TRICKS AND HACKS25 RV

Customizations are just one of the many things that draw people to the RV lifestyle. If you’ve ever done a DIY project in your home or hacked your apartment, you know how fun and rewarding it is. In an RV, everything has to do double duty; dinettes turn into beds, wall panels turn into side tables, captain’s seats turn into lounge chairs – just about everything has a purpose. RVers are always looking for ways to make life in an RV a little easier, whether it’s a smarter use of space, a better way to keep the rig clean, or an inventive way to beat the elements. These tips and tricks may seem small in scope, but they’re big on ingenuity.

We all know that RV ovens aren’t the best. They’re small, and they tend to cook food unevenly. Why? Because most RV ovens only have one burner, so while the top and sides of your food seem to be just starting their gastronomic journey, the bottom is already burnt to a crisp. The solution is to invest in a pizza stone! You can put any dish on the stone, and it will distribute the heat, ensuring that your food cooks evenly.

STOP BURNING YOUR FOOD – FOR GOOD!

You know those shoe racks that you can hang on the back of your closet door? Yeah, they have more uses than just that. For extra storage in your bedroom, cut the shoe rack along its rows, loop a cord through the holes, secure them to the sides of the bed frame facing out, then replace the mattress. You can store shoes, remotes, small books, and other loose items. You can also use a shoe rack to free up space in the shower. Simply attach it to the shower curtain rings and get rid of your shower caddy! Use a mesh shoe rack, so you don’t have to worry about water getting stuck in the pockets.

STORE MORE STUFF

You probably don’t have enough space in your RV for a designated junk drawer, but you certainly have a need to store small items somewhere. Thumbtacks, pens, twisty ties, tape, scissors, sewing supplies… where are you supposed to put all this stu�? That’s where mason jars and hose clamps come to the rescue. Screw a few hose clamps to the inside of a cabinet door, fit them around the mouths of the mason jars, and tighten. They’ll keep knick knacks in one place and out of the way. If you like the look of this storage hack, you can make a decorative mason jar organizer to hang on the wall. It’s perfect for flowers and herbs.

ROUND UP LOOSE JUNK IN THE KITCHEN

A lot of RVs have wardrobe space to hang your clothes. Why manufacturers think you’d prefer hanging space over drawers is a mystery, but here’s an idea: you can still use that space for folded clothes! Just buy a few of those plastic drawer sys-tems and stack them in the closet. They come in all shapes, sizes, and finishes, so the combinations you can make are virtually endless. Make sure to measure the width of your closet before you buy the drawers, though.

USE VERTICAL CLOSET SPACE WISELY

Taking out the trash when you’re camped can be a pain. There’s no room in your RV for it, but you’re in the middle of cooking and don’t want to make a trip to the dump-ster. A collapsible laundry bag makes for a perfect campsite trash can; it’ll buy you some time before it’s full, and when you’re ready to head out, you can store it with the rest of your outdoor camping gear.

CORRAL YOUR GARBAGE

Nothing is more annoying (and jarring) than opening a cabinet after a trip and having all your dishes come flying out! Same goes for the fridge. To keep that from ever happening again, buy cabinet and fridge bars to hold wayward foodstu�s in place. For added security, use non-slip cabinet and drawer liners to keep plates from moving at all. Say goodbye to broken glasses and spilled condiments!

For a smaller, indoor trash can, use a plastic cereal container with a lid. The lid keeps stinky trash secure in its container while you’re on the road.

KEEP STUFF IN THE CABINETS, ACTUALLY IN THE CABINETS

If you’ve ever tried sleeping during the day, you know it’s nearly impossible without blackout curtains, especially in an RV. Specialty blackout curtains for RVs are expen-sive, so just make them yourself instead. Buy a blackout curtain panel and cut it to match the size of your existing curtains. You can either sew it on or attach it using Velcro so you can remove it. That way, you get to enjoy the look of the curtains you already have, without having to hang extra rods.

GET SOME QUALITY SHUT-EYE

Wall magnet strips are the bee’s knees when it comes to RVing. Free up drawer space by hanging a strong magnetic strip behind the stove and hanging knives, kitchen scissors, and other metal cutlery. You can also free up pantry space by trans-ferring all your spices into magnetic spice containers and hanging them on a metal tray mounted inside a cabinet or on the wall near the stove. Hint: use a decorative tray to add to your kitchen décor!

STORE STUFF ON YOUR KITCHEN WALLS (AND MAKE IT LOOK GOOD, TOO)

Most older RVs have an inconvenient design in the dinette area. There’s a good amount of storage space under the booth seats, but a lot of RVs make it nearly impossible to get to (if you can get to it at all). Opening it up and making it easier to access is a fairly simple job. You can either make a bigger cabinet door or insert a custom drawer. If you have a cat or small dog, you can even rig the space to be a pet bed.

GET MORE OUT OF YOUR DINETTE

Speaking of pets, cat litter boxes are one of the biggest dilemmas cat-owning RVers face. Some RVers keep it in the shower, which is fine if you don’t mind having to move it all the time. Or, you could hack your RV and store the litter box out of sight! There are a few clever ways to do this. These two RVers constructed tunnels lead-ing to unused basement space and battery bays in their RVs. After switching to a hydronic heating system, The Technomads made a “kitty power room” in their old water heater closet, complete with a vent fan! Keep in mind; you don’t have to reno-vate your entire rig to make a little box cubby; you can make a custom compartment under your bathroom sink, in a wardrobe cabinet, or anywhere else there’s extra space.

GIVE YOUR CAT SOME PRIVACY

Tin foil and cling wrap are staples for RVers. Whether cooking over the fire or storing food in the fridge, you’re always going to be using one or the other. Their boxes seem to take up a lot of space in a drawer, however, and wrestling with cling wrap with sticky hands is no one’s idea of a good time. Instead, secure Command hooks to a wall or inside of a door, and push a hook through the box and into each end of the foil rolls. You could also use a paper towel holder on the underside of a cabinet.

WRAP YOUR FOOD WITH EASE

Food prep makes the biggest mess, particularly when it comes to breakfast. Wheth-er you’re making pancakes or eggs, you’re going to have to break out the mixing bowl and whisk. Or do you? You can use an old condiment bottle, like ketchup or co�ee creamer, and fill it with the mix instead. Add whatever extra ingredients you need, shake, and squirt into a pan! Condiment containers aren’t the only multi-pur-pose recyclables, though. Check out these ingenious uses for other types of pack-aging.

USE FEWER DISHES AND KEEP YOUR KITCHEN TIDY

Whether you’re boondocking or staying at a campground, campsites can get pretty dark at night. This inevitably leads to you stubbing your toe or tripping on the RV steps. Enter glow in the dark tape. Trust us, you’ll find plenty of uses for this stu�. Stick a few pieces along the edges of the stairs to prevent falling and toe-stubbing, use it to label remotes and light switches, or just put it anywhere you need a little luminescence.

Pegboards are pretty awesome, regardless of whether you live in a sticks and bricks house or an RV. Mount a pegboard to the wall, and you can hang all kinds of stu� on it! Put one in your kitchen and hand pots and pans, utensils, potholders, etc. Mount one in your room and you can hang craft and hobby supplies or jewelry and acces-sories. You could even put one on the side of the entryway and hang flashlights, lightweight jackets, umbrellas, and other outdoor necessities. There are dozens of di�erent types of hooks, so what you hang is only limited by weight.

HANG ALMOST ANYTHING ON THE WALL

FIND YOUR WAY IN THE DARK

There’s no getting around it; RV window valances are just plain ugly. Reupholstering fabric throughout your RV can breathe new life into it and make it yours. The best part is, you don’t even have to learn how to sew! This tutorial shows you a quick and easy way to take those valances from eyesore to eye-catching. If you’re looking to make even more of an impact, you can reupholster your dinette cushions with-out sewing, too.

UPDATE YOUR DÉCOR WITHOUT SEWING

Just like everything else in your RV, your shower can double as something else when you’re not using it. Hang an extra curtain rod in there, and you’ll find plenty of ways to use it. You can hang baskets to keep toiletries organized, use it as a towel rack, or hang up wet clothes and bathing suits to dry after a day outside!

GIVE YOUR SHOWER A DUAL PURPOSE

Everyone stores their cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink – it’s just a thing we humans do. But did you ever notice it can be kind of an inconvenience to dig around under there looking for the one bottle amidst all others? Keep them organized and out of the way with a tension rod mounted inside the cabinet. You can hang all the bottles by their nozzles while leaving space underneath for sponges and rags.

MAKE SOME ROOM UNDER THE SINK

If you’ve been looking forward to a nice campfire all day but can’t find kindling, don’t worry! There are a few other ways you can start a fire without having to trudge around in the woods. Dryer lint and cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls will start a fire in mere seconds. If you don’t have dryer lint laying around (most of us don’t), you can use Doritos or tortilla chips for the same e�ect!

START A FIRE IN A JIFFY

Doesn’t it seem like no matter how clean you keep your RV, and how good you are about keeping the screens closed, there are always bugs getting in? Let’s win this war once and for all! The key is turning your RV from a mecca for bugs into a place that bugs hate. Make it an unfavorable environment for bugs without having to breathe in harsh chemicals in the process. For flies and other winged pests, you can make a natural bug repellent using citronella or peppermint essential oils diluted in vegetable oil and witch hazel. Diatomaceous earth is natural and safe for pets humans and pets, but it’s deadly to crawling bugs. When spiders, centipedes, ants and other creepy crawlers pass over the DE, it cuts into their exoskeletons and dries up their bodily fluids. You can sprinkle this morbid murder powder in cracks and crevices throughout your RV without worrying about it harming your family.

Bonus Hack: If you have a waterless toilet or composting toilet, you can add some Diatomaceous earth to keep bugs from gathering there.

MAKE BUGS HATE YOUR RV

Whether you’re winter camping or just camping in a cooler climate, staying warm and dry is critical. Since most RV insulation leaves much to be desired, you’ll need to insulate the windows on your own. You can use a roll of Reflectix to insulate prob-lem areas. If you really want to keep the cold out, sandwich a piece of plywood between two cuts of Reflectix, wrap the whole setup in fabric, and mount against a window. Oh, and don’t forget to skirt your RV to keep your plumbing from freezing. Don’t bother paying upwards of a thousand bucks for a custom RV skirt; you can make your own with Styrofoam, plywood, or even tightly packed snow.

STAY WARM AND DRY DURING COLD WEATHER

Unless you have a washing machine in your RV, laundry is a real annoyance. Sitting at the laundromat is about as boring as life gets, and hand washing it yourself seems to take forever. But it has to get done, right? Whynot try using a bumpy drive to your advantage? Purchase a plastic tub with a lid, big enough to fit a small load of laundry. Stick it in the shower and fill it with water, detergent, and your dirty clothes. Pop the lid on and hit the road. The momentum and bumps on the road will move your clothes around like a washing machine! If you want to agitate the wash a bit more, you can use a plunger to really get things moving. Once you’re parked, rinse the clothes and hang them up to dry.

DO YOUR LAUNDRY THE FREE AND EASY WAY

The benefits to this hack are twofold: it’s a fun activity to do with the kids, and you’ll end up with some cool campsite lighting. You’ll need some rechargeable glow in the dark paint and a few mason jars. Paint the inside of the mason jars and put them out in the sun to dry (and charge). Come sundown, you can use them as lanterns or night-lights. Or, you can string them up to add ambiance to your site. Make sure you hold onto them; the kids are going to want to use them all the time!

ADD SOME COLOR AND LIGHT TO YOUR CAMPSITE

Propane is one of the life bloods of RVing. Without it, you can’t use your heat, take hot showers, run your fridge, or use your stove. Obviously, it’s important to know how much you have left, especially if you’re dry camping. If you don’t have a scale, there’s a super-simple way to see how much propane you have left: take a cup of hot water and pour it down the side of the tank. Run your hand along the side – the tank will be cool to the touch wherever the propane is. The rest of the tank will feel warm.

KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR PROPANE LEVEL

Do you need a place for all of your notes, reminders, recipe cards, coupons, and other little pieces of paper? Mount a corkboard inside of your cabinet doors! You can keep messy papers organized and out of the way. Cover it with fabric or fasten a decorative pocket to the bottom half to hold bigger papers like bills or forms.

MAKE A REAL-LIFE PINTEREST BOARD

You can also hang lightweight items, like keys and reading glasses, on the board so that they don’t get misplaced.

Bonus Hack: check out this website for other ways to use slide out shelving around your RV.

RVers are some of the most innovative, clever DIYers on the planet. It seems like there’s always a new tutorial or idea that makes you go: “Why didn’t I didn’t think of that!?” From creating more storage space to keeping your RV clean, these hacks and tricks will make your RV a lot more like a sticks and bricks home.

Happy Camping!

WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME ON WHEELS!

For some reason, older RVs (and even some newer ones) have pathetic little pan-tries. They’re absurdly narrow, yet deep enough that you can easily forget about food in the back. Instead of groping around looking for that lost jar of peanut butter, make your pantry space work for you! Pre-built pantry slide retrofits can be expen-sive, so just make them yourself. Pick up a few slide mounts at the hardware store and use the existing shelves for the bottom of the drawer. All you need to do is cut a few lengths of wood for the sides and the back, build the drawers, then mount them using the slides. Viola! Slide out pantry storage! Here’s an excellent tutorial along with a few more ideas for reinventing kitchen nooks.

MAKE YOUR PANTRY USER-FRIENDLY