I know when you think about stocking your RV on a budget, IKEA may not the first place that comes to mind.
But it should.
With over 40 stores in the United States, there is probably an IKEA within driving distance of your home. And if you need to purchase products for your RV, a day trip to IKEA should be on your calendar.
The Great RV Budget Stock Up
Growing up in a (maybe) once-a-year camping household, I witnessed a common phenomena. Whenever a new gadget arrived in the kitchen, the old one would get stuffed in the camping bins stacked in the garage. That wobbly can opener might not have been good for daily use, but it would do just fine for that one long camping weekend in September.
I adopted this habit when we bought our first pop up camper, stocking bins and cabinets with the worn out relics of our 10-year domestic history. Our pop up bins were full of mismatched bowls, warped cutting boards, and the blender that barely blended.
It took me a few years to realize that we spent quite a bit of time in our RVs and maybe I needed to stop acting like our travel trailer was a recycling center.
But the budget. We love to travel as much as possible, and I always hated spending our money dressing up the camper instead of actually using it to go camping.
If you listen to our podcast, you know that Jeremy is the shopper in our family, which means the RV is well stocked with flashlights and air compressors and wood splitters, but not so much with any decorative finishes. It took seventy nights in the RV one season to finally convince me to start sprucing up the joint a bit.
(You can read about my no-mod makeover here.)
Enter IKEA. The whole premise of this store is to combine affordability with function and design. Since the company was founded in Sweden, there is a small spaces sensibility behind many of their products.
That means you can find great RV products in every area of the showroom, and the price tag will be a heck of a lot lower than in many of those big box camping stores that shall remain nameless.
We recently made a trip to our local IKEA for non-RV related items, i.e. $15 easels for our budding young artists. But I was in big time reconnaissance mode. I was ready to bring a bit of budget-friendly style to our RV space.
Here are some of my favorite ‘odds and ends’ products…from that great RV budget superstore, IKEA.
RV Budget Items from IKEA
- Grundtal Magnetic Knife Rack, Stainless Steel, $14.99
- Grundtal Magnetic Containers, Stainless Steel, $7.99/3 pack
- Vareira Drawer Mat, $3.99 per roll
- Bestaende Dish Drainer, 2-tiered with water-collecting tray, $24.99
- Kusiner Wall Pockets, $3.99
- Svartsjon Hook Rack, $5.99, with Nordrana Hand-Knit Baskets, $9.99
- Antilop Highchair with tray, $19.99 (amazing inside the camper and out)
- Pressa Hanging Dryer with 16 clothes clips, $4.99
- Kalas Plates $1.99/6 pack, Kalas Bowls $1.99/6 pack, Kalas Tumblers $1.99/6 pack (Color code your kids!!!!)
- Lattjo Play Together Book, $9.99 (and many other assorted games)
And don’t even get me started on the Marketplace items: kitchen scissors, can openers, dishtowels, straws…you name it, there is a budget option at IKEA.
So if you are one of our many listeners and readers who just bought their first RV or upgraded to a brand new rig, seriously consider a trip to IKEA before heading to the big box camping store. You will save a fortune on all those odds and ends.
And let us know what your favorite RV budget item from IKEA is. Our next trip is never that far off…
