Mods that help utilize your kitchen space

One of the things that I have really enjoyed doing with our r.v.s, is making them my/our own.  By that, I mean decorating the bathroom with pretty towels, picking the perfect comforter (it’s picked, but I’m waiting for it to go on clearance 😉 ), buying organizational tools, and finding more efficient ways to utilize space.  The kitchen is the space where I most enjoy finding new and better ways to pack in more stuff store needed items efficiently; with a family of 13, the kitchen is one of the most frequently used spaces in our r.v.!  Sometimes, finding a way to utilize the small kitchen area better involves a minor modification.  I thought that I would share two super easy mods that we have done to make our kitchen space more functional.
 
One of my very favorite modifications is the addition of a knife magnet bar.  We did this addition to our previous travel trailer even though it had knife slots behind the stovetop, and we liked it so much that it was one of the first things that I had one of my sons do to our current toy hauler.  I found my magnet bar at a kitchen supply shop (that was the only place that I could find a wood one), but I know that you can also get magnet bars at places like IKEA and building supply stores (they run anywhere from $9 to $60).  They are very easy to install; all the bars that I have seen are a simple rectangle magnet with a screw on either end.  In our travel trailer, we did anchor it into one stud, but the other end was floating (just screwed through the paneling) and held firm for the 3 years that we had it.  In this camper, the walls are thicker, so we just centered and leveled it and we didn’t worry about hitting studs (my son just walked by and asked, “what’s this WE?”).  When deciding where to place the bar, keep in mind the size of the knives you would like to hang to help determine instillation height.  I love having my kitchen knives handy without having them taking up room in my few drawers, and the magnet bar has held them and my kitchen scissors in place over even the bumpiest of roads. 

Another modification that I really appreciate is the addition of a stove cover.  Our last trailer came with a factory installed one, and I was very thankful for it as I was always using it to cover the stove and utilize that space as additional countertop.  When we purchased our current trailer, it did not have a stove cover.  The stovetop got dirty faster, we often couldn’t use the stovetop space for quite some time after cooking on it as it was hot, and I really missed having the extra counter space.  We found a universal-fit stovetop cover for around $60, and it took my son less than 10 minutes to install it (and that included unpacking it from the box).  It was a one-piece cover, so he placed it over the stovetop, making sure that it was parallel to the wall.  The screws that came with the cover would not ‘bite’ into the laminate, so once it was exactly where I wanted it to be, he took a pencil and marked through the screw holes so that he would know where the screws should be placed.  He removed the cover and pre-drilled the holes where his pencil marks were, replaced the cover and put in the screws (he, not we!).  I love the extra ‘counterspace’, the cover is not as ‘slippery’ as the stove grate, it gives my kitchen a tidier look, and the stovetop stays cleaner too; definitely worth the money. 

These two minor modifications were very easy to install, took only a few minutes apiece, and help make my kitchen more efficient.  If either of these are ideas that you think would improve your kitchen area, try it out for yourself – I think that you’ll find doing minor kitchen mods to be fun and rewarding – especially if you get to delegate, and HE gets to wield the screwgun 😉

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