, try and carry only 1.5 times as many as the people you have in your RV. This gives you a replacement in case something is broken or dirtied and you can’t get it ready in time for use.
- Always follow this rule no matter what…if you haven’t used an item in the last six months, it’s time to toss it. That means you have had time to go through multiple seasons and scenarios. If it has been longer than six months, it may be cheaper to get donate it and purchase a new one when you need it versus carrying it around half a year or more.
- Take time to go through your refrigerator and pantries. Shed unnecessary weight by not carrying around more product than what you will use in a month. Sometimes the savings of buying in bulk does not pay off after you haul it around for months.
Next, Organize Your RV Bathroom
This is where we spend a lot of time in the morning and throughout the day. You don’t want to feel cramped when you enjoy this room. There are several things you can do to make sure this room is a comfortable room in your RV.
- Follow the first rule – get rid of everything you haven’t used in the last six months.
- Organize your RV by putting items you use a lot on the shelves closest to you.
- Don’t put supplies in storage unless you can use them within the month.
- Check the dates on any medicines and dispose of them properly if they are outdated.
- Consider storing items in your shower. Adding racks and shelves to safely keep bathroom items in place will take advantage of space that isn’t used much. A waterproof basket filled with waterproof items is something you can conveniently place in the shower floor and easily move out when you shower and back in when you are done. You can even keep cleaning products in the basket or on a rack in your shower.
And Free Your Bedroom, Finally
Sometimes we tend to shove everything into the room we don’t spend a lot of time in during the day. But the bedroom is a place of rest. You should not feel stressed every time you see this room. Here are some ways you can make it more welcoming:
- Tack shoe racks under the base of your bed. You can tuck your shoes around the bottom of your bed out of sight.
- Limit the number of each item you have in your closet. I have a limited number of hangers. If I purchase more hang up items, I must get rid of something. This also helps the pocketbook.
- Roll clothing. In your drawers, roll paired socks together, under clothes, shorts, t-shirts. Rolling will create a lot more room in your drawers. It also helps minimize wrinkles.
- Add drawer organizers. Putting your rolled items into organizers helps you find them easier and helps you put more items in each organizer.
What to Store in Your RV (or Not to Store)
That is the question. Moving from a traditional home into an RV, it is tough to break habits that have helped us successfully manage a home. When you organize your RV, it’s a totally different animal. For example, you don’t store items for months in a pantry. And you don’t buy a garment every time you find something on sale. You don’t keep backups of everything just in case. Finally, you must be a little more creative on what you store and don’t. Here are a few suggestions:
Things to store in your RV
- replacement parts for important RV functions
- items you use and need every day you don’t want to run out of (like toilet paper)
- medications
- items you will need but you know you are entering a campground area where they will not be available.
Things not to go in storage
- multiple bed, bath, and kitchen linens
- more than one item of something that takes more than a month to consume or use up.
- Items that you haven’t used in the last six months
- Keepsakes (you should just pass them on to your loved ones)
Everyone’s idea of what is too much of a good thing, or something you can’t live without, or something that is worth storage is different. I can tell you if you approach it logically with these rules, you can successfully organize your RV. We do all these at least once a year and I estimate I probably get rid of 300lbs or more each time. I don’t know how it happens but I’m so glad for the fresh, light, and organized feel I have in my RV each time.
