Cabinet & drawer organization

[Riverlady]

We just picked up our new GWV. Does anyone have any tips for efficiently organizing the cabinets & drawers? If there are any gadgets/containers/etc. that work particularly well, I'd appreciate the advice. Thanks.

[mlts22]

This is pedestrian, but I swear by plastic tubs of all sizes as well as Ziploc bags. I put bottles of soap into individual bags and put those into a plastic tub.

The method in my madness:

1: A spill or a leak will be contained by the Ziploc bag, then the tub. It won't get over the drawers as stuff shifts while going down the road.
2: If a cabinet or drawer opens and stuff flies out, a well sealed tub minimizes the mess. If something shatters inside the tub, worst case, throw it out and replace contents.
3: It allows stacking for more usable room.
4: It won't stop mice/rats, but it will slow them down. Foodstuffs, I use tight-fitting metal or glass containers as well.
5: If something rots or goes bad, it isolates the smell to that container.
6: It makes packing/unpacking very easy.
7: It makes finding things easy as well.

[Mike]

Might I suggest you browse the "Tweaks, Mods, & Projects" folder on this forum and look for any thread started by forumite "Davydd"? He also has a GWV, and has done some interesting storage related mods to it.
I do like plastic tubs and trays for keeping stuff from unauthorized wandering around our van.

[Rok]

Originally Posted by Riverlady

We just picked up our new GWV. Does anyone have any tips for efficiently organizing the cabinets & drawers? If there are any gadgets/containers/etc. that work particularly well, I'd appreciate the advice. Thanks.

This is what we do with our GW Legend SE.

We have the option that has a cabinet right behind the driver's seat. We use that for clothes primarally. The top is used as a "staging area". We will leave something on that counter that needs to be put away in a drawer or tub in the back. We tend to keep it somewhat clear for that purpose (although at times it is very full.

We bought a number of clear plastic "banker's box" sized tubs. We got them at Staples, but any office supply store should have them. Even Costco carries them, I believe. These are nearly perfect for storing stuff under the tri-fold couch. we can fit about 7 of them under there. THATS A LOT OF STORAGE! You have to watch out when you are lowering and raising the couch to make sure that the lift arms dont crush the boxes, but that is pretty easy. You also have to watch out for one of them on the left catching on the power cord to the couch. Generally we accomplish this by looking under the bed/couch from the back (back doors open) with a flashlight looking under the couch.

We keep our bedding above the bed in the three cabinets at the back of the van.

We keep toiletries in the two small middle drawers of the galley (one for each of us). (We don't have a medicine cabinet yet.) The top middle drawer is for silverware and cutlery. The three galley drawers to the right house pots and pans, cups, etc. Most food is kept above the galley (or, of course, in the fridge or freezer). We also keep a bottle of dish washing soap up there, too.

The tall cabinet under the Keurig coffeemaker is where we keep the garbage can. The front three upper cabinets is where we put our electronic charging cables, etc. In order to hold everything tight, we cram towells and rags and washcloths everywhere we need to.

The tall cabinet in the back just behind the bathroom is kind of a catch-all for coats, etc.

One of the tubs is for about 4 gallons of drinking water. We used to buy bottled gallons of water, but now we have refillable gallons and stainless 40 oz. bottles that we can fill at grocery stores, or if we have to, we can pour bottled water into them. Another houses shoes, another extra Ziplocks, tt, papertowells, etc. There is an 8th part that will not quite fit a tub, so we use that for our tool box.

The awning crank fits nicely behind the top of the back doors.

Hope that helps. If you find some other better way to arrange things, please let us know. We're still pretty new at this.

.........Rocky

[gordonhks]

We have a GWV Legend SE. We store things a little differently than Rok, but we all get to the same destination, just a little different route

One other notable difference is that we leave the bed down and have a tremendous amount of storage under it. We even carry a two man inflatable Kayak, under the bed.

One important thing that we learned after about the 2nd year out, is that you are very rarely more than 50 miles from a Walmart. Hence carrying large and duplicative items is not really necessary.

However that having been said, if you are going into the wild for extended boondocking, which for us is about a 5 day max, you will want to look over your supplies to cover that period of time.

[Davydd]

We converted our hanging closets to drawers and shelves. We no longer hang clothes. My clothes stash consist of two soft covered duffel bags. One is a 24" duffel and one is a 20" so they fit nicely in the tapered upper cabinet with the larger duffel toward the back.

[Riverlady]

Wow! You all have such great ideas! Thanks so much for all the good advice. Sorry to take so long to respond...I've haven't been able to get on the forum for about a week.
I'm experimenting with the plastic tubs/ziplock idea. Just looking for more square tubs to conserve space.
Rocky, I really appreciated all your details. What you're doing sounds like it would fit our lifestyle too. My husband is a little resistant to too many containers under the seat, but it sounds like a great way to keep things from being in a jumble under there to me. We're still in negotiations!
Gordon, I hope we get to the point of having the luxury of taking along an inflatable kayak! Right now we're so worried about fitting in all the basics, but we're probably over-thinking it.
Davydd, we're going to fold our clothes too. Probably will use Eagle Creek pack-it folders like we use for air travel to keep things neat & tight. A specific question for you, as I think you travel with cats. Where do you fit in a litter box? Have you found a really small one?
Again, thanks to you all. You've been a great help!
Cindy

[Davydd]

We looked at the Eagle Creek packs yesterday at the Container Store. We kind of thought they were expensive. Today we are going to go to Ikea and see if they still sell the similar Ikea Family packs. They weren't in the latest catalog.

[Rok]

I forgot to mention that we use the "trunk" under the banker's boxes for semi-dirty stuff like city water hose and the main power cord and the misc. adapters. The "real diry" stuff (sewer hose, brush, and attachments) stays out in the slirt box designed for it. We don't let that stuff in the "house".

..........Rocky

Originally Posted by Rok

This is what we do with our GW Legend SE.

We have the option that has a cabinet right behind the driver's seat. We use that for clothes primarally. The top is used as a "staging area". We will leave something on that counter that needs to be put away in a drawer or tub in the back. We tend to keep it somewhat clear for that purpose (although at times it is very full.

We bought a number of clear plastic "banker's box" sized tubs. We got them at Staples, but any office supply store should have them. Even Costco carries them, I believe. These are nearly perfect for storing stuff under the tri-fold couch. we can fit about 7 of them under there. THATS A LOT OF STORAGE! You have to watch out when you are lowering and raising the couch to make sure that the lift arms dont crush the boxes, but that is pretty easy. You also have to watch out for one of them on the left catching on the power cord to the couch. Generally we accomplish this by looking under the bed/couch from the back (back doors open) with a flashlight looking under the couch.

We keep our bedding above the bed in the three cabinets at the back of the van.

We keep toiletries in the two small middle drawers of the galley (one for each of us). (We don't have a medicine cabinet yet.) The top middle drawer is for silverware and cutlery. The three galley drawers to the right house pots and pans, cups, etc. Most food is kept above the galley (or, of course, in the fridge or freezer). We also keep a bottle of dish washing soap up there, too.

The tall cabinet under the Keurig coffeemaker is where we keep the garbage can. The front three upper cabinets is where we put our electronic charging cables, etc. In order to hold everything tight, we cram towells and rags and washcloths everywhere we need to.

The tall cabinet in the back just behind the bathroom is kind of a catch-all for coats, etc.

One of the tubs is for about 4 gallons of drinking water. We used to buy bottled gallons of water, but now we have refillable gallons and stainless 40 oz. bottles that we can fill at grocery stores, or if we have to, we can pour bottled water into them. Another houses shoes, another extra Ziplocks, tt, papertowells, etc. There is an 8th part that will not quite fit a tub, so we use that for our tool box.

The awning crank fits nicely behind the top of the back doors.

Hope that helps. If you find some other better way to arrange things, please let us know. We're still pretty new at this.

.........Rocky

[Davydd]

As mentioned, we looked at Eagle Creek pack bags and then went to Ikea. Ikea doesn't have the selection variety of Eagle Creek but their comparable two-sided pack bag was about the third the price of Eagle Creek at $7.99. So we bought four of them to try out. They come in two colors, pink and dark blue. Here is a photo of one.

[LesM]

Hi, Davydd; I've been using these packs for the last couple of years. I bought them online (can't remember where) and I think they were called packing cubes - available in a variety of sizes. They are great for storing different clothing types (socks, underwear, shirts, etc) in different packs and just pulling the pack you want out from the van drawers. They work equally well for loading suitcases and keeping them organized on our "non-B" travels.
Les

[Davydd]

I posted too soon. I unzipped what I thought was a two sided bag in the previous posting and found it was actually four bags in all. That was a better deal than I had thought. So there are a variety of sizes after all and the purpose is the same to organize and pack clothes.

[accrete]

I purchased several sets of "eBags". They are very similar to what David shared above and we have now organized all our clothes in them and they are working out great! There are several sizes and colors available.



Thom

[SiennaGuy]

Does anybody know of a good way to organize pots, pans and dishes so that they don't rattle or end up in a big pile?

SiennaGuy

[Mike]

McDonald's, Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, Golden Corral, Olive Garden, etc.

[Davydd]

We use that non-adhesive mesh like plastic shelf liner that grips to surfaces. We cut out circles to nest between pots, pans and dishes and also line the shelves.

[SiennaGuy]

Originally Posted by Mike

McDonald's, Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, Golden Corral, Olive Garden, etc.

Do you save your plastic "sporks"? I always thought that they could be made into a lovely chandelier!

[Mike]

That's a new one. We've only ever used them as fence posts at campsites. To keep chipmunks away from the cooler.

[markopolo]

I think I'm going to buy some of those eBags or something similar. Thanks for the link.

[gordonhks]

To keep dishes and pans from rattling.....Just an idea, I have not tried this, but how about the inflatable packing material that is sent with Amazon shipments?