Motorhome Storage - The Microwave Cabinet

In the past few weeks I have spent a fair amount of time working on the cabinets in the motorhome, inside and out.  For anyone who has had an RV or lived in a tiny house or apartment knows that good, well structured storage space is really important.

Two things became paramount to me when it came to storage in the motorhome.  One is safely storing items so things wouldn't become broken in transit or end up falling on my feet whenever I opened the cupboards.  The second was having a clean and well organized space.

I started by vacuuming and then washing out the insides of the cabinets with hot soapy water, simple enough.  Then I got busy with rebuilding (squeal - I love building!).  I quickly realized that some of the cabinets had had their shelves removed, for whatever reason, and were long gone.  Newer RVs don't have those shelves to begin with, why would you take those out?  I knew right away I wanted those shelves re-installed so I wouldn't have any wasted space.  The first place I started was with the microwave cabinet.

I removed the monster sized microwave which was extremely heavy and pretty much took up the entire space necessitating the removal of one of the original shelves at some time.  The original shelf was nowhere to be found but I did find the cleats for that shelf under one of the dinette seats.  All I needed to do was re-install the cleats and build a new shelf.

I decided I should build one with a lip all the way around to help keep things from falling off and with a space in the back to allow not only for the microwave cord, but also adequate air flow when the microwave was in use.  Amazingly, I found I had everything I needed to build said shelf in my garage.

I found a nice thick piece of plywood in my scrap wood stash that was leftover after cutting the boards to fit the windows when the A/C units are in.  It was the perfect size I needed too, I didn't need to cut it at all.  I added flat trim pieces I cut to length to the back and sides along the edges attaching them with a little construction adhesive and some finish nails.  I then cut a decorative trim piece to go across the front.  After a dry fit I painted the cleats and the new shelf a pretty chocolate brown color (Rustoleum spray paint + primer - Kona Brown - $3.87) and once everything was dry I screwed the cleats back inside the cabinet with some drywall screws and set the shelf in place.

I left the cabinet alone for 24 hours to make sure the paint cured before lining the bottom of the cabinet and the new shelf with rubber gripper shelf liner.  Then I put the new microwave (Amazon - $50) in place and plugged it into the wall outlet inside the cabinet.

The space beside the microwave holds my little collection of vintage cookbooks, some salt and pepper shakers and such.  The shelf above holds a mixing bowl, measuring cups & spoons, and an assortment of plastic food storage containers.  I love it!

Once this cabinet was completed I decided to make my way around the motorhome one cabinet at a time.  So stay tuned to see how I revamped the rest of the cupboards, a pantry and even a clothes closet!  So much fun!!