Maximize Your RV Kitchen

​If your RV is anything like ours, the kitchen is probably tiny with little or no countertop and limited cabinet storage. The transition from a full size kitchen to an RV kitchen can be challenging, especially if you like to cook. Here are some ways we maximized our kitchen space.

Adding more counter space

Before our renovation, we had no usable countertop to prepare and cook food unless you counted 3 inches on each side of the sink.  As you can imagine this made doing pretty much anything in the kitchen extremely difficult.  We both enjoy cooking, so we knew we needed to somehow add countertops and space to work in the kitchen.  We accomplished this by adding a fold up countertop and a cover for the stove. 

Fold up Countertop
Since the kitchen is so small, we were left with a lot of extra teak butcher block after we replaced the countertop around the sink and oven.  So, we used a portion of the extra piece to create a flip up counter to the left of the sink.  This gives us an extra 13" by 17" rectangle of space that is able to flip up and down in a second.  We use this every day for the coffee pot in the morning, a prep station for cooking outdoors and a spot for the cutting board.  We used StarVast  2 Pcs Folding Shelf Brackets  which are extremely sturdy and have no problem holding the weight of heavy pots. 
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The second countertop we added was on top of the stove.  Many RV models come with this cover for the stove but ours did not.  We used another piece of the buthcher block and created a removable top for the stove.  The slick part of our design is how the countertop stays in place when we drive.  Since it is 1 1/2 inch butcher block, it is heavy and would be dangerous if it slid around and fell on top of one of our pets while in transit.  So, we routed the bottom to sit flush on the countertops and lock into place on the stove.   ​

Spice Cabinet
In a small kitchen, you have to maximize the storage space in the cabinets.  After loading our food and kitchen tools, it was hard to find a place for us to keep our spices.  We tried to keep them in a basket in one of the cabinets but it was hard to see them and was taking up space we needed for other pantry items. So after brainstorming with some family, Bryan (Ashley’s brother) suggested that we utilize the space above the door for a spice rack as it empty, out of the way and serving no other purpose.  ​

We repurposed the original valance and made it into a shelf to hold our spices. By repurposing the valance, this was a quick, easy and cheap project.   Here’s how we did it.

First, we removed the valance from the wall and removed the staples from the top third so we could peel back the fabric.  We then used our table saw to chop the top off (you can also use a circular saw or a hand saw).  We made sure to preserve the fabric when we cut it so we could reuse it. ​

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Using the top portion of the valance that we cut off, we created a shelf for the spices to sit in.  We simply cut the sides off and screwed it in from the front and sides about 3" down.  3" is deep enough so the bottles don't fall out while we drive but we can still see the labels to identify the spices.   

Next, we covered the shelf with the extra fabric by pulling it tight and applying some glue and using a staple gun.   We then re-attached the valance to the wall and now had a spice rack capable of holding about 16 spice bottles.  ​

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We like a lot of spice in our life so 16 spice bottles was not enough.  We decided to create some additional spice storage above the shelf. We screwed a piece of flat steel (which we spray painted) into the small plywood box we have covering the electrical wires for the media cabinet.  We use these magnetic spice tins, which have strong magnets and stay in place when we are driving.  With this addition, we can fit about 11 extra spice jars.    ​

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What are some ways you maximized space in your RV Kitchen??

Written By: Kevin Quiambao
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