20 Incredible Toy Hauler Garage Transformations
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Ashley Mann spent three years living full time in a 38-foot, 5th-wheel RV with her husband Josiah and their cat, Kitty. Her favorite thing about RV life is the challenge of finding the perfect way to organize a space, and she loves seeing all the creative and clever ways people come up with to customize their RVs.
RVers need to maximize living space and converting a toy hauler garage is a great way to do it! These toy hauler transformations into an extra bedroom, living area, or office will make you want a toy hauler to renovate yourself. Below are some examples of toy hauler garage modifications to inspire you to get creative with the extra space in your toy hauler!
Side note: If you're looking to see more beautifully renovated RVs, you can visit our renovated RV marketplace here.
What is a toy hauler?
A toy hauler is a type of RV, commonly but not always a fifth wheel, that has a built-in garage. They are designed for hauling “toys” like motorbikes or four-wheelers. The back of the RV usually folds down and becomes a ramp for loading your toys. However, many toy haulers also fold down into outdoor decks and patios, as seen above.
With the open garage space, there are endless possibilities for turning your extra RV space into something epic.
20 Ideas for Renovating A Toy Hauler
1. Add a rug to the toy hauler garage
Trina Sholin of the professional RV renovation team @RVFixerUpper used large outdoor area rugs to cover the floor of this toy hauler garage turned master suite. She kept the drop-down bed and added residential furniture and a dark paint to make this suite feel like home.
2. Carpet the floor
Carpet can make the cargo area of toy hauler feel less industrial and more home-like, as seen in this photo of a comfortable living area and guest room created simply by adding a carpet remnant and a trundle daybed sofa.
3. Adding vinyl flooring in a toy hauler garage
The rubbery, non-slip floor in toy hauler garages begs for a floor replacement.
RVer Shanna and her husband wanted to create a bedroom for their daughter but keep the option of returning the garage to its original function of hauling toys. They laid down a plywood subfloor, covered it with peel-and-stick laminate flooring, and hung a curtain to disguise the ramp wall. They screwed down the subfloor to keep it secure.
4. Curtains
Curtains help make the garage area of this toy hauler fifth wheel feel cozier by covering black and metal components. When the bed is raised, an area rug makes the living and office space underneath feel more inviting. You can see more photos of this RV on Instagram at @TheTravel_Lab.
5. Add Extra Storage
Many people who live in a toy hauler full time turn the garage into a “multi-purpose room” that may include space for extra storage, large appliances like a freezer, a second refrigerator, or a washer and dryer.
In the photo below you can see how the Bauman family added extra storage to their carpeted toy hauler garage.
More photos of this RV can be seen here.
6. Store larger appliances
Area rugs, full-length sheer curtains, residential furniture, wall decor, and plants create a homey vibe in this toy hauler garage that provides a place for the full-time RVing owners to put things like a freezer, mini fridge, air fryer, bread machine, and extra counter space for baking and preparing food.
7. Homeschool Rooms
Living in a toy hauler with kids full-time presents additional needs. he Lane family used the garage area as extra living space, a homeschool room with a desk and extra storage as well as their kids' bedroom.
The Selm family converted their toy hauler garage in a similar way. They added new flooring, a sleeper sofa, and a dining table so the room can be used for sleeping, dining, and homeschooling.
By the way, that drop-leaf table with the drawers seen in so many renovated RVs is from Ikea!
8. Bunkrooms and Kids' Rooms
The Ticknor family has been traveling full-time for over 10 years. They have 12 children, eight of whom live with them in their RV. In their toy hauler's garage, they added bunk beds for their boys as well as a stackable washer and dryer, a deep freeze, and extra storage.
Related: For more DIY bunk bed inspiration, check out our article about custom bunk beds added to RVs!
9. Adding a wall plus bunk beds
When the Taylor family bought an old toy hauler RV to convert into a tiny home on wheels, they still had teenage girls living at home. They added two extra walls: one as a partition to create a bedroom for their girls separate from the living area, and one at the back of the RV to make a shallow garage storage area.
10. Teen Bedroom and Hangout Area
This amazing bedroom/homeschool room/music studio was built by the Howard Family for their teenage sons. They built a narrow bed using part of a dresser as the base, and a second bed is lowered down from the ceiling above. (They explain the complete process in their saved Instagram stories titled The Bed.)
11. Desk Added to Toy Hauler Garage
A wall-mounted drop-leaf table creates a workspace in this toy hauler garage while leaving space for hauling “toys”.
You can see more photos of this RV here.
12. Toy Hauler Garage Converted to Dream Office
Vinyl flooring, full-length curtains, and lots of windows make this garage office/bedroom combo make this space a place to work while enjoying spectacular views of nature! The RV owners, Kris and Andy, also use their garage as a place for a laundry station and extra storage.
13. Craft Room
Judging from the china cabinet in the RV pictured below, I'd say this camper is clearly stationary!
I found this photo on the internet a long time ago and have tried unsuccessfully to track down the RV owner to get all the details on this craft room.
14. Work Area for Handmade Jewelry Business
One crafter I personally know who uses her toy hauler as a workspace is Mandy of @188sqft.
She has a lovely craft area in her toy hauler for her handmade jewelry business, along with a sofa for extra living space, and a deep freeze. (She and her husband Kevin have done amazing things with their RV, like tiling the kitchen and bathroom with real tile! Check it out here!)
15. Extra Living + Sleeping Space
My personal favorite use of toy hauler garage space is as a spacious living area that can be converted into a comfortable bedroom.
Vintage-style furniture, sheer curtains, and an area rug turn the space under the lift bed in this RV into a cozy reading nook. More photos of this RV can be seen here.
16. Toy Hauler Travel Trailer Makeover
The talented sisters behind the interior design team Fox and Timber renovated the gorgeous camper pictured below for some members of their family.
17. Lofted Bunk Bed
I love the use of space in this beautifully renovated toy hauler. You can follow its owners on Instagram at @WoodlandCreatur to see more photos.
18. Master Bedroom Suite
This next RV is home to Autumn Bailey, her husband, and their small children. They turned the RV's main bedroom into a kids' room and converted the garage into a beautiful master bedroom and living area with a drop-down bed.
Related: 20 Beautiful Boho-Style RV Renovations You Have to See to Believe
19. Cozy Living Area
The Mroczkos family's RV, shown below, doesn't even look like an RV anymore, thanks to the addition of French doors and an electric fireplace.
They too decided to remove the queen bed and build bunk beds in the original bedroom and create a master bedroom and living area in the garage.
20. Extra Seating and Sleeping Space
Below is one more example of a toy hauler garage that has been converted into a luxurious bedroom/living space. This RV is home to minimalism and decluttering blogger Meg, and you can read more about how she renovated this space in this article: How I Transformed My Toy Hauler Garage Into a Modern Master Bedroom.
Give a Garage a Makeover With a Few Simple Changes
You don't have to do a full renovation or make any permanent changes to a toy hauler garage in order to repurpose the space.
A few simple things you can do that make a big impact include:
- Adding a big area rug
- Laying down carpet or floating vinyl flooring
- Adding a comfy sofa, desk, or other furniture
- Hanging a large curtain or tapestry over the garage door entrance
- Hanging curtains over the windows
- Adding decorative touches like throw pillows, hanging plants, and string lights
Want to more RV Inspiration? Check out my RV Renovation Resource Page!
Some of these ideas will bring a toy hauler rv dangerously over their max load capacity. When designing and redecorating your garage, keep weight in mind. Some rvs don’t have the capacity for what your planning on building into it. Heavy 2×4 walls and solid wood bunks are just that, to heavy and if you haul that rv somewhere, you could get into serious trouble when the frame brakes or the axle snaps or tires blow out. If you get into an accident with a grossly overloaded rv and the police investigator finds your overloaded, the accident becomes your fault even if all other circumstances indicate it wasn’t.
Thanks for the reminder to always pay attention to the weight requirements as well as weight distribution! A good rule of thumb is to try to keep the weight approximately the same or less than whatever you removed from the same area. For example, many people will remove a dinette and replace it with a table and will find that the table is actually lighter than the dinette was. In the case of the RV’s pictured in this article, all of these are toy haulers, which were designed and intended to haul things like four wheelers and motorcycles, so beds and desks shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s a good idea to calculate the weight of everything just to be safe.
I’ve been doing a lot of research about this topic recently and if you buy a toy hauler with a 3rd axel it affords you an additional ~2000 lbs of payload. This increased payload is normally used to carry heavy “Toys” like ATVs and the like. But instead, adding weight in the form of furniture could be a good use for the extra payload capacity 🙂