On Saturdays I occasionally write about strategies for living in 300 square feet.
Linda Merrill has a great article over on the Tiny House Blog, "18 Brilliant Storage Ideas for Tiny Homes." Quite a few of these tips can be easily adapated for RV living. Here are just a few (numbers refer to Linda's list of 18):
2. We installed a white wire shelf in one of our closets. They are inexpensive and easy to find at Home Depot and Lowe's. The shelves can be cut to any length and aren't as thick as wooden shelves, and allow for more air circulation in a small closet.
5. Linda suggests using cool-looking vintage luggage as coffee tables. That may not be practical in an RV, but if you store any luggage at all, it makes sense to fill it with something such as out of season bedding so it isn't just wasted space. We occasionally take a vacation from full-time RVing and need a few suitcases for our airplane and cruise ship travels. When we aren't using the suitcases, they hold emergency pet supplies and some scuba gear under the bed.
6., 7. & 12. I'm a big believer in putting hooks everywhere. S-hooks, peg boards, and pegged dowels could be installed in many places in an RV. How about lining one side of a basement bay in peg board and hanging tools there? The peg board would add strength to RV walls and you wouldn't have to drill as many holes.
13. Fabric is a great way to hide an area temporarily. A long table cloth around the dinette would be pretty to look at and make that pile of boxes less noticable. Or, it could provide a private space for a child to play. We close off our downstairs cockpit in the winter with a large decorative cloth. It helps to keep the cold air out of the living space. By the way, if you need a large piece of pretty cloth, look at fabric shower curtains. They come in many designs, are usually thicker than a bed sheet, come pre-hemmed, and are often quite inexpensive.
15. As Linda says, "Hanging shoe organizers aren’t for shoes alone." I use a clean one to hold scarves. Actually, I cut it in half and use half for shoes and half for scarves. I like her idea of using one for craft supplies. A shoe organizer full of yarn or quilting squares would be colorful and fun! Like shower curtains, shoe holders come in a variety of pretty colors and fabrics, so you could even use one in the living room near the front door to hold hats, short umbrellas, dog leashes, etc.
18. RVs don't usually have soffit space, but there is a surprising amount of hidden areas that could be converted into storage. Look in toe kicks and under banks of drawers, in the backs of basement bays behind dividing walls. You might find a cubby that just needs a little hatch cut through a thin wall for access.
Does Linda's article inspire you to try some creative new storage? Leave your ideas in the comments.
And by the way, if you don't regularly read the Tiny House Blog, check it out! Lots of neat and interesting small space living ideas, and a nice community of folks who are interested in leaving a smaller footprint on their budget and environment.
Photo by Let Ideas Compete. Used under a Creative Commons license.
I love ideas like this. A lot don't work for our house or RV, but it helped spark ideas that would work. There's a few blank spaces in our RV that would be easily cut out for extra storage.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I was having a hard time with the link. I don't think the problem is on your site, but on their's. I tried to click directly and nothing came up (although it pretended to load). I had to go to the main site and scroll and then still couldn't click the link for the individual post. I hope other readers can get to the post because it's still really quite good even if every idea doesn't work for everyone's house.