Hanging Fruit and Vegetable Baskets

Three wired baskets in ascending size hanging from a wooden dowel, filled with sweet potatoes and white potatoes. The basket is in front of a window with the shades drawn, and to the right of a spice rack nearly overflowing with spices.

Counter space and storage are both premium commodities in an RV. Jen and I are vegan, gluten free, and prefer eating less processed foods, so we buy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Storing fresh food is a real challenge in our small space. We are always looking for ways to improve.

We wanted to add a hanging fruit basket over one of the prep counters on the kitchen slide. We found this 3-tier basket with an overhead hook. RV roof slides are typically built from insulating foam board sandwiched between two thin sheets of plywood with a metal frame for stability. The interior surface of our kitchen slide ceiling is only ¼ inch thick panel board with a durable wallpaper covering. Using an anchor for the hook would be a real challenge, and could damage the ceiling. Most in-wall anchors could not hold enough weight, or were unable to operate fully due to the Styrofoam, or would just not fit into the space. We tried using 3M wire hooks and had some success. But with a half-pound limit per hook and using two hooks, they managed to do the job for a few days before the adhesive gave out.

Supporting the baskets without hanging from the roof?

The middle of all three baskets had a hole that would accommodate a large wooden dowel. One trip to our local ACE Hardware for supplies and we were ready to go.

Shopping List

  • wooden dowel
  • adjustable height foot
  • hanger hooks
  • anti-slip pads
  • closet support rod pocket.

A counter top covered with supplies for the project, including the three nested fruit baskets, nonstick rubber feet, screws, and a wooden dowel.

I measured the height of the space and calculated the height needed to account for the foot, rod support bracket, and anti-slip pads. After cutting the wooden dowel, I installed the foot into the bottom end of the dowel and inserted three hooks about an inch down from the top. I added pieces of the anti-slip pad to the bottom of the foot and to the top of the dowel. The closet rod support cup was attached to the roof with a simple anchor to offer stability when the basket tree is in use. Final assembly was pretty simple at this point. The dowel was fed down the center of each basket, the chains were hung from each of the three hooks, and the top of the dowel was placed into the cup installed on the ceiling of the slide. The foot extends to provide the pressure needed to keep our new fruit and veggie tree standing upright.

2 thoughts on “Hanging Fruit and Vegetable Baskets”

  1. Love your Fruit and Vegetable Basket idea. I was looking for a way to hold fresh foods while bouncing down the road.

    Reply
    • Thank you so much! I think this is working out really well for heavier things like sweet potatoes and plantains, but I’m finding that delicate things like ripened apricots and plums will get a little bruised by the wires— I think I may use some felt (or even paper towels) to line the baskets holding softer fruit on future travel days. (Or just put them in the fridge, I suppose!)

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Elicia Cole Head Tail Wagger Cancel reply