Newbie!: organizing inside the AS?

[TinCanDogs]

Hi! My hubby and I just fulfilled our dream of owning an Airstream: 2014 Flying Cloud 25!

I have amassed a great pile of stuff from our house that we can use in the AS. My question is- what are your secrets to keeping your AS organized? With 4 dogs, we have quite a bit of bare necessity style stuff, not including all of our work stuff.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!!!!!!! Emily

[mimiandrews]

General rule is the heavy stuff goes low and the light stuff goes high. This keeps the center of gravity low for better towing, and it keeps heavy stuff from pulling the upper cabinets off the walls.

Other than that, it's like moving into a new house. Put stuff near where you'll use it.

Take a really hard look at that "great pile of stuff" and try to pare it down to a small to moderate pile of stuff.

Driveway camp a couple of times to see what you really need. Make your first trip to a destination close to home so it's easy to go get that essential item you forgot.

First couple of trips will tell you what you really use. Take the other stuff out!

Of course some stuff is seasonal, so keep the winter warm stuff and the summer fun stuff organized so they can move from storage in the house to their place in the trailer as the seasons change.

Bottom line is enjoy your new trailer. Welcome to the forums.

[TinCanDogs]

Thank you! Great advice!

[Howsthewater]

Storage:
The upper cabinets are curved and deep. I place plastic shoe boxes filled with items at the bottom and things I use in baskets on top of them. Dog treat being in one basket.
I have a magnetic spice rack. I use command strips to secure it to the wall.
I hope this helps .

[Protagonist]

Store safety-related stuff (first aid kit, etc.) as close to the door as possible, so it's readily accessible from inside the Airstream OR from the campsite.
Store outdoor stuff outside the trailer, i.e. inside the tow vehicle.

My Interstate has even less space than your 25' and finding enough space for everything I want to bring is always a challenge. My basic rules are:

1 - Safety first. Safety gear always goes, and I find a place for it even if I have to leave something else behind. I hope I never have to use it, though.

2 - Except for safety equipment, don't pack anything unless you know for certain you need it— that it's genuinely essential. How to know for certain? When you've been camping and a situation crops up where you say to yourself, "Gee, I really wish I had a _____ right about now." When that happens, pack whatever it is on the next trip.

3 - After you've filled your Airstream with essentials, make sure they're still essential. How? Even if you really needed it once, if you go for two consecutive trips without having to use something again, leave it home next time because it's not really essential after all. Unless it's safety equipment, of course.

[Cannonball]

We have found that you can really go overboard on kitchen stuff, cookware, dishes, etc. I love to cook, but have pared my kitchen arsenal down quite a bit.


Cannonball, Deep in the Heart of Texas!

WBCCI #4387, Air #84080

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[silverlabs]

We recently outfitted our new 25FC and took a 7 week trip with our 2 dogs. I use collapsible plastic ware like colander, etc. Shoe boxes stack nicely above the kitchen and hold small stuff. My spice box is in there. It is a clear box filled with tic tac boxes that make a great mini spice cabinet. Got the idea from another forum member. Broke out the labeler so I can easily tell which is which. I have the pull out pantry and got tall plastic boxes to hold many other food staples. Tervis tumblers function for lots of beverage situations.

As far as the dogs go we bought the twin beds so they can sleep on the floor between us. I found a groupon special on orthopedic beds that fit. Their water container is a small igloo cooler. Keeps the splashing to a minimum and can go indoors or out. Dog food and supplies are kept in the drawer by the door. Best find for them is a leash we bought at a festival at the beginning of our trip. The website is leashesbyliz.com and the leash has rings evenly spaced throughout and converts to many configurations including impromptu tie outs. I have a sham wow for each of them to use for drying.

We found it helpful to keep 2 things in mind while outfitting the trailer. Multifunctional items are always good and we try to think vertical for storage. Even after 7 weeks we still have empty cupboards. Enjoy and have fun. It's like outfitting a new house!

[TBRich]

We've found that SnapWare fits great on the frig shelves and cabinets...it stacks, you can use a variety of sizes to fit into the curve of the walls, and you can store both dry goods and things that need to be refrigerated in it.

[k.r.keaton]

You can search and follow on FB a full time husband wife airstream team called WatsonsWander. She took pics and made a list of essentials and neat things like magnetic spice holders that stick to the wall above the stove for example or standup plate storage in the cabinet with door locks for travel. Lots more and great ideas about staying connected to the Internet. They do a weekly update on experiences, cost, and lots of beautiful pics.


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[robineb]

My best tip for organizing stuff is to hang clear plastic shoe holders on the inside of the closet doors. Great for storing all kinds of stuff--batteries, small electronics, tape, clothes pins--and even shoes. You'll need to cut them down to size (one vertical row and a couple horizontal).

I'd post a picture, but am having trouble doing that.

[kb0zke]

When we were camping with our kids we always forgot something we needed. Fortunately it never was something that required an immediate trip to the store. When we were getting ready for our auction last year we moved into our coach while it was parked right in front of the house. As we needed it we moved it into the coach. After a week or two we had almost everything in the coach that we needed.

The auction is history and the house will be soon. We've discovered that we have more stuff here than we need, so we're about to do another round of purging. A few things aren't really going to be purged, but replaced with a new item, but quite a few things are simply going away. The plan is to get rid of the equivalent of the smaller of the two basement bays.

[CaddyGrn]

Every year I go through our Airstream and take out stuff I haven't used from the previous year... the rule I try to use, is most things must have a multi purpose if possible. Can I use this utensil to both cook and serve with? How heavy is it? Do I have something that will work the same that is lighter, or non breakable?

Lots of good advice in this thread... and when you forget something one can learn to "make do" with something else! I have even used a paper bag lined with a new plastic bag to serve salad when I didn't have a container large enough!

Have fun! Safety first, fun all the time!

[kb0zke]

"2 - Except for safety equipment, don't pack anything unless you know for certain you need it— that it's genuinely essential. How to know for certain? When you've been camping and a situation crops up where you say to yourself, "Gee, I really wish I had a _____ right about now." When that happens, pack whatever it is on the next trip." Keep a notepad where you write down those items as soon as you realize you need them. Then as you are taking things out of the coach at home take those items in so they will be there next time.

We were fortunate to be able to move into our coach a couple of months before we had our auction (the coach was parked right outside the front door of the house) so when we needed something from the house we just went back in, got it, and stowed it where it would live.

If you are as fortunate as we were, try living in your Airstream while it is still parked at home. It won't take long to figure out what you need and what you can leave behind. If you are only going out for a couple of weeks you can just put the clothes you will need into the coach and wear others. Consider having a limited cooking collection that stays in the Airstream and using disposable plates and plasticware while on the road.

[CaddyGrn]

One other thing I did not mention... I always keep an old fashioned notebook (small, of course) in one of the drawers...so when I forgot something I write it down so I will remember. (probably a "senior" thing!) Other times when digging in the back of a drawer or storage space (usually kitchen) and find something I totally forgot about, I put it somewhere to take it out of the camper... if I didn't know I had it, I probably didn't need it! :P

[chaseav]

This was and continues to be our most challenging part of adjusting to living in the Airstream. Even if just overnight, it really helps to have "a place for everything and everything in its place." Messy counters are not an option for Mrs. OCD and I! We found that a wall mounted key / envelope holder really helped out as well as using Velcro squares to mount the remotes (discreetly) to the walls.

[epicdetour]

I just posted some pics of our airstream organization on our blog. Check them out!
Airganization | EPIC DETOUR