Organizational tips for camping??

[nessarowdy]

Good morning! Well, we purchased a new camper this year and have been camping twice with it. FUN! However, we are climbing over our clothes and different items every time we go in it, and I can't stand the clutter! How do you organize your clothing in limited space? Suitcases don't seem to make sense to me, but all of our drawers aren't enough room for all 5 of us. How do you do it? Our camper isn't small, it's a 26 footer.

HELP!
-Vanessa

[Lady_V]

Is there room anywhere for under the bed storage boxes?

Do you use all the cabinets in the kitchen?

I know when I spent entire summers in my family's trailer, I would only bring a few of each clothing item. I rolled them instead of folded them and packed them in a plastic bin and we stacked the boxes in the bottom of the 'closet' since we really didn't have anything that needed to be hung up.

When something got dirty, we washed it and hung it out to dry. It cut down on what we had to bring... and we spent 2 months.

The 'things' we wanted to bring, I put in a backpack. It stayed on the foot of my bed. I don't take up every square inch of the bed anyways

[Momto2Boyz]

We don't use a camper, so my experience is limited to tent camping. But my parents have a camper and they spend 3 months in the summer traveling the country with no breaks (mom works in a school & dad is retired). YIKES! Don't know how they don't maim each other!

But anyhoo, my mom uses TONS of small plastic totes for everything. She has them all labeled, then they are also each labeled with a C or an H. When they get home, all the H labels (for house) get taken into the house to be put away, and all the C labels (for camper) stay in the camper. I know it helps them stay organized for long periods of time.

But at the same time, there are only 2 of them and I know they don't take a ton of stuff with them. Maybe a week's worth of clothes then they do laundry on the road.

[StaceyS]

We have a tent trailer and we use those under-bed storage containers to organize the kitchen stuff. The travel under the table and when we set up camp they get put outside (usually under the picnic table). For clothes, I use a back pack and hang it up once the trailer is up.

[littlefoot]

We have a 26 footer also. There are 4 of us - two adults and two 11 year old girls. Here's how we organize: I bought large plastic drawers (two-high) and put them in the closet. Each girl has enough space in the drawer to store their clothes. We are going on a 7-day trip this Saturday and they will each take 2 swimsuits, 7 outfits (I will wash clothes half way through the trip), pajamas, underwear, etc. Above the drawers I installed 2 shelves. I store towles, beach towels and extra sheets here. Under the closet I have another small compartment for storing small plastic totes for various supplies and our laundry basket. I installed an over-the door shoe rack on the bathroom door. That's where make-up, hair thingies, hair dryer, flat iron, lotions, face cleanser, moisturizer, etc. goes. The girls also carry a large plastic briefcase file thing they got at WM and they store it at the end of their bed. They keep their drawing papers, books, etc inside. DH and I each have a teeny closet next to our bed. I put a smaller-width 3-high plastic drawer in each of our closets. All our clothes fit here. We put extra blankets, etc. in the bin at the end of our bed. We also store extra water and sodas there. The storage under the bench seats has extra kitchen appliances that come out after we're parked (like coffee maker, etc) and our outdoor slide-on grill. The kitchen area has enough stuff to operate the kitchen for a week, no prob. The cabinets over the table have big bowls and pitchers, and games and movies. My DH made a really cool industrial tray that hooks into the bumper hitch of the trailer. That's how plastic tubs with swim supplies, firewood, etc and the bikes make the trip. Chairs and tools go in the outdoor storage compartments. The bbq pit, portable canopy, and anything else bulky goes in the back of the truck.

What I would do if I were you is this: Make a chart of all your available storage areas. Make a list of all the stuff you will take. Start transfering the list of stuff to the spaces on your chart. Not only will you be able to make it work, you'll have a great chart to show you where everything is!!

Good luck and have a great time making memories!!!

Leslie

[Grayce]

My sister has a 30 ft trailer. She takes clothes in rubbermaid totes and Keeps them under the bed. It pops up and has tons of room underneath.