Before van life, school bus life, or tiny home life came into fashion and littered the social media feeds of home improvement and design enthusiasts, RVs dominated the mobile home lifestyle for many years. Since motor home users have had a few more decades’ worth of practice when it comes to surviving on the road, they are a wealth of knowledge regarding tips and tricks to make your life much more convenient despite a compact living space.
For example, they can tell newbies about some unexpected items that could make your time in an RV much easier. According to RVTravel, one such item is a tension rod. These extendable poles come in various sizes and large ones are typically used as a staple in bathrooms to hold up a shower curtain for a bathtub. However, once aboard a mobile home, these removable accessories can come in handy while traveling in an RV since a traveler can use them for several different functions.
To be prepared as you embark on your latest RV adventure, here are a few creative ways to utilize tension rods, free up some precious real estate in your vehicle, and make your life easier on the road.
Use tension rods in the fridge
Though you are likely driving as safely as possible when traveling by RV, there is a good chance that it will still sound like you’re experiencing some turbulence if your cargo isn’t stored securely throughout your rig. The rattling and shifting may not bother you at first, but if that sound is coming from an unorganized RV refrigerator, then it’s possible that those sounds could be a prelude to glass shattering if your wheel hits a rock on the road the wrong way.
Luckily, if you’ve brought along a pack of smaller tension rods with you, they can act as an extra precaution in the fridge to keep the more breakable items in place during transit. By placing a rod in front of each shelf of the fridge, you can keep jars, bottles, and other containers snugly in place while you’re on the move. Not only does it make your setup more stable with little to no chance of damage, but this precaution eliminates any excess noise that they might cause during your drive.
Tension rods have several uses in an RV bathroom
Considering that most households use tension rods in their bathrooms, these inexpensive tools can be helpful in your RV bathroom as well. When your shower isn’t in use, you could use the tension rod over the stall to dry wet items such as towels, rags, or swimsuits. Just extend a rod across the length of the shower parallel to the door and hang up whatever needs air drying.
Furthermore, you also could use a tension rod while you’re using the shower. If a shelf hasn’t been installed in the shower already, a rod can be used to keep your toiletries such as lotion, shampoo, and conditioner within reach by adding curtain clips to hold them in place if the containers permit. This hack applies to various shower tools as well including a loofah, washcloths, and whatever else you could need to get fresh and clean — just add some hooks over the rod. If multiple people are using the same shower, then you can stay organized by installing multiple rods and assigning one to hold each person’s shower paraphernalia.
Tricks with tension rods for cabinets
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RVs will usually have a ton of storage spaces like drawers and cabinets wherever possible. Areas under benches, beds, and even inside appliances can double as extra space if necessary. But to fit everything you need on a trip in all the nooks and crannies, you sometimes need to get creative with storage solutions. In addition to the bathroom and the fridge, another area where tension rods could prove handy is in cabinets. While you can use tension rods at the front of cabinets to hold items in place, there are also other possibilities.
The ones closer to your kitchen area can be used to store your mugs. By sliding the pole through the handles, and then installing the rod in the cabinet, you have an inventive and convenient way to organize the cups and keep them steady. Alternatively, you can also use S hooks to hang the mugs from the rod. Either way, because you’re keeping these drink receptacles elevated, that frees up the ground area to store other items like plates, bowls, pots, or pans.
The same idea can also be applied to your cleaning supply cabinet. Once a tension rod is positioned in this area of the RV, you can hang spray bottles from it. The rod can also act as another drying rack for gloves, rags, or sponges with the help of some clips to keep them from slipping off while the RV is in motion.
Hang items from tension rods in the kitchen
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When preparing a meal, it’s always ideal to have all the necessary tools at the ready when you need them. So considering that storage space in an RV is in such high demand, it’s definitely in a traveler’s best interest to free up drawers and other receptacles whenever possible to pack in as many necessities for your trip as possible, like more food or supplies. That’s why a tension rod in the kitchen of an RV could be an ideal solution that’s both convenient and practical.
Just like the toiletries in the bathroom, you could use shower clips or S hooks to hang kitchen utensils above the range, the sink, or (in some cases) the combination range/sink in your RV. With this installation, you can have spatulas, whisks, spoons, tongs, graters, peelers, and whatever else you may need to cook a meal nearby. However, it’s not recommended to have any knives dangling anywhere while traveling in an RV for safety reasons. It’s always best to keep the sharper tools in a drawer where they’re less likely to accidentally stab someone.
Tension rod uses everywhere else
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While most of these tips and tricks are more about function, this last one has more to do with decoration. If you’re a plant person who wants to take some greenery on the road with you, tension rods can make that easy. First, you can hang small plants from the rods if you place them in the windows of the RV. You also could arrange multiple rods close together to form a temporary shelf. Whichever method you prefer, this makes it easy for the plants to get plenty of sunlight while also keeping walkways and tabletops clear.
But if you decide to make shelves with tension rods, it’s very important to take cautionary measures during installation. The walls and cabinets of an RV are built differently than stand-alone homes. Though they’re reinforced to a degree, you might end up poking holes throughout your RV unintentionally if you’re not careful. A stiff piece of cardboard between the end of the pole and whatever surface you’re installing it on could help to prevent these issues.
Also, be careful not to place items on your makeshift shelves that are too heavy. If you’re unsure whether two or three rods are enough to carry the weight of what you want to store on them, it’s recommended to add more rods for additional support. The last thing you need on your epic RV road trip is for important items to break when you’re between stops or far from civilization.
