Being a newbie this year, I am trying to learn everything for the first time. It occurred to me that I am probably not alone, and wondered if this may be an interesting thread for others like me.
In the spirit of giving as well as receiving, I am going to start with what little I have figured out, and a few thoughts. Maybe others will add to this?
Above the stove, pots, and pans (they rattle a bit though).
Above the sink, dishes and empty storage containers (have the non-slip stuff on the shelves, and use melamine dishes).
Below these areas, not much actually as I seem to have heating ducts running through there.
Above sofa-bed, nothing yet.
Above the Dinette, food.
Below the Dinette, nothing yet.
Shallow cupboard alongside entrance, tools and such like for easy access from outside.
Above lounge chairs (opposite sofa-bed), laptop, speakers, DVD's etc. with flat screen on wall behind co-pilot.
Bathroom stuff is pretty obvious, as is hanging clothes in the closet.
Big box on the back has the grill.
That's it so far for me.
Do people generally keep things in "tupperware" style containers all the time, i.e. folded clothes etc.?
It struck me I could load/unload the RV faster if it was all in stackables, but haven't found the sizes I want yet.
Or do people leave their stuff inside their RV? (Like having 2 of everything)
I got some cool looking hangers (which hold lots of other hangers) for the wardrobe, but haven't used them yet.
I saw a cool idea of mounting a metal tray on the wall beside the fridge and using magnetic spice jars to stick to it, but haven't tried it yet.
Oh I am thinking of getting a generator, which I hope will fit in the storage built into the drivers-side rear of the vehicle.
We store all of our stuff where it is most convienent, and we leave 80% of our stuff in place, no loading or unloading except clothes and perishable food. We can load our rig in less than an hour in order to begin a trip.
JeffA and KimA
2003 Four Winds Chateau 31S Class C/Ford V10/with slide
2003 Jeep Liberty toad, all 4 down w/brake buddy
Most of us are a mixed breed, pack-rat and crow. Gotta carry everything we could possibly need, then more, even for a day trip to the beach. Have to have lots of tools, clothes, plates, glasses, bbq's..anything shiny has to be given a home. Yep, a gen set for sure, jack, compressor..the list is endless. Many now opt for a trailer as well...bikes, atv's, stuff man, gotta have stuff.
We also leave everything stored. Our big mistake several years ago was buying kitchen plates of all sizes. To keep them form rattling, we sandwich spongy shelf liners pieces in between them. The real key is we don't use real dishes. We have found it much easier to use plastic cups and paper plates. I think we have used our real dishes maybe twice in the last two years. We take our folding clothes out to the coach in laundry baskets and fill the wardrobe drawers. We have a rolling clothes hanger unit that we fill with hanging clothes, roll it out to the coach and fill the closet from it. We, too, can pack for a long trip in less than an hour. The basement stays filled with tables, chairs, grills, tools, all the things you need for camping. I am fortunate that we have of excess capacity. When full of fuel, water, and gear, we are still 4000# under our GVWR. Just try things till you find out what works for you.
bartandcathy wrote: ...
Above the stove, pots, and pans (they rattle a bit though)....
Oh I am thinking of getting a generator, which I hope will fit in the storage built into the drivers-side rear of the vehicle.
I am having so much fun with all this!
Bart
I keep heavier items, like pans, in lower cabinets both in the RV and at home, it's just handier and safer. I alternate metal and plastic items to prevent rattling: Fry pan on the bottom, then colander, then big saucepan, then plastic bowl, then small saucepan, etc.
If you install a generator make sure that you provide adequate ventilation.
Yes, it's fun! I keep mostly duplicates in the RV, including enough food and clothing for a weekend, then for a longer trip I can just grab a pile of each garment (shirts, socks, etc.) and go.
I'm fairly new to RVing, but I store things this way:
Above cab: We don't use that bed, so we have large clear rubbermaid tubs with lids for books, doggie stuff, hats, beach gear. It's great, never lose anything anymore.
Above sofa: campground guides, radios (AM/FM and weather), small kitchen appliances, boardgames
Above dinette: velcro, parts, lightbulbs, flashlights, etc. all stored in baskets or small containers
Below dinette: tools, hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.
Below stove: cups, plates, bowls, bakeware with a liberal application of non-slip liners
Above kitchen sink: spices, coffee, cooking oil, sugar
Below kitchen sink: pots and pans with lots of non-slip liners.
Above refrigerator: canned goods and non-perishables; I treat it like a pantry
Below refrigerator: plastic wrap, sandwich bags, aluminum foil, extra rolls of my non-slip liner in plastic mesh baskets.
Below bed: large rubbermaid tub with all linens, towels, extra blankets.
Basically, we like to keep important things for emergencies: tools, flashlights, weather radio, maps and guides near the cab so we can grab things fast if there's a problem.
Only boxed food in the cabinets over the dinette & couch. A box of pasta or bag of chips doesn't hurt as much if it falls out. We don't leave any of that in storage.
Canned food goes in low tubs under the dinette seats. We can either pull from the aisle doorways or lift the cushions. That's a holdover habit from our pop-up days...
Dishes over the sink and they stay there year round. We use plastic for weight savings and durability. Tried Corelle, and lost an entire set on a set of nasty railroad tracks. Tried paper, but got tired of all the waste we had to pack out when dry camping. Tupperware works well enough for us, as does some of the faux-50's looking stuff they now sell at Target.
Pots n pans in the lower cabinets (next to stove, under sink). Gravity usually works, and we don't like to test that particular law...
Clothes get loaded into the overheads in the bedroom and over-cab bunk inside laundry baskets. We also stack them in the shower if necessary.
Tools go in the outside lockers. Some stay, some get unloaded after each trip.
Genset is a must if you need a microwave and air conditioning. Consider roof mounted solar as well if you're only looking for minor recharging. The single roof mounted panel we have allows us to get away without the generator most trips, but we also live a little further south and have more direct sun year round.
2005 Winnebago "Minnie" 31C (was a three-time Jayco owner)
I'm one of those people who is never happy with the state of my organization, constantly changed note taking methods in college, constantly rearranging my dresser drawers to try to improve efficiency but here it goes...
over dinette, dog towels, paper towels, Resolve, dog bowls and food in other words all the darn dog stuff
on the dinette made into bed space and covered heavily with plastic and moving blanket...3 dog crates and the dogs! All are ratchet strapped down.
under the dinette chairs..nothing, we can no longer access them! Hey, you know, I could make doors in the end panels and get that space back...for more dog stuff!
over sofa, books and boxed goods, pasta, tea bags, etc
under oven which we also have never used, trash can (we have dogs so it needs to be in cabinet) and trash bags, aluminum foil etc.
over counter top...pots pans plates cups (but now that I'm thinking of it, we could put pans in here and free up some other space)
over sink...more boxed goods, paper plates and cups, this space isn't deep so nothing big here
under sink also a not too deep shelf...canned goods and jars.
drawers at end of counter...all utensils, scissors, and the ever important corkscrew!
hall way closet .....raingear, jackets, the battery operated lantern and shoes
drawers under this closet get hairdryer, combs, meds, extra batteries, laundry detergent and other sort of miscellaneous stuff. OH! Duct tape.
bedroom above bed...clothes and the designer pillows that came with the rig but we never use
bedroom closet...hanging clothes, first aid kit, extra blanket if needed
under bed...two cases of bottled water, two sleeping bags we use more like comforters when needed, the quilt that came with the rig and extra sheets etc
when travelling we have two dog exercise pens we wedge in between the bed and the closest wall and pad them with towels for travel. They are set up at our site for the dogs when we arrive. Tieing dogs is not optimal, they are constantly tangled and may get injured, plus when people come to visit they are often more put off by a dog on a tie out than ones in pens. Well, I guess that can be a good thing but not usually!
I always carry a mess of tools in the basement, a 12 volt combo light, charger, jumper and a small compressor. Also tarps mostly to cover the dog pens and chairs, dog training gear, small table, EZ-UP (much of our camping is at dog events and we need the EZ up for sites away from the RV), also I carry the black water dump tank that I bought for dumping at home. My cleanout is not accessible directly from RV so I dump to tank then haul to cleanout..a pain but better than going miles out of the way for a dump station.
I think that's most of it. What fun!
We don't leave anything in the RV between trips or especially over winter if it is chewable. We have had constant mice problems and just don't want to entice them with anything.
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