How to Organize Your RV for Full-time Living
Tracy’s organizational skills are nothing short of impeccable! Here she is showing off her work in our kitchen.
RV life is fun, but it can be challenging. All your belongings must fit in tiny spaces, so learning how to organize an RV is essential. We had professional organizer Tracy Bowers revamp our entire RV, and her ideas are invaluable.
Given the compact nature of RV space, storage is a challenge. It’s hard to put together each space, and this can lead to a messy RV. Tracy gave us storage ideas to keep our home neat. She told us pretty much everything you need to keep your 5th wheel or any RV organized. This is not only for RVers; you can apply these ideas in your house too.
Create zones for everything
Zones help you create a home for everything you own. They create a great system where you can easily find everything. Zones will make your space more functional AND beautiful. When clothes don’t have a dedicated section, they can create a mess in the RV. Tracy helped us create an order for our clothes and the rest of our belongings.
Invest in good containers!
The main rule at Organize Simply is that creating a system requires containers. Tracy gave us some great containers and labelled them for us. Labelling helps us avoid sifting through different containers when searching for things.
We organized our protein and mixer in baskets, and in these OXO containers. You can also see our snack containers on the left.
We put things in OXO containers because they keep food fresher since everything is sealed but transparent. You can see what you have, so you can tell when you're running low.
The baskets Tracy added to our office will be perfect for hiding any clutter. In Kalin’s space, we used multipurpose bins to put notebooks and stationery.
Toiletries and medications would crash and fall whenever our RV was moving. Tracy used the space beneath the sink as a clunk-proof storage area. It was perfect because it’s a bit deep, meaning things can't slide in and out. She got 14-inch-deep acrylic storage containers for the space. We also use these bamboo organizers to create a space for our cleaning supplies.
In our toiletry cabinet, she used a 10-inch acrylic container for most of our meds. The container holds things together when the RV is moving and creates a home for our smaller belongings.
Hidden storage areas are a treasure
The goal of organizing your RV is both functionalism and aesthetics, and hidden storage spots achieve a perfect balance of these. The storage spaces under our bed and couch are great for packing our clothes.
The space under the couch offers great storage possibilities.
Tracy packed Kalin’s clothes into storage bins and placed them in our couch’s storage area. .
We tend to cram and stuff such spaces. So, you want to make sure that everything has a designated place. Use containers or storage bins to pack different items, and only pack what fits comfortably.
Tracy even used our microwave to store bread and paper towels. You can easily pull everything out when you use the microwave. It's a perfectly good hidden spot.
Utilize vertical space
When living in an RV, you have limited space, so you must use your vertical storage areas. Tracy did that for us. This awesome step stool Leila got from Amazon is great for reaching the top shelves.
This shelf above our bed is the best use of vertical space. We can use the baskets for small items like socks and underwear.
Dan from Organize Simply added another shelf to our kitchen cabinets, giving us three levels that we can use. We also put stacking bins in Kalin’s room that filled the space up to the ceiling. You may be concerned that things will fly off the shelves when the RV is moving, but there is enough of a lip to catch and hold them in place.
Kitchen organization
Acrylic storage containers help us pull things out simpler from our pantry. We also found this nifty holder on Amazon for our spices. The key to being organized is to only buy what will fit in your space. So, we usually buy groceries every few days because we don’t want to clutter our pantry.
We organize RV drawer space as we would drawers in any home. We use drawer organizers to keep things separate and to give everything a home. Organizers ensure that there's a place for everything.
RV living is not ideal for washing, so Norwex enviro cloths are a great alternative to dishcloths. I know they’re not organizational tools, but they’re a need for RVers. They are made with embedded silver, and they self-sanitize when they dry. Dishcloths get grubby and gross after a while, but Norwex cloths maintain their fresh smell. Even better, you don’t need to wash them as often.
Make the most of your closet space
Hang more of your clothes, especially ones you use regularly. Shorter hangers are ideal for narrow closet spaces. File fold or roll your clothes so that you can see them better.
We hope these tips and ideas will help you organize your RV space so that you can have more fun in your adventures. In the meantime, you can check out Tracy’s work in our video below:
Tracy is a California-based professional organizer. If you'd like to see more of her ideas, follow her on Instagram @OrganizewithTracy, or visit her website Organize Simply.
