Making Our 5th Wheel Like Home

We wanted to share life in our 5th wheel. We get so many questions as to how difficult is it to set up the 5th wheel when we get to a campground; what the living space is like in an RV; what we have done to make living in our 5th wheel more comfortable as well as meeting our daily needs. We want to highlight the simple set up as well as show you the very basic to the more in-depth modifications we’ve made to our Heartland Gateway 5th wheel since we purchased new in 2014.

SETTING UP THE 5th WHEEL

Setting up the interior of the 5th wheel takes about fifteen minutes. This is partly due to electronic slides, the ease of sliding furniture in place, to our addressing each task after setting up at campgrounds more times than either one of us can remember. Joan has her tasks, and I have mine. But set up is more than slides and furniture, there are the little things that we have added to make it home – placing the ottoman by the couch, adding a few, small side lamps for indirect light, and taking those ever important kitchen appliances from cabinet to counter. It’s these little things that make the 5th wheel more like home.

MODIFICATIONS TO THE 5TH WHEEL

We all seen the YouTube videos where RVs go from a total tear out to replacement. Fortunately for me, we haven’t found the need. We’ve made a number of modifications from the very simple to extensive. Our largest task to date was a complete tear out of the kitchen L shaped island and rebuilding. The effort was a bit of a ballet where I carefully removed many of the exterior panels, drawers and cabinet doors and reused to make the new island look as though it was factory original. We did replace the counter top adding a deep residential kitchen sink and faucet to complete the job.

Other modifications include a kitty on-suite for the litter pan. This was built behind the steps going up to the bedroom placing the litter pan out of our main living area with access from the lower storage area to clean. We also had smaller projects such as a custom make-up area for Joan, adding a wall fan to the bed room, building a custom work desk, replacing the refrigerator with an efficient residential model and lastly, tossing all of the plastic feeling leatherette sofa and recliners and replacing with residential style cloth furniture. For more information about each of these projects, I’ve provide links near the end of this blog.

RV TRAVEL AND LIVING IN A 5TH WHEEL

The beauty of RV travel is that you can make the lifestyle be what you want it to be. If you want the more rustic feel of living in the woods, surrounded by nature, there are RVs perfect for this lifestyle. For Joan and me, we take the approach that our 40 foot 5th wheel with 300 square feet of living space is nothing more than an apartment that we pull behind a large ton truck. We have many of the comforts found in a residential home, yet we’re able to move quickly and inexpensively from one location to the other, seeing all the great sites, meeting wonderful people, and making great friends in our RV travels. And at this stage, I image you have guessed what’s next. That right! Just another reason why I love RV life.

A List of iLoveRVlife Modifications to Our 5th Wheel:

Kitchen Remodel Series

Adding A RV Kitchen Backsplash

Buidling a Custom RV Computer Workdesk

Replacing an RV Refrigerator

RV Bedroom Fan

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