Before we moved into our RV, we spent about 3 months cattifying it so our four-legged family members would have an easier time adjusting to living in a tiny home. They’d always had larger apartments (and most recently, a 3 bedroom house), where they used more of the space than we humans did. They had shelves and many cat condos to climb, and we were going from about 1500 square feet to about 250 square feet (give or take).
We have four cats and live in a 35-foot RV. Where do our cats poop? Not gonna lie: this was at the top of our priority list when we were RV shopping. It is extremely important to have a clean and safe area for cats to go to the bathroom, because without that, it can cause all kinds of behavioral problems that could lead to anything from aggression to physical illness.
Humidity can a real problem while living in an RV. We have been traveling east, officially leaving the dry desert and entering bayou country. On the first night of 90% humidity, we wondered when we would be dealing with complications of humidity in our RV life.
The next morning, while making my morning tea, I noticed a six inch round spot on the ceiling with condensation forming.
Where do we hide our dirty laundry? With limited space, we needed a place to store it until laundry day. Our rig has a pass-through storage compartment under the front of the trailer, which is under the bedroom closet.
Rather than keeping a hamper for dirty clothes alongside the clean clothes in the closet, I decided to make a laundry chute.
I know it’s August and we haven’t had to think about our furnace in months, but winter is just around the corner. It was time to do some maintenance. Much like moving into a sticks-and-bricks home, there is always something to work on. Last winter we were having periodic issues with our furnace not lighting, especially on the coldest nights. I checked the air intake and exhaust ports to make sure there were no blockages, since bees and wasps like to make their homes there from time to time. The other appliances that use propane fuel (stove, hot water heater, and refrigerators) all worked fine. The furnace itself is mounted under the kitchen pantry and is not easily accessible. Thankfully our trailer has an electric fireplace as an additional heat source when the furnace acted up. The propane (LP) gas system runs off two thirty pound tanks located on the …
While we still lived in a sticks-and-bricks home and I had my wood shop, I did some last-minute cabinetry for our RV. Above the windows on each side of the bed was a space that had the potential for a small cabinet. The existing cabinets above the headboard had vertically-opening doors that were several inches away from the wall on each side. If I kept the cabinets shallow enough, they should fit. First, I drew up a plan for two cabinets, and then I made a wood cut plan. I chose poplar for the cabinets to keep the weight down, and to better match the other cabinets. There would be a single door and room for two shelves inside each cabinet, and a water bottle shelf. The shelves are large enough for things like average-sized pill bottles, small packs of tissues, eye drops, and lip balm. Rather than a plain …
The medicine cabinet in our RV was generously sized (in our opinion), but it only had one shelf. There was a lot of wasted space. While we could have stored about 16 super-tall cans of 80’s Aqua Net, we’ve both outgrown that phase and our toiletries are a bit smaller these days. The cabinet itself is made of a light ¼ inch plywood, so it is not a good base with which to attach a shelf. However, I did this, I wanted to avoid visible screws. I chose some light hardwood lumber that could be stained to closely match the rest of the cabinet. Rather than installing standard shelf supports (which would likely require visible screws), I made two legs and used double faced tape to attach them to the inside of the lower shelf in order to support my new shelf. I cut and stained the new shelf to …
As we continue our quest for space optimization, we discovered some wasted space in the cabinet below the sink. Only the top half of the total cabinet space was usable as a cabinet when we bought it. The lower half of the space was closed off with a panel, in order to hide the plumbing connections and electrical runs. The area below the sink was opened for a previous project where I found myself tracking down a water leak. The space was closed off with a ¼ inch plywood panel to protect the water lines, drain, and some electrical feeds. When repairing the leak, I realized this area still had quite a bit of usable space, if I made a few modifications. My plan was to install a sub-floor in the cabinet and close off the areas with the water and electrical feeds using floating walls. I started by adding …
This post was originally published on The Whisker Shop’s blog with the title Helping Cats Live Large in Small Homes, and we’ve used this philosophy for “cattifying” our RV home, too. If you lack the square footage for elaborate cat furniture, there are plenty of ways to help your cat branch out (and up), and make you feel like he’s got more room than you. Tip #1: Think vertically! This is really the best way to maximize a cat’s space. Adding shelves, or rearranging stuff on existing shelves to make room for cats, is like a cat magnet for most cats. Keep in mind the size and age of your cats: smaller or older cats may need additional shelves or a chair moved so they can get on and off the shelf safely. Make sure the shelves can hold your cats’ weight and the force of their jump, to avoid …
This summer we are going to be spending an unfortunate amount of time in the famous Phoenix, Arizona heat. In order to make things as tolerable as possible, we learned from the examples set by our neighbors. Last year, before we moved into our RV but when were spending many hot summer days customizing it, we cut pieces of Reflectix foil covered bubble wrap to fit the windows. The added insulation and reflective material made a big difference during the hottest parts of the day, and our electric bill went down about 30%. This year, we wanted to improve on that. Our space is oriented so the bulk of the day’s sun is directed at our two main slides: our bedroom and our main living space (couch and kitchen table/work desk). Slide walls are thinner than the rest of an RV’s walls, so they have less insulation. When the sun …