RV Kitchen Organization & Storage – The Ultimate Guide

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An RV kitchen organization can be a pain. Challenges are, but not limited to: small space, shallow cupboards, weight restrictions, movement of the vehicle… you name it. Luckily there are quite a few items and creative solutions, that can really help you to take the most out of your small RV kitchen.

In this article I’ve gathered the handiest items to help you with RV kitchen organization, the best DIY tips + a few ideas on how to stop your stuff rattling and sliding all over the place when driving.

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A few key points to a perfect RV kitchen organization

1 – First, empty your kitchen completely
Take everything out, and I mean everything. You’d be surprised how much stuff there is! This is also a good moment to vacuum and wipe down all your cupboards and wash or install some shelf liners.

2 – Go through your stuff and throw away what you haven’t used
Check all the expiry dates on your food (including your condiments) and throw away any unusable items. Go through everything you have and if there is something you haven’t used for ages, give them to charity – you don’t want to store anything in a tiny kitchen that is not absolutely necessary!

3 – Sort by category
Sort all your stuff by category, like utensils in one, baking stuff in one, food wraps and similar in one, you get the gist.

4 – Make a plan on how you are going to organize
Now, when you know what you have and how much, make a plan. This way you also know what storage items you need to get. This might feel like an unnecessary step, but believe me, it really helps to draw out all your cupboards and writing what goes where, what are the most used items and where would be the easiest reach for them.

Wall/Vertical RV Kitchen Storage

1 Rod/towel bar with S-hooks – I love these, they are handy for storing your utensils, pans, oven gloves, mugs… You can also store your pot lids behind them too.

Tip: Use a cheap towel bar meant for bathroom and some cheap S-hooks.

2 Spice clips – Attach these inside your cupboard doors to easily clip on your spice jars. These also work well for your cleaning kit in your cleaning cupboard.

Tip: You might find some cheap ones from a dollar store meant for garage organization.

3 Suction hooks – Non-permanent way to hang things.

4 Self-adhesive hooks – You can use these for hanging your towels, utensils etc. and not only on the walls, attach them inside your cupboard doors too.

Tip: Some people use these to hang pot lids on the wall or hanging food wraps inside cupboard doors – just push the sides in and hang from each side. You could also put a cord through a paper towel and hang it from two hooks like these.

5 Wall mount paper towel holder – Multipurpose shelf for your kitchen towels, utensils, paper towel and some small items on the top shelf.

RV Kitchen Storage Inside The Cupboards

1 Canned food dispenser – No more reaching the canned food from the back! This handy canned food dispenser moves the next can closer when you take one.

Tip: Some people have used magazine holders as a cheap option.

2 Spice rack – If you are not comfortable with spices on the wall, in case they fall when driving, this is a nice solution. Just pull the shelf towards yourself and you’ll instantly see what spices you have.

3 Wider food dispenser – Same as number one, but handy if you have shallow cupboards.

4 Expandable Pan Rack Organizer – Make it fit exactly to your RV cupboards and drawers.

5 Plate & Bowl Holder – Don’t let your plates and bowls slide and break when you drive.

6 Camco Plate Holder – Handy plate and bowl holders meant for RVing.

Over The Door/Under Shelf

1 Long door organizer – Are you lucky to have a tall pantry door? If so, try one of these door organizers – you’ll see with a quick glance what you have.

Tip: If you have children, you could dedicate two bottom shelves for them, as an easy healthy snack shelf they can help themselves.

2 Paper towel holder – No place to hang your paper towel where you need it most? You can put this paper towel holder on any bottom shelf and move it when necessary.

3 Mesh basket – Hang on any door, anything you need.

4 Single Hooks – Single over the door hooks for easy storage.

5 Hook hanger – You can hang almost anything from these, but they are mainly used for hanging mugs.

6 Over the cabinet organizer – To store your cutting boards, pot lids, food wraps, baking pans…

7 Towel Holder – I have probably said this before, but you won’t ever find me without a towel holder like this! It is so easy to hang it close to your sink, without having to drill any holes and as you can hang the towel wider than from a hook, your towel also dries quicker (=which means less bacteria too).

Fruit & Veg Storage

1 Fruit hammock – If you have run out of counter space, how about hanging a fruit hammock?

2 Rustic fruit holder – Just loved this rustic fruit holder, would look really pretty on a wall.

3 Mesh magazine holder – Meshed magazine holders are actually really handy fruit and vegetable storage in an RV! They let your fruit to “breathe” but also fit in a small space.

4 Wall basket – Another cute holder idea for your fruit.

Tip: Have a look in your dollar store for pretty wall planters – some of them would look pretty cool as a wall storage with a fraction of the price!

5 Stackable baskets – Stackable baskets save space, and these ones also look cool.

6 3-Tier Fruit and vegetable holder – If you have the counter space, this fruit and veg holder looks pretty nice.

7 Vertical rustic holder – Same as number two, but a handier if you are not spoiled for wall space.

General Storage Ideas & How To Stop Your Stuff Sliding and Rattling

1 Shelf liner – Shelf liner like this is extremely handy in RVs – it helps to reduce the noise and sliding when driving and makes the shelves easier to clean.

2 Tension rod – There are so many ways to utilize tension rods in an RV, see below.

3 Lazy susan – If you want a quick access to everything you have in your cupboards, lazy susans are really helpful.

4 Drawer organizer – These organizers are padded inside so they are less noisy.

5 Silverware organizer – Same as above but meant for your cutlery.

6 Organizers with labels – Square and clear food containers are the best to use in RVs, as they not only protect your food from pests and dampness, but you also see easily what you have. Square shape helps to utilize all the space available.

7 Clear containers – Same as above but flatter design if you’d prefer it.

Ideas on how to use tension rod:

• Attach to your cupboards to prevent anything falling out
  • Also in the fridge
• Attach vertically to easily store cutting boards etc.
• Hang under the sink for easy cleaning item storage
• Use with hangers, s-hooks and clips
• Use paper clips to hang bagged items inside a cupboard

How to Stop Your Stuff Sliding When Driving

1 – Get some purpose made plate holders like these Camco Stack-A-Plates.

2 – Some people suggest gluing some silicone at the back of your plates, on the bottom of your baskets, or pretty much anything you don’t want to slide. A word of warning though, this might be impossible or at least very hard to remove later.

3 – Put a non-slip shelf liner inside your drawers, this also reduces the rattling noise.

Instead of silicone, you could try these (1.) clear self-adhesive rubber feet/bumpers or (2.) non-slip furniture pads.

To protect your pots, pans, bowls and even plates you could use pot and pan non-slip protectors (3.) like these.

+ Extra: Collapsible items

Collapsible items are really handy in small spaces, as when you don’t need them, they can be stored pretty thin and lightweight! Magazine holders are easy storage for these.

// 1. Colorful food container set // 2. Collapsible dish bowl, dryer and bucket // 3. Collapsible storage containers/mixing bowls // 4. Grey bucket // 5. Grey colander //

RV Kitchen Organization Ideas That May Not Be That Good

There are a few RV kitchen storage ideas going around internet that while they work perfectly in a house kitchen, they are not most practical in an RV. Here are few and how I’d replace them:

1 Extra shelving. I know why this is a popular advice: the extra shelving really uses the whole cupboard space. Unfortunately unless you are in a stationary RV, this is not very handy advice as when you are driving, all your stuff will be flying all over the place. My advice would be to use lightweight drawers instead, like this grey one from Amazon.

2 Pot lids on the wall/on the cupboard door. Again, works really well in a big kitchen, but do you actually have that much wall space in your RV? Or even inside the cupboards, I definitely recommend utilizing them, but to be honest, there are so many more smaller items that could work better on the doors. So how about getting some pot lid holders you can use to hold other items too like cutting boards, pots and plates?

3 Magnetic Knife Storage. Looks pretty cool and I know some RVers who use this hack, but really, I don’t know about you, but the idea of hanging sharp knives on the RV wall makes me a bit nervous. I’m sure that they hold pretty well on a normal drive, but what if you end up in an accident? It’s awful enough without flying knives. I’d use a knife block you can store inside the drawer instead.

So, there you have it! I hope you found some inspiration to organize your RV, motorhome or a camper kitchen. Please let me know in the comments if I’ve missed anything!

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