For six years, we left our trailer furniture set up the way it was when we bought it. The setup worked for us, so why make changes? When our pleather loveseat, couch, and ottoman began peeling, we bandaged them with adhesive patches and continued living as normal.
That lasted about a year before the patches started separating from the furniture, requiring a more permanent fix. We ventured out and replaced our couch and loveseat with two leather reclining loveseats.
Removing the couch left extra space on either side of one of the new loveseats, so we purchased some end tables, assembled them, and attached them to the floor — and quickly learned they were not built for RV travel. In light of that, here are four important considerations to keep in mind when changing RV furniture.
1. Ability to handle vibration
We never thought about how vibration might affect end tables when we selected and bought them, although we did attach them to the floor to keep them from relocating. We chose them for their cabinet storage space with shelves and their drawers that pull out to expose cup holders, something we lost in the furniture upgrade.
Each table came in multiple pieces that required assembling, including cam locks. We quickly learned the cam locks that didn’t nest tightly in the wood moved when vibrated as we traveled down the highway. After arriving at a destination shortly after installing the tables, I found cam locks and shelf pegs on the floor and inside the cabinets — and the top of one table detached.
To make our new furniture more travel-ready, Bob spent a few hours taking each table apart, removing the cam locks and shelf pegs, and reassembling the parts. He added clear Gorilla Max Strength Construction Adhesive (paid link) to secure the cam locks and shelf pegs in position and prevent them from dislodging. We haven’t had any issues since.
It’s also important to ensure that replacement furniture that opens can stay closed during travel. Our table doors have magnets to hold them shut, provided nothing inside is hindering them from closing properly. And the drawers have a pretty hard stop that holds them in place if they’re pushed all the way in. Similarly, the recliners on our loveseats lock closed.
2. Weight
RV furniture tends to be lightweight as it’s made for travel. Every ounce counts when towing or driving an RV across the country. Frames, wheels, and tires were made to withstand a certain weight limit. Because of that, it’s imperative to be aware of how much weight you’re removing from and adding to your RV.
The loveseats we purchased each weighed the same amount as the theater loveseat we removed. The tables we installed each weighed about 40 pounds. We figured that we had saved some weight between the original couch and the replacement loveseat to accommodate some of that. And we didn’t mind having extra weight at the back of our rig, where the tables now live, to help balance the trailer’s weight front to back.
3. Size
It’s vital to measure your RV door opening and the space you have available for maneuvering furniture in and out of the rig. We knew our rig had room for a wider loveseat than the original theater seat. But we hadn’t considered how the new piece’s plushness might affect the closing of the slideout that housed it.
The replacement loveseat we bought takes up a little more space than its predecessor. The new furniture is also deeper. When we first installed the one where the theater seat used to be, we attached it to the brace on the floor that had held the original in place. When we closed the slideout it sat in, the new furniture touched the kitchen island. We had to reopen the slideout, detach the furniture, move it back, and reattach it to the floor.
Had we purchased a replacement couch, we’re not sure we could have gotten it inside our fifth wheel. If it fit through the door, we may not have been able to get it in position due to the kitchen faucet and the lights hanging down over it.
4. Color
Unless you’re planning to paint or otherwise change the color scheme inside your RV, it’s best to find furniture in a hue that complements the existing decor and overall tones.
Our fifth wheel features rich dark wood with reddish wood accents and cream-colored walls. The original tables on either side of the couch were dark-wood shelves, as we learned after removing them. We replaced them with natural-looking wood that looks OK with the rest of the decor, although the new tables are lighter in color than the rest of the furniture and accents. They’d look better if we had gotten a reddish tone.
Despite that, we’re happy with our new furniture and grateful for the lessons we learned by removing the old and installing the new.
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