No, you don’t have to head for the nearest waterfall! With a few minor upgrades, RV bathrooms can seem more spacious. And the good news is, it won’t cost much.
While light colors are supposed to give the illusion of a bigger room, there is only so much you can do for a tiny RV bathroom. With each trip, we’re learning new ways to improve on the space. Recently, we added in a new shower bar and it is amazing what a huge difference that little addition made.
CREATING A VERSATILE SHOWER SPACE
One of the things we liked about the camper trailer we chose was the size of the “tub” and shower. When we were shopping RVs, I stepped into every shower in each model we explored and shut the door (and on a few, I couldn’t even bring myself to close the door all the way). Tight, enclosed spaces make me claustrophobic, but the shower in the RV we finally chose has a curtain, which helps me for some reason (some mental trickery and visualization is still required to actually shut myself into a tiny space with a door). In ours, you could stand sideways and easily put both elbows out for hair washing, but it’s still not what I would consider spacious.
The new expandable shower rod folds into the shower space when not in use, increasing space in the bathroom by a surprising amount. It’s also great for hanging things to drip dry over the tub. Just push the rod into the shower space (as pictured above), slide the curtain to the side and you have a handy drying rack. This sturdy, easy to install rod is one of the best RV upgrades we’ve made … and one of the most inexpensive.
I actually stood in the shower to take the photo above, just so you can get an idea of how spacious it feels now. (Yeah … it’s difficult to capture that in a photo, but if you’ve taken an RV shower, you get the idea!)
Patrick’s a big guy and the bathroom size can be troublesome for him. Now he prefers our own shower to the campground bathhouses.
I also found a fun photo shower curtain that adds a sense of dimension to the tiny space through the visual depth of the scenic nature photo. The flowing woodland stream image is soothing and takes away any confined feeling I might get closed into our tiny booth of a bathroom.
It comes in a variety of sizes (and alternate peaceful scenes) to fit any shower with a curtain rod. The photo pops, yet still lets light through into the shower stall. Plus, it just makes a drab RV bathroom fun!
Eliminating clutter can also help keep a tiny space from feeling too cramped. We have a pretty spacious medicine cabinet and I found mini dollar store bins that fit inside to contain all the loose items.
An open shelf in the vanity allows us to store more small items in bins. There is also a substantial amount of room in the cupboard under the sink where I can store laundry items, trash bags, and extra toilet paper.
Keeping as many toiletries hidden as possible does help in a tight space!
Declutter on a regular basis.
If you haven't used something in the past year, get rid of it!
SPACE-SAVING DETAILS
I found these great microfiber towels that are very low profile, yet highly absorbent. Bonus: they dry very quickly! It’s actually mind-boggling how fast they dry both our bodies and themselves as thin as they are.
They come with a little loop and we hang them on the wall to dry. These top my list as one of my favorite purchases for the RV! They take up almost no space at all and stay amazingly fresh despite multiple uses before washing. (They also come in cute little zippered bags, also with a hanging loop.)
To take a towel to the beach, pool, or bathhouse, just grab and go. I bought these in a variety of sizes. Microfiber cloth usually irritates my dry sensitive skin, but these towels are much softer than others I’ve tried. Wash before you use it so it will be super absorbent. Note when selecting colors: the blue color bled a lot the first time I washed it, the gray did not. If you select a bright color, give it a good soaking in cool water separately first. I hand-washed these towels separately, then ran them through the dryer together before we used them. We are VERY impressed with these very soft and absorbent towels!
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: COMPACT & COMFORTABLE
So, with a few minor adjustments, our RV bathroom is now more comfortable and practical than when we drove it off the lot. The RV life is a journey and each adventure adds to our experience. With some minor tweaks here and there, the journey just gets better and better.
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