How to Create a Functional and Sustainable RV Office Setup

Creating a good RV office setup is challenging. You not only have to make room for the work you need to do, but create a productive environment as well.

People often wonder how we work without a traditional office. Depending on your needs and preferences, there are many ways to set up a custom RV office.

The path we went down was finding an RV with a floor plan that met our needs and repurposing furniture from our house.

In this post, we’ll go over what we’ve learned about working remotely from our motorhome. And share our current office setup to give you some ideas on how to build a small RV office that meets your needs.

Identify Areas in Your RV That Work for an Office Setup

It’s important to have a dedicated space for your desk setup so you can focus on your work with minimal distractions.

One thing to consider when you’re working from an RV is the space you have. You need to organize your work items so they’re accessible, but don’t take up too much space.

When working on your RV office setup, think about the workspace you want to end up with. Do you need a traditional desk setup, or something portable?

Some people opt for using their couch as a workspace. It frees up space in your living quarters, but it isn’t ideal for everyone.

Choose the Right Desk For Your RV Office Setup

A challenging aspect of selecting furniture for an RV is finding pieces that not only meet your needs, but fit through the door as well.

After you’ve found a desk that fits through the door of your RV, you need to make sure it works with your height. Do you need an adjustable desk, or will you invest in a nice office chair?

IKEA’s desks are a good starting point. Their desks offer ample storage and have designs that work in any small space. We’ve been using the IKEA Alex desk in our front office for years. It was affordable and has stood up to daily use.

IKEA desks are often flat packed and assembled after you get the box through the front door. So the dimensions of the desk become less of a hassle.

Find a Chair For Your RV Office

Choosing the right chair for your RV office setup is a crucial decision. It can make or break your workflow and comfort.

The best RV office chair provides support, comfort, and stability. The perfect chair will be adjustable so you can find the best height for your desk. When your RV is moving, it should have the ability to be stored away.

We’ve gone through a few office chairs in the 5 years we’ve been working out of our motorhome. The best office chair for our purposes is the Herman Miller Aeron. They’re comfortable, customizable, and fit with just about any decor scheme.

We found our desk chair at a used office furniture store because the price of a new one was out of our budget. The chair we bought has a chip on the seat, so we picked it up for $200.

How We Set Up Our RV Office Spaces

When setting up RV office spaces, our strategy was to use as much furniture from our house as possible.

Our used motorhome came with an empty dinette area. We didn’t use a dining room when we lived in a house, and not much has changed since we moved into an RV. For our front office space, we placed our IKEA Alex desk in the dinette area slide.

With this setup, we can still access the bedroom if we bring the slide in. Our desk has handy flip up pockets in the back that make cord management a breeze. And two large drawers in front give us plenty of storage for office essentials.

Office space number two ended up in the bedroom. There’s an area next to the TV that was originally a window seat, and our standing desk fit in the space. We paired the standing desk with a sitting stool, and our back office was born.

This setup works because there’s two doors between the front living area and the bedroom we can close. Closing the doors means we can work at the same time.

Building the Right Toolkit for Your RV Office Setup

Your RV office toolkit will depend on your needs and what you do for work. Think about what you need for your job:

• Do you need a desk, or will a laptop on the couch work?
• Is it important to have a good internet connection, or can you get by on a mobile hotspot?
• Will you be working with people in the same space?
• What tools are important for your workday?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for an RV office setup. You should tailor your RV office toolkit to what’s most important for you.

Check out our resources page for more information on the tech and tools we use to run our remote office spaces.

Final Thoughts

We’re happy with how we used the space in our motorhome with the office furniture we had in our house to make two usable workspaces.

There’s always room for improvement. And the layout and roominess of the class A RV will allow us to make adjustments as our work needs change.

We hope this post inspired you to look at some areas in your RV and find creative ways to make them fit your remote work needs.